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What exactly is a dive bag and why do I need one?
This guide is here to help you with the decision making process part of selecting a dive bag. This guide won't recommend a specific brand of bag. It will, hopefully, help you decide what you need to be looking at when you acquire your first(next) dive bag.
Someone trying to sell you the latest and greatest dive bag, with wheels, radios, tv monitors and all sorts of other flashy features will obviously tell you a dive bag is a bag, specially made for diving, with wheels, radios, tv monitors and all sorts of other flashy features. Well if that is what you really want then I suppose that is, in fact a dive bag, and you should snap up the very first one you see. On the other hand you might want do a little thinking on what and how you will be using your dive bag and, perhaps, demand a few more or possibly less features.
WHY, WHY, WHY: There are basically 3 reasons you may need a dive bag. You may have other personal considerations but these are the biggies.
DIVE BAG: a bag that holds dive gear. There you have it, the simplest definition of a dive bag that exists. Of course if you start making other demands on your dive bag the definition expands exponentially and most likely so does the price.
For some "divers" the trusty old paper grocery sack (dive sack) can make an excellent dive bag. You know these divers, the ones that are always hanging around the dive shop but can't ever seem to remember that last time they were actually in the water. If you are the kind of diver that, as a rule, never gets near the water, that old paper sack will do just fine. Of course, a dive sack doesn't hold a lot in the way of dive gear so if you are also the kind of diver that just can't help themselves from acquiring every new piece of gear that comes to market you might want to consider two, or maybe even three, dive sacks. For those divers that do actually dive I hope you can see the folly in the dive sack idea. ...........................Ding, time's up, it's the water. Paper and water just don't mix. The dive sack(s) that very capably got your gear from the car to the dive site are a HOLE different story when the gear is all wet. If you are still in love with the dive sack idea you might want to think plastic grocery sacks. You'll need more of them, of course, since they're smaller but water doesn't cause nearly such a problem.
If you're looking for something more substantial than a dive sack you need to ask a few questions about how you will use your dive bag. The answers can help you determine what features your future dive bag needs to have and steer you to the best bag to meet your needs. Where do you dive? How do you get to your dive sites? Are you diving internationally? How much gear do you have? How big are you? how much gear can you lift? These are some basic questions. Feel free to add additional questions to address your own peculiar requirements.
How can you tell a Real Diver? By the funk in their trunk. Nothing identifies a diver quicker the a moldy, musty trunk. Wet dive gear and summer heat are a powerful and potentially funky combination. The right dive bag can save you from this funk.
If you only dive your local area and travel by car or truck and don't have to haul your a great distance once you're at the dive site you'll be suprised to find a Rubbermaid tub (8 or 9 dollars worth) can make an excellent dive bag. Not glamorous I know but they hold your dive gear and they are waterproof. Nothing is more annoying than a constantly soggy trunk and the attendant smell. Fabric dive bags may be waterproof but, over time, as fabric wears and flexs, it tends to become less waterproof. Rubber tubs are waterproof until you poke a hole in them. When that happens get another one. At 8 or 9 dollars a pop you can go through quite a few tubs before you reach the price of even a basic cloth or hardshell "dive bag". The drawbacks to rubber tubs should be obvious. They can be hard to carry and they certainly don't handle air travel very well.
Even an Igloo, or other cooler can be pressed into service as a dive bag. I have an old Igloo camping cooler that has a locking lid, a retractable handle and wheels. My brother gave it to me for Christmas many years ago. I don't do much camping so I slid out the removable trays and filled the box with dive gear and it works great. I don't really need the insulation integrated into the box but, on the plus side, it floats even when it is full of gear. Owing to its' construction it's kind of the Boston Whaler of dive bags.
I've got an old duffle. Will it be trouble? If you need or want to go the absolute low budget route an old army surplus duffle bag can work well as a dive bag. If the duffel is heavy canvas you may have some waterproofness problems and first thing you will always need at the dive site is the first thing you put in the bag. Only problem is, the first thing you put in the bag is way down at the bottom making you unpack almost everything to get to it. Using a duffle like this may require a little planning to minimize a constant source of aggravation. Also if you have a lot of gear, a duffle can be a a bear to lug around. With all its' faults, a duffle bag can make a servicable dive bag. The length and ruggedness of a canvas duffle make it an excellent candidate for gear like dive floats and flags and other odd shaped items that might need consolidation.
