Hey, Lighten-up!Getting penalized for overweight baggage is an all-too-often occurrence for most underwater photographers, but when the airlines lowered the baggage weight allowance to 50 pounds per bag for domestic flights things got even worse. Many of us resigned ourselves to the idea that we would pay dearly, expected the worst and hoped for the best. Now the international carriers have followed suit. This means even higher overweight fees and added expenses when traveling to those nice warm dive destinations. By the time you get all your dive gear, topside cameras and lenses and underwater camera gear packed, you've got little room for clothes, or anything else. Its time to lighten up! On a recent trip to Papua New Guinea, I knew I was faced with a challenge. I would get no breaks at all from Continental Airlines and Air Niugini is notorious for their strict enforcement of ridiculously low baggage allowances. The excess baggage fee on Continental is $80 per bag, each way. There are some flights where excess baggage is not allowed at all. Overweight baggage fees are $25 per bag ($50 per bag is its over 70#) and other airlines may charge this amount or more for each flight segment. Air Niugini is even worse with a 44 pound limit per person (economy class) which drops to 35 lbs for the domestic portions of your flight. Fortunately they do allow a special allowance for divers of an extra 33 pounds. Thanks, but big deal! The penalties add up quickly, so I decided the investment needed to "lighten-up" would be offset by the money I would not pay for overweight baggage. So I re-evaluated what I was packing and how I packed it.
I also still lock my case in spite of airline recommendations not to. Whenever possible I follow the case through the screening process and make sure its locked when I hand it off to the airline. If they want to cut the locks they can, but they will also find a printed inventory of what's inside if they choose to do this. The locks have not been cut yet. I also switched from the hard Samsonite suitcase I used for my dive gear and clothes, to a large sturdy duffle bag. In this case, one without wheels to reduce weight. Here I saved 17 pounds. My dive gear gets stored inside a smaller mesh duffel which comes in handy for lugging gear once I get on the boats. Of course for international flights the hard case had advantages over a floppy, non-supportive duffel—sturdier, more secure locks, easier to organize, and a divider that allowed me to keep the dirty dive gear separate from my delicates. But with the help of Samsonite Space Bags, I can put Victoria's Secret next to the salty, damp neoprene and rubber without incident.
Lightweight Dive Gear? My old beat up Seaquest Explorer BC is already the smallest, most lightweight and easy to pack BC I've ever owned, so I wasn't looking to replace that. In fact, if you know of anyone who has a Seaquest Explorer or the old Seaquest Pro BC for sale in a size small, I'll buy it!
My primary reg is a T1x, Atomic's most lightweight model, until spring of 2005. Now Atomic has introduced the T2x which is even more lightweight. The combined weight of the T2x first stage, second stage and hose is only 1.8 pounds! Wetsuits are also a pain to pack but without one your dive trip could be miserable. Its a good idea to get the current water temps for the destination you're traveling to so you can determine what to bring. Whenever possible I avoid neoprene all together. My Henderson Tri-Lam is my favorite suit, but for some warm water destinations off-season, I may need something warmer. Thicker neoprene adds weight, especially when its not completely dry for the return trip home. Henderson has just come out with their new Insta-Dry wetsuits. Rather than packing a damp and heavier wetsuit for the trip home, the Insta-Dry material dries almost instantly. This revolutionary hydrophobic "high carbon" micro mesh neoprene actually repels water. Bonded with Henderson's Titanium Hyperstrech and Gold Core technology, this new material is comfortable, warm and dry. Henderson Insta-Dry suits are available in 3/2mm. So now I'm packed and ready to! My two big bags weight about 49# each and its likely the weight of my carry-on won't get checked. My Papua New Guinea trip report and photos will be online soon, so you can read about how well my streamlining worked.
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Lightening Up the Luggage
The small travel bags are great for packing clothes and other bulky items. Once full, you can squeeze out the air and zip-lock the seal, leaving you with a compact, easy to pack item. They are also great for storing that dirty laundry for the trip home and makes it easy to pick out all the cockroaches before bringing them into your laundry room. 
Since all my international travel is to warm water destinations, I picked up a pair of the new Atomic full-foot Split-Fins. The fin is much smaller that the open-heel model and were half the weight. Now my larger split-fins would be saved for California cold water diving only. My first dive with the smaller fin proved this was an excellent decision. I didn't sacrifice any power by going smaller. The design of this fin makes it just as powerful as the larger model. The perfect choice for traveling and tropical divers! Additionally, I don't need to carry neoprene booties. 
