If you are ever lucky enough to have a go in the classic helmet diving equipment of yesteryear, you'll quickly understand why the Americans deem it "Heavy Gear". All up a standard diver will be wearing over 90 kg of kit and the hand powered pump that delivers the air will add another several hundredweight. Transporting Heavy Gear is back-breaking work.

Excluding tanks and weights a warm water sport diver might get away with as little as 15 kg of equipment and a drysuit diver perhaps 20 kg. It's not a lot, but it still has to be moved around through airport terminals, along docks and up and down gangplanks. Add to that the accessories experienced divers tend to accumulate and, increasingly, underwater stills or video camera systems and it's clear some thought needs to go in to transporting it all to and from dive sites. Diving gear includes your life support equipment and while the cost of diving equipment isn't high in comparison to golf clubs, exercise equipment and game fishing tackle, it isn't cheap. So it becomes important to protect it from damage.

In this article we'll look at a few options for looking after your dive and camera gear and suggest a few tips that will hopefully help make travelling with your equipment easier.

Bags are the commonest choice for storing and transporting diving equipment. Hard cases and kit bins, which resemble a dustbin, tend to be heavy and take up a lot of space when empty. Few divers use them today. Dive bags can carry a lot of equipment and can be folded down when not needed. The main advantage to selecting a purpose designed dive bag compared to, say, a sports holdall, is in the type of materials used. A dive gear company knows you'll be putting equipment soaked through with salt water into your bag. So they'll use rot resistant material for the main bag structure and stitching and fit corrosion proof zippers to close and open the compartments. They'll also incorporate a waterproof lining to stop the contents of your dive bag leaking out (more about this later). A good quality dive bag will be ruggedly built reflecting the weight of the equipment it will have to support, which will be greater when your gear is wet after a dive. So seams and strap attachment points will normally be reinforced. Most dive bags will carry one full set of cold water equipment excluding tanks as a minimum. Larger bags are available if you need them but keep in mind how much you can comfortably lift and the weight restrictions that may apply to checked luggage in some destinations. Though most dive bags will carry similar volumes of equipment, how they pack it all in and how you carry it will vary. So you'll need to make choices based on what works best for you.

The simplest bags are holdalls. Basic holdalls are usually inexpensive. Carrying them fully laden can be uncomfortable depending on how strong you aren't and they can chafe against your legs (dive bags usually have rough exteriors designed to prevent them becoming abraded themselves). Rucksacks are another option. Their main attraction is, obviously, that you can transfer the weight of your gear to your back and hips. Holdalls can sometimes be carried rucksack style by slipping the hand straps onto your shoulders but often the straps are thin and not padded and can quickly become uncomfortable.

Dive bags are offered with a range of features that can be useful. It's worth reviewing these in line with your own needs and preferences. A good dive bag will last a long time so keep in mind your likely future requirements as well as your immediate needs. Basic bags have just a single compartment in to which you pour everything. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but having additional compartments and pockets can keep gear under better control meaning you aren't always scrabbling to find small essentials like tools amongst everything else. Some dive bags have extra compartments built in. These can be used, for example, to keep drysuit undersuits, towels or a change of street clothes dry while still keeping all of your gear together.

Pockets are often fitted to the outside of dive bags. These are useful for keeping items you might want fast and easy access to immediately to hand. Your save a dive kit, containing spare consumables like mask and fin straps or torch bulbs and a tool kit might be stored here. So might your first aid outfit, emergency assistance plan and safety slates. Many dive bags are supplied with a separate padded bag for your regulator. This slips into a designated pocket on the main bag.

Because they are bulky and can take up valuable space inside your main compartment, many dive bags have a designated pocket running along the edge to take your fins. Fins are not easily damaged in transit, but are awkwardly shaped for packing. A fin pocket offers a practical solution to carrying them.