If you haven't already gotten the picture, a dive bag doesn't have to be a bag specially constructed for diving. A generic bag may work just fine can generally be had considerably more cheaply than a purpose built dive bag. Special purpose dive bags do have their place and may at times be the best alternative so let's talk about the different types.
Cloth Bags, What are the snags? You will find quite a few cloth (soft) bags to choose from. These are really my favorite because they come in a multitude of sizes, can be waterproof stow easily in a car, on a boat or in a plane. You can find soft bags with backpack style shoulder straps, wheels (a great back saver), multiple compartments, etc. The main reason I like cloth bags is that they are flexible even when loaded. You can stuff them into odd spaces and they can also make a great cushion or mattress on a crowded dive boat. The problem with many of these bags is the straps, wheels and other fittings are just not substantial enough for the rigors of every day diving. I have an old oceanic bag with wheels that has been around the world and suffered just about any insult imaginable. It's still servicable even though the plastic scuff rails and wheel wells have long since disappeared. It's not quite waterproof anymore but it still holds all the gear I need together in one place.
Hard Bags, How hard can they be? A hard bag is more like a suitcase. Probably not the best choice for carrying on a boat or beach diving. They tend to be heavier and can be hard to stow on a boat. On the other hand, they are great for dive travel as they tend to be a little more abuse resistant than softbags and fare better than their soft brethen on the sometimes baggage abusive airlines. If you need a hard bag for international travel you might consider packing a light weight bag, maybe a mesh one, to be your boat or beach diving bag. Do the serious travel with your gear in the hard bag then switch to the soft bags for your actual dives.
Now for the miscellaneous.
One thing to remember about dive bags is they need rinsing just like all your other gear. They may not go underwater but they are, at some point, packed full of wet and salty gear. That salt can compromise the waterproofing and cause zippers and latches to freeze so remember to rinse well.
That does it for dive bags. I hope this guide has been a help.
Enjoy your diving.
This guide is here to help you with the decision making process part of selecting a dive bag. This guide won't recommend a specific brand of bag. It will, hopefully, help you decide what you need to be looking at when you acquire your first(next) dive bag.
Someone trying to sell you the latest and greatest dive bag, with wheels, radios, tv monitors and all sorts of other flashy features will obviously tell you a dive bag is a bag, specially made for diving, with wheels, radios, tv monitors and all sorts of other flashy features. Well if that is what you really want then I suppose that is, in fact a dive bag, and you should snap up the very first one you see. On the other hand you might want do a little thinking on what and how you will be using your dive bag and, perhaps, demand a few more or possibly less features.
WHY, WHY, WHY: There are basically 3 reasons you may need a dive bag. You may have other personal considerations but these are the biggies.
- Consolidate: Keep all your gear in one place. You are much less likely to leave a critical piece of gear behind if all your gear is consolidated in one place, ie: in your dive bag.
- Protect: Your dive gear is durable but it still needs protection from the elements and curious collectors.
- Transport: Getting your gear from the car to the house, boat, beach, plane etc. is much less of an ordeal if you can simply grab a gear bag and go.
DIVE BAG: a bag that holds dive gear. There you have it, the simplest definition of a dive bag that exists. Of course if you start making other demands on your dive bag the definition expands exponentially and most likely so does the price.
What Kind Of Bag Do You Need?
For some "divers" the trusty old paper grocery sack (dive sack) can make an excellent dive bag. You know these divers, the ones that are always hanging around the dive shop but can't ever seem to remember that last time they were actually in the water. If you are the kind of diver that, as a rule, never gets near the water, that old paper sack will do just fine. Of course, a dive sack doesn't hold a lot in the way of dive gear so if you are also the kind of diver that just can't help themselves from acquiring every new piece of gear that comes to market you might want to consider two, or maybe even three, dive sacks. For those divers that do actually dive I hope you can see the folly in the dive sack idea. ...........................Ding, time's up, it's the water. Paper and water just don't mix. The dive sack(s) that very capably got your gear from the car to the dive site are a HOLE different story when the gear is all wet. If you are still in love with the dive sack idea you might want to think plastic grocery sacks. You'll need more of them, of course, since they're smaller but water doesn't cause nearly such a problem.
