Most sports come with a bunch of standard gear and loads of accessories. Freediving, and Spearfishing especially, is no exception to this. Having a dedicated and purpose-made spearfishing and freediving bag makes carrying all your gear around much easier.
Freediving fins and spearguns are expensive and rather unwieldy items. Sadly, anything other than a specially made bag is probably not going to protect your loved gear as much as it should.
Let's have a look at what you need to cart your gear around with the least amount of effort while at the same time keeping it safe:
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Types of Freediving Bag
There’s quite a range of options available when it comes to spearfishing and Freediving bags. Which one is best suited to you will depend on the type of travelling you will be doing and off course the gear that you will take on your travels. The most common options are:
If you like to get to the places dived less often then a freediving backpack is the best choice.
The longer backpacks can fit a pair of fins on the inside and shorter backpacks like the Riffe Drifter or Mares Attack backpack have special straps and pockets to secure your freediving fins on the outside.
The Riffe Drifter is a smaller backpack style freediving bag with straps to secure your fins on the outside.
Image source: Ebay.com
If you are into hiking and diving/spearfishing like us then the long fin backpacks are ideal. The bags made by popular spearfishing brands like Beuchat, Mako and Riffe also allow you to attach spearguns to either sides of it.
When spearfishing it really pays to go off the beaten track and explore the sites visited less often. This is where a spearfishing backpack really shines.
The duffel style dive bag is quite popular with Scuba divers but they don’t normally have fins that are over 30” long. If you have Freediving fins with removable blades then you can break them down to fit in a duffel bag.
A mid-size duffel bag and modular fins can work for freedivers travelling long distances but you don’t want to assemble your blades each time before you can go for a dive.
Cressi Large Dive bag
You do get larger and extra long duffle bags (like the Cressi Gorilla Pro XL featured above) and dive suitcases that will swallow a pair of 40inch freediving fins and all your other gear. Popular ones even have wheels to drag it around the airport or to the docks.
These type of bags and suitcases are ideal if you will be travelling by road or air to your dive site and will be spending more time in one spot.
Since these bags are quite bulky you will probably need a smaller second bag to carry your gear between your accommodation and the boat or dive spot. A mesh style dive bag or smaller backpack is ideal for this.
Mesh Dive Bag
In our opinion, a freediving backpack is a good middle ground and the most popular option for those wanting to keep their fins safe and gear together on their way to the dive site and when travelling by plane.
It's big enough to carry all your dive gear in but you will need a second bag for clothes and other supplies when on longer trips.
Travelling with Spearguns
Travelling with long fins, especially on aeroplanes can be a pain. Spearguns even more so.
The only way to really keep long spearguns safe when travelling by plane is to use a hard case.
Sportube series 3 Spear dive hard case
Hard cases like the Sportube are made for this exact purpose. Soft speargun bags can work for shorter trips by road but when travelling overland or by plane with expensive gear then you need the protection of a hard case.
A benefit of long bags and cases is that they can also take all your other gear and normally have wheels to make it easier to cart around a busy airport.
If you are planning a spearfishing trip to a far flung island then it is definitely worth investing in a hard case. After paying top dollar for a once-in-a-lifetime trip the last thing you need is to arrive at your destination with damaged spearfishing gear.
But sometimes you have to make due with what you have or improvise and modify something else to suit your purpose. There are so many alternative bags on the market that can be used as freediving and spearfishing bags, as is, or with some slight modifications.
A great alternative bag for your freediving gear and spearguns are snowboard bags believe it or not.
Snowboard bag for Spearguns
A good snowboard bag will be big enough for even your longest bluewater tuna gun, including your fins and all your other gear. A big benefit is that Snowboard bags are often waterproof. The best ones will also have some padding to protect your gear.
Another quick and cheap solve for traveling with spearguns and spear shafts is to use PVC tubes with end caps. Some padding or even bubble-wrap on the inside will guarantee that your equipment arrives without a scratch.
If you love spearfishing trips but hate the idea of flying with a speargun then you should have a look at the travel hybrid spearguns made by Paul Rodriguez from Hot Rod Spearguns.