Zippers are the weak point in bags, just as they are in wet and dry suits. Especially if your bag is over-packed. Nylon coated zips are used throughout dive bags to close the compartments and pockets. This prevents them from rusting. Double zips are common, making it easier to open and close bags over their bulging contents and allowing padlocks or tie wraps to be threaded through both for security. Wide, heavily padded straps make bags much more comfortable to carry. Holdalls often come with an extra strap to let you sling the bag over your shoulder. Rucksacks normally have adjustable length shoulder straps. A chest strap may be included to stop the shoulder straps separating and sliding off, and there may be a waist band, Because shoulder straps can easily get hung up in caterpillar belts and baggage carousels rucksacks usually have a provision for concealing them to prevent damage. Ruck sacks are normally fitted with grab handles on the side and top so that they can be carried lengthways or passed up or down from and to roof racks and boats. Both holdalls and rucksacks are available with wheels to let you tow heavy gear around. An extendable handle is normally included so you don't have to stoop uncomfortably when using this feature. Some bags have synthetic pads fitted to prevent damage to high wear areas such as the base. Rather than use plastic hoops for attaching removable straps high end bags designed to last many expeditions may use metal fittings instead. These will be treated to prevent rusting. Dive bags usually have airing holes built in. Along with letting air circulate, they let water out. This can drip on to you and over other luggage or into your car boot. Wet gear can be placed in waterproof stowage bags (available from ships chandlers) or into bin liners before returning it to your main dive bag to avoid this problem. When you dive locally, you tend to work out of your dive bag. On a large hard boat, you'll probably take your dive bag on board and kit up on the way out and dekit while returning to shore. If you are diving from a small boat, such as an inflatable, you'll kit up ashore and possibly use a small bag to keep your basic kit like mask, fins and other small accessories together and out of other divers way. If you are diving from the shore you'll leave everything you aren't using in your vehicle.

Diving overseas is often very different. Often you'll only use your dive bag to transport your equipment to your dive centre or liveaboard. After that for the rest of your holiday you may find you are assigned a locker onshore or a crate if boat based for your kit. Since you probably don't want to haul your diving equipment back to your hotel room between dives, it's an advantage if you can store it at your dive centre if you'll be land based. This also helps avoid having lots of awkwardly shaped and bulky dive bags lying about the place, especially on boat dive decks where space is limited. Once on board your dive boat, whether a day boat or liveaboard, you'll normally attach your BCD and regulator to a tank sat in a rack (often perched behind your bench seat) and place your personal equipment crate under the bench. There's likely to be a rail for hanging suits to let them dry off after each dive.

It's good practice to keep your mask inside a protective case of it's own. Many face masks are supplied with protective boxes. If you own a prescription mask think about buying a spare, just as you would glasses or contact lenses. Especially if you do need a corrected mask consider taking it with you as hand luggage. This is one item you won't be able to hire if the airline loses or breaks it.

Always pack your dive knife in your hold luggage. If you are carrying cylinders with you such as a pony or a BCD air inflation bottle, let all of the air out and declare it at check in. It's also recommended to tell airline staff if you are carrying carbon dioxide cylinders for inflating BCDs or marker buoys. This will avoid the inconvenience of being called to security later on!

As you may well be asked for proof of diver certification and diving experience, keep your C-card and log book on you. Lose these and you may not be permitted to dive at all.

More and more divers are taking up underwater photography as camera equipment has become more user friendly and start up costs have lowered. They are recording their often incredible underwater experiences and encounters both at home and abroad instead of trusting to overloaded memories, and they are showing friends and family exactly why they are drawn to diving.

Transporting and protecting underwater cameras by air properly is very important. Unlike diving equipment it still isn't easy to rent quality underwater cameras and accessories. If you are used to how your own camera system works, learning to use another quickly during your holiday can be frustrating and the final results unrewarding.

Ideally you want to keep your underwater camera system with you while travelling. This ensures it makes it to your final destination and greatly reduces the risk of it being damaged during baggage handling.

Small film and digital cameras and accessories are normally small enough to go in your hand luggage. They're also fairly easy to distribute among pockets in your clothing. You can also wear a small camera around your neck or put it in a dedicated pack that clips to your waist belt.

