Speargun Travel bag advice.

[Huw]

Hi guys.

Next year i will be doing alot of traveling around the world, and i would love to take my spearfishing gear with me. However i am concerned with the handling techniques employed by the majority of luggage handlers in the airports around the world!!!

I need some advice on a case or bag that i can use to take my spearing stuff in on my trip.

My requirements are...

It must be sufficiently padded ( this is very important to me)
It must be able to hold a 90cm gun and spare shafts.
I would like it to hold fins too ( but this isnt vital)
Would like it to have some spare pockets to keep tips / prongers line and bungees in.

It would be good if it had a photo id section in it for easy identification at the airport.

A comfortable strap would also be great.

If anyone out there could give me hints or advice on any such bag, or even just reccomendations on bags that they have come across on the net, i would very much apprichiate it.

I know lots of you travel around with your gear, and so what do you use to take your gear?


Thanks in advance,
Huw

 

[dave]

cheaper option; Snowboard bag, put plastic drainpipe inside for spears, put all the rest of your kit in it as well. a determined baggage handler may still manage to break things though!
More expensive option; search on google for "sportube" available in a variety of sizes
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

 

[stuckinsurrey]

I have a friend that has converted a plastic rod tube (cut down its size and cut a space for the handle) for a speargun holder, spears would fit in too. Its a cheap option and quite tough. The handle of the speargun does stick out though. Most tackle shops sell them, only cheap, not sure how much - podge should know though as he runs a tackle shop.

 

[Marwan]

HUW,
look at the armor speargun bag at leisurepro.com. its padded and takes all the gear 2 guns, suit, fins mask everything, its for half the price of the sportube..

 

[Tord]

Just like stuckinsurrey' friend, I have a tube bought from the plumber, but the shaft shows. The armor speargun bag at leisurepro is'nt armoured, but padded, so thats not strong enought for me. But I liked the size, so here's my new idea: One large tupe, split it in two, a piano Hinges (a long one) Glue some padding inside, and a tavel-band to hold the two part together. (And if you like it fancy, take your backpack from the dusted, old 15 liters scubabottle , so you can carry it on your back)

 

[Huw]

Thank you all very much for your imput so far. I really like the sportube, but i dont think the sizes of their three models suit my gear. Since my gun is only 90cm all of their cases seem a bit ott and i also dont think that they fit my gear. I do like the prototype ideas suggested so far, however i think my ability to actually make my own gear is severely limited.

Probably my favorite sugeestion so far is the armour bag at leisurepro.com, however like Tord said... it isnt rigid, and so i am not sure if it will withstand the luggage handlers around the globe rofl!

I love all pelican cases, and they are the only way to go for my rifles and shotguns as far as i am concerned... however they do not do a model suitable for spearguns and fins etc!! i think we should get onto them to design one for the spearos around the world!


Keep any further thoughts coming please

Thanks again,
Huw.

 

[Fondueset]

I have the #2 sportube. The sportubes telescope and will go longer or shorter depending on your gear - the #2 sportube will shrink down to 48 inches, assuming you've got 130cm shafts you wouldn't want to shrink it much less than about 55 inches - to allow a few inches room for padding at the ends. I recently used mine with a 100cm gun (omer Cobra - teak!), a shorter gun, two pairs of fins, two masks two snorks a weight vest, gloves and boots, 3 mil suit. I bought a Riffe speargun bag and put my guns in it - then in the sportube with the end folded over (guns shorter than bag)- then crammed the fins and stuff in there. This worked very well. I compressed the tube down to 60inches - Which was exactly perfect to allow for a little padding on the ends. The trick with the sportubes is to not let them get too heavy - mine was 45lbs loaded -
next time I'll try to keep it under 40. When they are too heavy the tube is more likely to get damaged from getting bashed into sharp objects - though mine was not. They have wheels on one end and are fairly easy to get around with.

If you got the armour bag then that would replace the riffe in this scenario. You could also wrap your guns in something of course, but it's nice to have the soft bag for local transport. Personally I would not trust a soft bag to protect my spearguns on flights.

