This bag easily holds everything a diver could want for a weeklong dive trip. Two large compartments—each sporting a zippered pocket and compression straps—allow for easy packing and organization of dive gear, clothes and personal items. Tough skid rails, durable roller wheels and a sturdy telescoping handle are complemented by quality construction throughout. The Chelan was the largest bag in the test despite being lighter than all but one of the roller bags we evaluated.
That let testers jam it full of dive gear and personal items but still tip the scales under the pound mark though they noted the soft-sided design could allow the unwary to blast well over the limit.
The Ushaped front zipper opens wide for easy access to the main compartment, which has a mesh pocket and slightly short compression straps. The huge, well-vented side fin pockets let you air out wet gear, and the stout trolley handle makes for easy rolling. High-end materials and hardware abound on the Apeks 90L Roller: stainless-steel zipper pulls, heavy-duty straps and buckles, and tough, water-shedding fabric all seem built to last.
The bag holds a reasonable amount given its size, and scored good for capacity. Even so, space can be tight—especially for divers who travel with large BCs or beefy fins. The large vented fin pockets have a long U-shaped opening for easy access. Thick padding throughout the bag, including the external waterproof pocket, provides plenty of protection for dive kit and personal items.
Essentially a duffel on roller wheels, the Caravan is compact, lightweight and easy to manage. Rated good for capacity, it can handle an average set of dive gear with ease, although heavy packers may have trouble squeezing in all of their clothes and personal items. Exterior pockets are small and tight.
Internal elastic compression straps are difficult to fish out after packing, but the external webbing straps and heavy-duty buckles are more than enough to cinch down the soft-sided bag. Solid construction incorporates a sturdy telescoping handle and tough skid rails. The bag rolls well on skate wheels, and the duffel-style handle is convenient for carrying lighter loads.
Although the Equipage looks like it would be more at home rolling through an airport lobby than being lugged down a muddy trail, testers found it surprisingly comfortable for backpacking with a full load, thanks to its clip-on shoulder straps and heat-formed EVA rear panel.
It rolls just as well, and is easy to lift, drag or otherwise wrestle, with comfortable— and bright-red high-viz—grips at top and side. With a shape and dimensions a bit more streamlined than the larger bags, it struggled with our full dive-trip loads.
The design also made it a pain to pack because it requires the bag to be upright with the front flap opened and horizontal. With a large vertical flap that opens like the hood of a s Buick, this bag provides easy access for no-fuss packing. Three internal compartments and a set of elastic straps help organize and secure the load. The larger exterior pocket is as deep as the bag is tall, but the narrower opening makes it less than convenient.
The bag stands on its own and is easy to lift and roll. Padded handles are comfortable to use, except for the relatively chintzy plastic grip on the bottom.
The bag features solid construction and hardware, with rivets holding handles in place and tough external compression straps. Hard sides and padding in the front flap provide a decent amount of protection for sensitive gear. It easily sucked up all the gear testers threw in thanks to its huge main compartment, which seemed all the bigger for the lack of any padding or lining allowing you to hose it out for cleaning.
A pair of boxy external zippered pockets add easy-access space but are also unpadded, limiting the protection they can offer. Made of heavy-duty coated fabric, the B3 has decent grips at top, bottom and front.
But if the B3 had few frills, it was also the lowest priced bag in the test. Nearly the lightest bag in the test, the Voyager assigns triple duty to a pair of exterior cinch straps that keep it secured against bag handler abuse, using them for backpack straps as well as the anchor points for a pair of handy grips. Dive Bags are often biased towards either durability or lightness. They will either be built with heavy duty materials, reinforced stitching and big chunky zips designed to withstand years of regular abuse, or they will be finished with lightweight materials and alloy framework that allows you to maximise the amount of kit you can fit in a flight weight allowance.
If a dive bag won't hold all of your gear, it is a poor item to purchase. Take an inventory of your dive equipment and then think about what scuba gear you plan on purchasing in the next couple of years.
Once you have a strong idea of how much room your gear will need, you'll know what size of bag to purchase. A pair of fins, regulator, octopus, gloves, repair kit, mask, snorkel, BCD, gloves, hood, and boots will not fit in a compact backpack. To accommodate that amount of gear, a large bag will be required.