If you're looking for something more substantial than a dive sack you need to ask a few questions about how you will use your dive bag. The answers can help you determine what features your future dive bag needs to have and steer you to the best bag to meet your needs. Where do you dive? How do you get to your dive sites? Are you diving internationally? How much gear do you have? How big are you? how much gear can you lift? These are some basic questions. Feel free to add additional questions to address your own peculiar requirements.
How can you tell a Real Diver? By the funk in their trunk. Nothing identifies a diver quicker the a moldy, musty trunk. Wet dive gear and summer heat are a powerful and potentially funky combination. The right dive bag can save you from this funk.
If you only dive your local area and travel by car or truck and don't have to haul your a great distance once you're at the dive site you'll be suprised to find a Rubbermaid tub (8 or 9 dollars worth) can make an excellent dive bag. Not glamorous I know but they hold your dive gear and they are waterproof. Nothing is more annoying than a constantly soggy trunk and the attendant smell. Fabric dive bags may be waterproof but, over time, as fabric wears and flexs, it tends to become less waterproof. Rubber tubs are waterproof until you poke a hole in them. When that happens get another one. At 8 or 9 dollars a pop you can go through quite a few tubs before you reach the price of even a basic cloth or hardshell "dive bag". The drawbacks to rubber tubs should be obvious. They can be hard to carry and they certainly don't handle air travel very well.
Even an Igloo, or other cooler can be pressed into service as a dive bag. I have an old Igloo camping cooler that has a locking lid, a retractable handle and wheels. My brother gave it to me for Christmas many years ago. I don't do much camping so I slid out the removable trays and filled the box with dive gear and it works great. I don't really need the insulation integrated into the box but, on the plus side, it floats even when it is full of gear. Owing to its' construction it's kind of the Boston Whaler of dive bags.
I've got an old duffle. Will it be trouble? If you need or want to go the absolute low budget route an old army surplus duffle bag can work well as a dive bag. If the duffel is heavy canvas you may have some waterproofness problems and first thing you will always need at the dive site is the first thing you put in the bag. Only problem is, the first thing you put in the bag is way down at the bottom making you unpack almost everything to get to it. Using a duffle like this may require a little planning to minimize a constant source of aggravation. Also if you have a lot of gear, a duffle can be a a bear to lug around. With all its' faults, a duffle bag can make a servicable dive bag. The length and ruggedness of a canvas duffle make it an excellent candidate for gear like dive floats and flags and other odd shaped items that might need consolidation.
If you haven't already gotten the picture, a dive bag doesn't have to be a bag specially constructed for diving. A generic bag may work just fine can generally be had considerably more cheaply than a purpose built dive bag. Special purpose dive bags do have their place and may at times be the best alternative so let's talk about the different types.
Cloth Bags, What are the snags? You will find quite a few cloth (soft) bags to choose from. These are really my favorite because they come in a multitude of sizes, can be waterproof stow easily in a car, on a boat or in a plane. You can find soft bags with backpack style shoulder straps, wheels (a great back saver), multiple compartments, etc. The main reason I like cloth bags is that they are flexible even when loaded. You can stuff them into odd spaces and they can also make a great cushion or mattress on a crowded dive boat. The problem with many of these bags is the straps, wheels and other fittings are just not substantial enough for the rigors of every day diving. I have an old oceanic bag with wheels that has been around the world and suffered just about any insult imaginable. It's still servicable even though the plastic scuff rails and wheel wells have long since disappeared. It's not quite waterproof anymore but it still holds all the gear I need together in one place.
Hard Bags, How hard can they be? A hard bag is more like a suitcase. Probably not the best choice for carrying on a boat or beach diving. They tend to be heavier and can be hard to stow on a boat. On the other hand, they are great for dive travel as they tend to be a little more abuse resistant than softbags and fare better than their soft brethen on the sometimes baggage abusive airlines. If you need a hard bag for international travel you might consider packing a light weight bag, maybe a mesh one, to be your boat or beach diving bag. Do the serious travel with your gear in the hard bag then switch to the soft bags for your actual dives.
Now for the miscellaneous.
One thing to remember about dive bags is they need rinsing just like all your other gear. They may not go underwater but they are, at some point, packed full of wet and salty gear. That salt can compromise the waterproofing and cause zippers and latches to freeze so remember to rinse well.
That does it for dive bags. I hope this guide has been a help.
Enjoy your diving.
Guide created: 12/01/06 (updated 08/03/08)
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