In short - the #2 will shrink shorter than your gun. It is wide and deep enough to hold fins and as much other stuff as you want to cram into it. Combined with a soft-case inside it's a pretty bomb proof way to transport your gear. ( the #1 is also just wide enough for fins - but an inch less deep so a little more crammed.)

 

[spriggan]

I also was thinking about getting the armour bag from leisurepro.com, as it can fit long fins and 2 spearguns. Although I think the solution to it would be to just put your spearguns in a pvc tube and then put it in the bag.

 

[Huw]

I also was thinking about getting the armour bag from leisurepro.com, as it can fit long fins and 2 spearguns. Although I think the solution to it would be to just put your spearguns in a pvc tube and then put it in the bag.

Agreed!

I think that the armour bag will end up being my final choice! However I suppose it depends at the time, and if i can get a sportube easily whilst here in the UK as i would be VERY tempted by the #2 now that Fondueset has helpfully explained the sizing and the capability of them .

Anyone know of a sportube dealer here in the UK stocking the #2 size? Or maybe a stockist that ships to the UK ( seems strange to ship luggage though!!!)?

Thanks,
Huw.

 

[Fondueset]

I think Leisurepro ships internationally. The armor bag looks very nice - better than the riffe I have.

 

[eGumby]

I travel with my spearguns regularly. I use a hard plastic fishing rod case (similar to sportube) and a homemade 4" PVC tube with an endcap on one end – threaded cap on the other (~$30 USD). I take the handles and bands off to fit better and place the handles in my clothes bag for protection. I also wrap each gun in a towel before slipping them in the case. On my trip to the keys last week – I fit my 55"wong, 48" Biller & 42" JBL and 1 trolling rod in my rod case & 7 other fishing rods in my PVC case … zero damage.

I fly Delta all the time & they won’t cover damages for any equipment in a soft case (golf clubs, spearguns, surf boards, fishing rods, bikes, etc.). I’m sure the other airlines have similar policies. All of the airlines treat luggage horribly. I’ve been lucky with my spearguns & rod cases. I travel with my golf clubs a lot and the marks/cuts on my hard golf case are impressive! They really had to work to create that much damage to the case – one series of marks looks like a kid went to work on it with a machete.

I personally wouldn’t look at any soft case for that reason alone.

 

[Fondueset]

Exactly why I went the way I did.

 

[Ted Budion]

We had this thread few weeks or months ago. Here are 2¢ from someone who travels to spearfish for living: get the Sportube; #2 if you want to fit in your long fins too. The #1 would be fine for everything else but the fins. As Fondueset reminded, Sportubes are telescopic, you can reduce their lengths down to 48", they've wheels, hard and soft handle, and everything. it's the only real protection you'd ever get to your guns with the advantage of fitting the rest of the gear.

The Rob Allen, Armor, Riffe and other guns bags are pretty good. But, they sure weren't designed for the frequent flyer. I decided on Sportube the day I saw through the airplane windown in Panama the baggage handler throw my gun bag conspicously marked "fragile" like a sandbag in the luggage trolley.

Airport baggage handlers (with few exceptions) do not give a s**t to our or any oversized fragile luggage. On the contrary, it's a pain in the ass because they've to carry them around instead of letting the automatic carousel route them. In fact, the feeling I get from airlines it's that they would be off without passengers themselves... Well, they're trying hard, you can say that in their favor...

 

[Erik]

Here's what I use: 15$

http://gateway.canadiantire.ca/driver.php?fileid=1408474396669582_1408474396670271_845524443248914_

In Canada.
Erik

 

[Huw]

cheers guys,

the #2 sportube it is!!!!

Thanks for your imput.

Huw

 

[Ted Budion]

One last piece of advice, if you're travelling to or through the US, do not use regular padlocks on it. Use the safety pin supplied by the manufacturer or a TSA approved padlock, otherwise they will tear the whole thing apart with a chainsaw.

 

[Fondueset]

I've had to take mine apart 3 times during one trip - so keep that in mind when you pack it! And definitely no padlock.

 

[Huw]

Thankyou guys!

This will be my first year of proper travelling, so small tips like this go a long long way!!!

The magic of DB.

Thanks to both of you!

Huw