If you plan on traveling from a cold-water location to a warm-water location, then you may only need your mask, snorkel, light, and gloves. If that is the case, then a more compact bag will probably be sufficient. Be realistic about your needs and think about any problems you might encounter like flight size restrictions. A monstrously huge bag may fit all your dive kit in and still have space for the kitchen sink but can you still pick it up?
A lot of bags especially those higher up the price scale are fitted with multi-purpose or removable straps that allows the bag to be adapted to suit a number of uses or transport requirements. Think carefully about what you want. Lugging a 20 kg duffel bag about is fine if you are just moving it from the back of the car a few steps to where you are kitting up but over a distance it's hard work.
A couple of shoulder straps could make all the difference. Wheels are almost a necessity for airports. Trolleys aren't always available and you can often end up walking quite a distance between collection points. They can be a hindrance as well though, adding weight to a bag and being next to useless over rough ground, loose sand or pebbles meaning you'll have to carry the bag anyway. Do you want plenty of separate pockets for your fins, regulators, documents and accessories or you happy with lumping everything in together.
More pockets makes the bag more expensive but it does help to protect your equipment. Some bags have external fins slots that allow them to act as rigid side panels, giving the bag structure even when empty. Ultimately it is only you that can weigh up the options and consider what you'll be using the bag for most, whether you want something that is satisfactory for all uses or want several bags that are specialised.
If you are overwhelmed, stuck between a couple of choices or have a question about a particular bag we are always ready to offer our advice so just give us a call, send us a message, or pop in and see us. This nicely sized and spacious dive travel bag features a large main compartment, side fin pockets, plus two smaller front compartments. Adventurous diving is always going to need the right equipment to transport your gear.
Designed to carry a wetsuit and other essentials, the Fourth Element Drypack is versatile and rugged enough to go with you wherever your diving takes you. This is a great fin bag for carrying your freediving and spearfishing long fins. It has a front pocket for your mask and snorkel, plus a shoulder strap to make it easy to carry. Room for a mask, fins and snorkel with shoulder straps, carry handle and big front accessory pocket. This is also an awesome underwater hockey gear bag! If you want a wet bag, where you keep your kit together on a dive boat but it can drain easily after the dive, then go for mesh bag.
This one is our favourite because it's spacious and tough. Dive Bags are often biased towards either durability or lightness and will either be built with heavy duty materials, reinforced stitching and big chunky zips designed to withstand years of regular abuse or they will be finished with lightweight materials and alloy framework that allows you to maximise the amount of kit you can fit in a flight weight allowance.
Be realistic about your needs and think about any problems you might encounter like flight size restrictions. A monstrously huge bag may fit all your dive kit in and still have space for the kitchen sink but can you still pick it up? A lot of bags especially those higher up the price scale are fitted with multi-purpose or removable straps that allows the bag to be adapted to suit a number of uses or transport requirements.
Think carefully about what you want. Lugging a 20kg duffel bag about is fine if you are just moving it from the back of the car a few steps to where you are kitting up but over a distance it's hard work.
A couple of shoulder straps could make all the difference. Wheels are almost a necessity for airports. Trolleys aren't always available and you can often end up walking quite a distance between collection points. They can be a hindrance as well though, adding weight to a bag and being next to useless over rough ground, loose sand or pebbles meaning you'll have to carry the bag anyway.
Do you want plenty of separate pockets for your fins, regulators, documents and accessories or you happy with lumping everything in together. More pockets makes the bag more expensive but it does help to protect your equipment. Some bags have external fins slots that allow them to act as rigid side panels, giving the bag structure even when empty.
Ultimately it is only you that can weigh up the options and consider what you'll be using the bag for most, whether you want something that is satisfactory for all uses or want several bags that are specialised. If you are overwhelmed, stuck between a couple of choices or have a question about a particular bag we are always ready to offer our advice so just give us a call, send us a message or pop in and see us.
I have been a diver since the age of 14 and have been part of the scuba diving industry for nearly 20 years. Over the years I have worked in dive store sales teams, as a technician, marketing and much more, along with over 25 years of diving experience has given me a broad knowledge and understanding of divers, their needs and dive kit.
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