Idea needed: ideal bag for transiting housing set up to a day boat

[oneyellowtang 95]

I know I can't be the only one with the following challenge

 

Been diving with a camera & housing (one form or another) for the last 15+ years, and outside of diving at places like Wakatobi, Lembeh, etc. (with a camera room close to dock) or on a live-aboard I'm still looking for the best way to carry a fully put together housing (currently for a D7100) & arms from hotel room to boat, many times with a significant walk/transit in between.

 

Example:

On the plane to the Big Island (HI) right now (WiFi at 30k feet & WetPixel to help pass the time) for a week of diving with the family. As we usually do, staying in a resort, diving 25+ min away down near Kona or up near Puako. I'll put together my camera gear the night before, and then end up carrying it from the room to the car, then from the car to the boat (along w/the rest of our dive gear).

 

I've been on an unending search for a backpack wide & tall enough to comfortably carry the housing (preferably w/the arms collapsed (but attached). The best I ever found was actually a free backpack from the old Microsoft PDC developer conferences (got one at one at the conference, then started buying them on eBay as they wore out, which was fairly quickly given the environment). After I couldn't find any more of these, I switched to an Akona backpack that was slightly narrower (very tight fit, but was a little more ruggedized (material was resistant to salt water, heavy duty zipper, small waterproof compartment). On my 2nd one of these backpacks now, so thinking about what's next when this one wears out (it's a very tight squeeze [side to side] for the housing).

 

This may only be an issue for those of us who still occasionally tolerate multi-dive day boats (most have limited capacity to carry on larger camera bags), but I've found myself even wanting this during longer excursions off of liveaboards (last year in Raja Ampat we did a 3 dive long range trip with 1 being a shore dive - wanted to carry some gear & my camera in a way that kept it out of the sand).

 

Both hands end up being for dive gear, so really like the option of carrying the rig on my back (also have a wife and 13 year old daughter diving so I seem to be carrying more gear than before - even though they do claim they carry their own gear).

 

So I'm looking for ideas, or better yet, a recommendation for some mythical backpack-like, rugged, salt-tolerating bag big enough to comfortably carry a full housing (and a few odds n ends). Does such a beast exist?

 

- Matt

 

 

[diver dave1 23]

Polar cooler, 24 pack works great for me with a D7000 in Nauticam housing, Inon strobes attached (folded) plus nauticam 180 viewfinder attached. The cooler top stays open, unzipped. Put a longer strap with buckle through the loop handles, put the strap over my shoulder and carry the bag hanging from one shoulder on the way to the boat. If the boat does not have a good rinse tank for your housing, have them fill the cooler with fresh water before leaving the dock. Fill in on the boat if possible as it gets heavy. Then you have your personal rinse tank.

You can compress the cooler to a pretty flat size for packing in the checked dive roller for airline travel. Double it over, kneel on it to compress it and stuff in in the bag as the last thing into the dive bag then zip for heading to the airport.

Been doing this for over a decade with the same bag.

When the day's diving is done, it works as place for cold beverages as well.

Its great for shore based dive trips to/from the boat.

[cneal 9]

I simply clip a padded luggage strap to the base of the strobe arms. This allows me to sling it over a shoulder and use one hand to control the camera and provide a safe connection in case something knocks the strap off of my shoulder.

 

Since the Aquatica housing, Nikon DSLR and a pair of Ikelite 161's can weigh in at 25 pounds I find the 'sherpa strap' as something that is a big help for long walks to the boat.

[TimG 62]

I'm with dive dave 1. If I can't use my favourite, a laundry basket, then I use a big padded cooler with a shoulder strap. As dd1 says, it's a rinse tank too.

Edited July 13, 2015 by TimG

[Hulkster 3]

Ortlieb rack pack. Waterproof, has shoulder strap. Not DYI.

[marcw 8]

I use a tool bag from home depot, cheap, large(differnet sizes) light. Salt does not harm it enough to care.

 

[Tinman 31]

Polar 24 Pack Soft Cooler works exceptionally well for me. The insulation provides padding and the shoulder strap that comes with the bag works okay for me too. I simply put my rig in the bag during surface intervals with a towel over the top of the camera rather than using the bag as a fresh water rinse tank.

 

After getting a dome port dinged pretty good last year in a boat rinse tank, I stopped using the boat tanks. I also have watched too many non-photographers use the boat tanks as mask rinse tanks frequently despite instructions from the boat crew not to do that.

 

I do use the cooler as a fresh water rinse/soak tank when I return to my hotel room... just set it in the tub or shower and fill it up (just make sure not to cover the tub/shower drain).

 

-AZTinman

Edited July 18, 2015 by Tinman