Flying with Trad Gear??

Parker Wrozek wrote:

...you have to check tools.

I fly with tools all the time (in carry-on). I believe the rule is less than 7" are allowed in carry-on. Only been forced to check bag once, but I had a rather large monkey wrench in my bag. Lady pulled the thing out of bag and said "Seriously? Go check this thing."

I should have clarifed length, sorry. 

Just to bump this...I'm trying to divide up weight and need to throw my rack in my carry on.

What happens if they reject my climbing gear? Do you have an option of checking it????Im obviously not throwing it out, and I don't want to miss a flight because of it???

Thanks!!

I carry my rack on frequently.  The rule is that you're not allowed to carry tools over 7 inches in the cabin.  Nut tools sometimes make it, other times do not.  Carry your cams, slings and rope, check everything else.  

Any experience taking things internationally? 

Embarrassed to say wrote:

Just to bump this...I'm trying to divide up weight and need to throw my rack in my carry on.

What happens if they reject my climbing gear? Do you have an option of checking it????Im obviously not throwing it out, and I don't want to miss a flight because of it???

Thanks!!

If something in your bag gets stopped at the security line, you should be able to exit security, go back to the flight checkin counter, wait in line there, check your bag, and then go back to wait in the security line again. But you'd need to have arrived at the airport insanely early to be confident you'll have enough time to be sure this is an option, and on most airlines you'll pay more to check your bag this way than if you'd planned to check it from the start and paid in advance. 

The only things on your rack that aren't allowed according to TSA rules should be any knives, or nut tools longer than 7 inches, but in reality the agents have near godlike powers with no requirement to follow TSA rules, no incentive for customer service, poor training, and no appeals process. 

I had my lunch thrown away by TSA because rice is "basically a paste, which is basically a liquid." 

My issue is I've already paid for two checked bags BUT the portaledge will count as one on it own. In order to get by the 40lb. limit for the second, I'm going to have to try and get a rope (or two), and a large portion of my rack in the carry-on......

Caleb Schwarz wrote:

Any experience taking things internationally? 

 Watch out.. Some foreign countries allow two carry on bags but the US only allows one. When I tried to board a plane in Toronto to Baltimore, second flight of the day, TSA stopped me, asked who’s backpacks these were and searched the $hit outta them. They even wanted to see my headlamp work to be sure it wasn’t a bomb. Yikes!

We always pack our hardware in our carry-on, to save weight for the check-in, and have never had a problem (although we have had to explain ourselves a couple of times). If you want to be hassled, just try burying a can of shaving cream down at the bottom; whoa, they don't like that stuff at all.... ;-)

Embarrassed to say wrote:

Just to bump this...I'm trying to divide up weight and need to throw my rack in my carry on.

What happens if they reject my climbing gear? Do you have an option of checking it????Im obviously not throwing it out, and I don't want to miss a flight because of it???

Thanks!!

If security deems something not suitable for a carry on, you can leave security and check the bag. If you think this may happen, make sure the bag you bring you are ok with checking, leave yourself enough time to go through security, leave / wait in line to check bag, get back through security (they may let you come back to front if they sent you back).

Peter Lewis wrote:

We always pack our hardware in our carry-on, to save weight for the check-in, and have never had a problem (although we have had to explain ourselves a couple of times). If you want to be hassled, just try burying a can of shaving cream down at the bottom; whoa, they don't like that stuff at all.... ;-)

In other threads there's been the suggestion of throwing in a climbing magazine to help with explanations.

Yeah, I had a bit of an issue in the Málaga airport.  They wanted me to open up my bag and show them my gear...and all I had was some quickdraws and belay devices, etc.  I tried to explain in Spanish..."para escalar?"  They finally waved me through, but they didn't seem very happy.  YMMV

My bag gets gone through every time i travel with climbing gear in the US. Recently i flew with just a harness and grigri and my bag got gone through there and back. Didn't have any problems in europe they are way more relaxed about all that stuff.

Soulless Ginger wrote: Didn't have any problems in europe they are way more relaxed about all that stuff.

Yet Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris is notorious for confiscating biners because they "can be used as brass knuckles".

I've also had to talk my sport rack though in Malaga as well as Madrid (on separate occasions). Security in Madrid was concerned there would be a problem back in the US and it took quite a bit of back and forth and the input of a national police supervisor before a was able to carry on my gear. I was really scared for a while I would have to choose between my gear or my flight. All good in the end though. And yeah, CDG does have a bad rep regarding biners. The "brass knuckles" issue is a thing. 

Soulless Ginger wrote:

My bag gets gone through every time i travel with climbing gear in the US. Recently i flew with just a harness and grigri and my bag got gone through there and back. Didn't have any problems in europe they are way more relaxed about all that stuff.

I've had contacts lose their ropes and some climbing gear in Italy,

The guidelines are clear in the US, you can print them to clarify things with border security.  But there aren't such guidelines in Europe so you're playing the odds at each airport you fly from.

I clip my entire rack to a sling, pull it out pre-emptively and send it through the scanner in its own bin. I've had a few screeners thank me.

From the perspective of overall ease, I don't see why you wouldn't simply check all your climbing gear. Checked luggage allowances are so much more lax.

If you're trying to avoid paying for a checked bag, not checking any bags is the hardest way to do that. There are tons of ways to get a free checked bag with most airlines. I have an airline credit card, which I only use for purchasing plane tickets--that gets me a free checked bag. One checked bag is enough to bring my trad setup along with some other stuff I don't want to carry on. Generally I have to carry on some of my clothes or whatever, but that's not a big problem.

One other tip: if you find your checked bag is over weight, some (all?) airlines have a special allowance for "specialty sports equipment" which allows them to be larger and/or heavier. I've only had to use this once (did you know the Chat Trad and Chatt Steel guidebooks weigh almost 6 pounds combined?) and I wouldn't rely on it because my bag contains other things so I'd be bending the rules, and therefore dependent on the mercy of the person checking luggage. But it's a card you can try to play if your bag is overweight.

......because I don't want to pay for 3 checked bags. 

Embarrassed to say wrote:

......because I don't want to pay for 3 checked bags. 

Okay, I assumed (mistakenly) that "trad gear" meant "gear for trad" but I guess it could also mean gear for aid.

For most trad climbing a single 50lb checked bag plus some (non-climbing) stuff in a carry-on can suffice, but some people do travel heavier than others.