Paul's 130 Travel Hybrid breaks down into 2x 32" sections. That would probably make it shorter than your fins and easy to stuff in any mid-size bag or suitcase. If you often fly with a speargun then it will defintely pay for itself with the saved excess baggage fees.
Why you need a bag
You just spend $400+ on a pair of Carbon fiber freediving fins and another $400+ on a speargun. That's a lot of money for most people. Add on top of that the cost of a spearfishing or freediving trip and it makes sense to protect your gear with the best bag money can buy.
I can't imagine anything worse than arriving at your final destination only to realize that your carbon fiber freediving fins or carbon roller gun broke during the journey.
From my experience carrying all your gear in a bag also means that you are less likely to forget something at home and ruin your planned dive or worse forget something at the dive site and never see it again.
When you have a bag where everything has a place it's a lot less likely to get left behind.
What to look for in a spearfishing/freediving gear bag.
The most popular freediving and spearfishing backpacks and dive bags have a lot in common with each other. The best of them all share the same features:
Something that does differentiate them though is their design and the material they are made from.
There seems to be as many different types of materials as there are freediving bags.
Heavy ripstop nylon, Polyester and PVC are the most common and durable materials to choose for your freediving bag.
PVC - the same material that they make truck tarpaulins from - is our first choice since it is hard wearing and waterproof. A heavy weight nylon/polyester will be a close second
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The Best Freediving & Spearfishing bags
Koah Long Fin Utility Spearfishing Backpack
Koah makes some of the finest wooden spearguns and this great freediving and spearfishing backpack.
Some key features:
Beuchat Mundial 2 Long Fin Backpack
The second version of Beuchat's Mundial freediving backpack is slightly bigger than the previous version and even more popular.
It has a slightly gigger internal volume that the Koah bag although being a bit shorter. It does not have the small front pocket for your keys like the Mako and Koah bags.
Danno from Mako gets his gear from the same factories as the other manufacturers but cuts out the middleman to sell it directly to spearos and freedivers at a much lower price.
The Mako Freediving bag is similar to the Beuchat and Kona bags already mentioned and normally retails at a lower price than the others.
Cressi's Piovra freediving and spearfishing backpack is in our opinion the best looking bag that made our list. We simply love the octopus tentacles design on the front.
The size and features are similar to the Mundial 2 backpack.
Akona Freedive Snorkel Bag
The Akona Freediving bag deserves a special mention. They flipped the design around which means that you foot pockects of your fins sit at the bottom of the bag.
It has some unique features:
Xplor Dive Bags
Image Source: xplortheotherside.com
This bag was inspired by Ryan Myers who does a lot of travelling and spearfishing all over the world. The team at Xplor, the makers of this bag, thought of everything when they put this together.
The clam shell design suitcase style dive bag has multiple pockets and dividers to keep all your gear organized and even sleeves to protect your freediving fins.
This is not the type of bag that you will take to the docks and jump on the dive boat with but that's not a problem since it comes with a large mesh dive bag for exactly that purpose. It even comes with a hemp bag that can be used for your dirty laundry.
It's loaded with features and added extras and - in our opinion - the best travel dive suitcase available on the market. Click the button below to check it out.
Mesh style dive bag
Talking about mesh style dive bags: These bags are ideal for carrying your dive gear between your accommodation and the boat or dive site. They are inexpensive and can be folded up when not in use. If you are travelling with a suitcase or a sportube then make sure to pack one of these bags.
Riffe Stash
A duffel bag made from a durable material and long enough for a pair of 41" long freediving fins are rare. Legendary spearfishing and freediving equipment manufacturer Riffe has one and it's appropriately called the stash.
Made from durable 600d Polyester fabric with a vortex camo print and coated with a water resistant TPE coating.
A padded single shoulder strap makes carrying it even with all your freediving gear inside a sinch.
Conclusion
Choosing the best freediving bag (or spearfishing bag) for you depends a lot on the type of travelling that you will be doing with your gear.
For us there are two that stand out:
Backpacks that are able to carry a pair of long fins are the best balance between size, comfort, and maneuverability if you like to be out and about in your local area.
But if you are travelling long distances by plane or road then a hard case like a Sportube is a solid investment to keep your gear save and secure.
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