If you are carrying larger systems or back up equipment it becomes more trying. Camera jackets are an invaluable investment if you fall into this category. Developed for the professional photographer who needs to carry a lot of kit, have easy access to it at all times and remain mobile, photo jackets work well for divers too. Photo jackets are festooned with pockets ( typically a dozen or more). These include small pockets suitable for lenses and chargers, mid sized pockets that can accept a camera or small strobe and deep pouches designed to take long telephoto lenses which can be pressed into service for carrying large strobes or video lights. Photo jackets conceal equipment instead of attracting attention to it and as most airlines do not weigh what the passenger is wearing neatly avoid the rules on weight applied to carry on luggage.

Bum bags are also a useful addition to your luggage. These are often large enough to accommodate a 35 mm or digital housing.

If you are declaring camera equipment as part of your carry on luggage it's likely you'll be held to a 5 or 6 kg weight limit. This seems to be discretionary and sometimes this rule is enforced and sometimes there's leeway. It's best to plan for the former. Most aluminium film and digital SLR housings are about half this limit. So there's often room for a port as well. With film cameras unpack your film from their boxes and consider placing the containers inside your housing with a little bubblewrap to protect viewfinder and LCD display panels from scratches. Film cassettes are bulky enmasse, but light. If the film containers are transparent you'll be able to easily see the film speed at a glance when you need to.

Polycarbonate SLR housings and many video housings will exceed the usual carry on limits. There may be no choice but to ship these via the aircraft hold. This presents several real world problems you need to be aware of. These include the very real expectation of facing excess baggage charges, the possibility your equipment won't end up where you do and the risk of damage rendering your gear unusable on your trip.

Most airlines allow travellers one piece of hold luggage weighing 20 or 23 kg as standard. Once you go over this you begin to risk excess charges. Combining your dive gear and a camera set is likely to exceed this by some margin. All-environment cases themselves weigh several kilos empty. Excess charges usually end up as being 1% of the First Class fare per kilo. One way. Because fares vary depending on where they were purchased excess baggage premiums may be even higher on the return leg.

There's also a risk of your luggage being misdirected. If this happens it may take days for it to be found and forwarded to you. Even if it reaches the right airport, it isn't likely it will be possible to ever get it to you if you have joined a liveaboard and are on the high seas.

Another danger is that even when seemingly well protected inside an all-environment case, camera gear can still get damaged. You probably took great care of your camera rig ensuring you didn't drop it, carefully placing it in your boot or on your back seat to minimise shocks and making sure it didn't fall off your airport trolley. Then you gave it to check in and watched it disappear behind the rubber curtains. From that point on it got thrown around with all the other hundreds of cases joining your plane. Sometimes they even plummet from the conveyer belt taking them up to or down from the aircrafts hold and hit the tarmac.

There's not much you can do to avoid check-in fees or lost luggage. But you can take some measures to protect your cameras as they pass through luggage handling.

The best protection is provided by using all-environment cases. These cases are constructed from very tough plastics with fittings such as hinges made from non corrosive metals. They are O-ring sealed to prevent the case leaking even if dropped overboard while transferring to and from boats.

Usually these types of cases are provided with a foam lining. This is to both hold the equipment in place securely and to help minimise shocks and vibrations reaching the equipment inside if it gets handled roughly. Pluck foam is the usual choice. Once you've sketched out the equipment layout that suits you, it's a quick and easy procedure to pull out the pre diced cubes of foam with your fingers.

Another option is to fit dividers. This doesn't break down over time as foam can do. Usually the dividers can be moved around allowing you to change the configuration of your case if you change systems. Foam normally has to be replaced.

A few all-environment cases accept purpose designed soft bags. These are normal camera bags that can be slung over your shoulder or worn as rucksacks and have an adjustable divider layout built in. These can be ideal if you need hard case protection some of the time, perhaps while driving off road, but then want to dispense with the weight of a hard case when you reach your location.

