Kit bag recommendation

[Fishstab]

I’m looking for a kit bag that will take everything for a dive inside (wetsuit, fins, mask, snorkel, Weight belt, float etc) and ideally allow a speargun to be strapped to the outside. Walking a few miles with a back pack on and then fins in one hand and speargun in the other is annoying, especially on the return leg when I also have fish!

I’ve looked at the cressi gorilla commando which looks good and robust but it doesn’t have anyway to secure a speargun To the outside.

there’s a salvimar cyclops bag which again looks reasonable but no way to attack a gun (although there are d rings on the outside so perhaps I could add some Velcro strips or something..) and the ‘shoulder straps’ are just long varying handles which probably aren’t that comfortable or adjustable, I’d prefer proper shoulder straps.

What do you guys use? There must be something better out there, doesn’t need to be a specific speato one as long as it works!

 

[Leander]

I use my 33litre hiking backpack. The 3-mil suit and everything go inside; the fins I wrap in one of the bags we use for the olive harvest to protect the blades from the summer sun then get strapped to the outside together with the gun and polespear. Fish I keep in the hand with the stringer, but are just as easily atrached with a carabiner to one of the many loops and d-rings. It's a cheap €12 backpack I once got at a Dutch china-store, so really every backpack of about 30 litres or more should do.

The big advantage if using a hiking backpack is that they are made for carrying heavy loads for extended periods. The smaller 30-40litre backpacks don't rest on the hips but on the waist, so they don't limit manoeuvrability, which is a definite plus when you want to go to those difficult-to-reach spots. Most also have room for a drinking bladder.

* Both my gun and the polespear have a total length of 135cm (82cm barrel), which imho is about the limit of what is comfortable being strapped to a backpack (depends on person's height I guess?). Hiking and cycling being my ways of transportation were my prime reason for choosing a smaller gun. It might not be as powerful as a large gun, but being easier to transport means it gets used more often.

 

[DiveHacker]

I have the C4 Extreme Back Pack picked out, although I have not bought it yet. Impetus in Malta carries them and I have really enjoyed my first shopping experience with these guys. They ship worldwide. Cressi makes a similar one.

I like to swim short distances with my back pack occasionally, and I really like that the fins strap on the outside. Anyway, if it is any help after measuring in front of me how long the "carry everything inside" backpacks like the Commando I decided it would be much better and more comfortable to go fins outside. I also get the feeling those one huge single compartment dry backpacks would get old, when you have to get a single thing out and it is at the bottom of the bag.

Again, if it helps, I decided to carry my gun in its own bag when on transport, and probably in my hand as I walk to sites. It depends on how long your gun is I suppose.

 

[diver278]

Check Mako they sell one also.

 

[diver278]

This is Mako’s