There are times when you could really do with a trolley. The Diver's Companion is one designed specifically to carry your dive kit and cylinder.
An ABS box fits on to a substantial stainless-steel trolley which has additional castors so that it can be operated flat as well as like a sack-truck. The cylinder is sandwiched between box and trolley, secured by bungee cords. The box has cam-catches that can be fitted with padlocks.
The Diver's Companion is a complex solution to a problem that I'm not sure exists.
This is not for divers who travel by train or plane. Rail staff won't want to carry it, complete with dangerous-looking cylinder, in the guard's van, and in the case of air-travel, it weighs a ton before you start loading it.
Divers who travel to a dive site by car put everything in the boot and walk fully kitted to the water's edge. Why would you need a box?
There is no way you could put the Diver's Companion directly into your car - you would need to break it down into box, cylinder and trolley before loading it, unless you have a big vehicle equipped with a tail-lift.
If you're going on a hardboat you might feel clever rolling your Diver's Companion down the jetty - until the skipper asks where you think you're going to stow the thing. Wheeled items develop a life of their own on the rolling decks of boats, even if the castors do have locking brakes.
It might come in useful at, say, Swanage, if you had to park far from the pier, or at Stoney Cove when the upper car-park is full. The main wheels are big and will roll over fairly rough ground. But what do you do with it once you've kitted up? Roll it back to your car, while wearing your kit? Or leave it where it is, to be vandalised or stolen?
It could be handy for transporting your kit from car to pool on club nights, or for Dive Show exhibitors coming in loaded from a far-off car-park. And it might appeal if you live within walking distance of the dive-site, but then your buddy will need a Diver's Companion too.
Most dive bags have rucksack straps and wheels, so I have a feeling you might do better saving the cost of the Diver's Companion, pooling your resources and buying a secondhand van.
The Diver's Companion costs £350.
Aquarius Projects 01652 652399
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+ Well-built
+ A kit trolley for anyone who needs it
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- Expensive
- Introduces problems you had never thought of
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