With the increase in divers using digital stills and video cameras, laptops have become commonplace at dive destinations. All environment cases are popular choices for protecting these to. Some airlines allow a laptop to go with you in the cabin in addition to your normal allowance.

When deciding what equipment will be stored in an all environment case remember that anything that needs to be kept dry and salt free such as chargers, batteries and recording media needs to be protected. This is because once something wet, like a housing, goes into the case, the damp can effect other equipment. Even after the water evaporates it's likely to leave salt behind. It's good practice to seal and then soak in fresh water any equipment you've had in the case when you return home and then store it separately. This helps minimise any problems with corrosion.

Packing your dive gear for diving and for travelling are two different things. For diving you want to be able to work out of your bag. Space is often at a premium, especially on boats (hence the use of crates) and if you spread your equipment out it is more likely to get damaged by someone reversing over it or treading on it. There's also a higher risk of equipment being stolen.

The guideline for packing your bag for diving is last in, first out. Typically this means that the items you'll want last of all, like your mask and fins will be at the bottom of your bag. So they go in first. Equipment you'll want first, such as your BCD and regulator, which you might want to attach to your tank when you arrive, are the last to go in so they are at the top of your bag when you open it. Exactly how you pack your bag will depend on how you like to kit up. Factors that can come into play might be whether it's a hot day. If it is you may want to assemble all of your equipment and then put your exposure suit on at the last minute to help stay cool.

Packing for travelling changes the emphasis away from making it convenient to kit up to maximising the protection for your gear during transport. You can always repack for diving once you arrive.

A good rule is to use rugged equipment to form a box within your bag. More vulnerable equipment can then be protected within this structure. Exposure suits and undersuits are usually tough to damage and being supple can fill in any gaps. These can be used to line the floor of the bag. Dry suit valves should face into the bag. It's important these are protected from direct impact. Towels and clothing can soften knocks to the top. Fins are excellent for forming the sides to the box. Consider placing gauges inside boxes of their own. As a minimum wrap them inside clothing or put them into wetsuit boots or gloves. This will help reduce shock and vibration and help protect the faces from scratching. Masks should always be placed inside boxes. Regulators should be inside padded bags of their own or protected by clothing and towels and placed in the middle of the bag. BCDs are tough, but care should be taken to ensure valves are not exposed to knocks. Dive lights should be discharged or the batteries removed and possibly the bulbs as well. Some lights will melt if they turn on in air and that's not something you want to be going on in the hold of your jet.

O ring sealed equipment needs special care. O-rings used to seal diving equipment like lamps and camera housings are designed to seal with increasing pressure. During air travel or travelling at altitude, such as over mountain passes, air pressure surrounding your kit decreases. This can create two problems. As pressure drops, the higher pressure air inside the equipment will try to escape. If it can escape quickly enough past the O-rings no damage is done. But if it can't it may dislodge fittings. This may mean your equipment leaks underwater. The second problem is that on returning to sealevel pressure increases and the equipment seals again. Now the pressure inside the equipment is lower than that on the outside. On a large housing, for instance, this can make opening it almost impossible. The solution to avoiding any pressure related problems is to remove an O-ring. This will let air circulate freely just don't forget to put it back before you dive!

It may be better to spread your equipment between several bags and/or cases. This can make it easier to carry, though it probably increases the hazard of one being lost. If you carry back up kit, then you may want to split it, so at least you'll have something of your own to dive with if a bag is mislaid. If you have several items of luggage, think about how you'll need to carry them all. You only have one back and, at most, two hands At some airports you may have to go looking for a trolley and possibly pay a deposit or fee to use it in the local currency. Sometimes there are porters who will help you for a consideration. In any event, you need to be able to carry everything yourself you may very well have to. At any popular diving destination you can watch the identical kit bags spill onto the luggage carousel. Put your name on yours. It's quite likely to be it's only unique feature.

With a little forethought travelling with your diving and camera equipment really isn't a big deal. Many keen divers make longhaul trips four or five times a year. Hopefully this article will ease your way.

Good diving!