Flying with gear

I'm planning on flying to indian creek in march and am planning on taking all my gear as carry ons. I just stumbled upon something about the TSA confiscating ropes? Is there any truth to that or is there anything else i should be worried about?

I've heard that things depends on the agent you get, and that it's helpful to bring pictures with you to explain things, but I've never flown with gear and I'm sure there's a ton of people here that have better advice for you. 

There are a bunch of threads on this. You’d be wise to do a search. 

TSA will probably open up your backpack (unless you're flying from Denver - they seem used to gear there) and take a quick look at the rope and rack. Then you just explain what the gear is for (if the agents are especially skeptical be prepared to do a quick demo of how cams work), and the only item I heard they tend to confiscate is the nut tool, but it never happened to me.

when flying, i carry on at least my shoes and harness, in the event that my checked baggage might arrive late.  that way i still get to climb with others' gear until the rest is delivered to me. i don't use chalk, and would suggest putting that into checked baggage, to avoid special attention and delay through security screening.  i also always incl a photo gear catalogue page or two in the checked bag to make the equipment self-explanatory.  never had a problem with that

A search on the site for "Flying with gear" yields a lot of results:
https://www.mountainproject.com/search?q=flying%20with%20gear

These should be all be helpful and save you time waiting on more responses

I've flown from Detroit to L.A. and back with a 60 meter rope, quickdraws, harness, shoes and a chalk bag. All carry on. Im pretty sure I've flown from Detroit to Portland OR and back with ropes in my carry on. Never any problem.

Justin Veenhuis wrote: I've flown from Detroit to L.A. and back with a 60 meter rope, quickdraws, harness, shoes and a chalk bag. All carry on. Im pretty sure I've flown from Detroit to Portland OR and back with ropes in my carry on. Never any problem.

Anecdotal evidence isn’t terribly helpful. I’ve accidentally flown with pocket knives before. Some woman just flew to Japan with a loaded pistol. But it’s not recommended.

Marc H wrote:

Anecdotal evidence isn’t terribly helpful. I’ve accidentally flown with pocket knives before. Some woman just flew to Japan with a loaded pistol. But it’s not recommended.

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that everything except nut tools are typically okay. I've flown with people who have just had coiled ropes strapped to the top of their carry-on a handful of times.

PatMas wrote:

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that everything except nut tools are typically okay. I've flown with people who have just had coiled ropes strapped to the top of their carry-on a handful of times.

True, but it's better to have hard and fast information directly from the TSA.  I added a link to my last post.

I got on the TSA website well before the flights and they didnt seem to care about rope

Ive flown from SLC to NY with my trad rack+rope as carry on, no problems. The beta is to take a climbing mag with you so you can explain what stuff is if there are questions. 

I’ve flown Dallas to NY, NJ, L.A, Sacramento, NM, WA with trad racks, aid racks, and rope and never had an issue.

I fly all the time with a double rack, rope and even my nut tool and never once had a problem. It's 50/50 whether they even bother to open up the bag and swab a cam or two and the rope for explosives. Never had a TSA agent bat an eye. Just show up early in case you are the one dude out of thousands they say no to because you got an idiot agent and idiot supervisor combo and be prepared to check it. Even smaller airports I never had a problem.

As long as you are in the US and flying within the US, you won't have problems with rock climbing gear.

At some international destinations I've had issues with ropes and locking carabiners, but never in the US. 

Maya L wrote: the only item I heard they tend to confiscate is the nut tool, but it never happened to me.

It won't get confiscated - they give you the option of checking it, shipping it to your destination or home (without leaving security), or to throw it out. The only things they can confiscate are contraband (ie. illegal things) - they don't just confiscate your shit.

TSA almost took my nut tool earlier this month, you should check that in

Hopefully another government shutdown will happen and there won't be TSA to pull pain in the ass stunts. 

grog m wrote: Hopefully another government shutdown will happen and there won't be TSA to pull pain in the ass stunts. 

TSA worked without pay during the last shutdown. They were declared "essential workers".

I fly with my rack and rope every time in the carry on.. i can buy new clothes at a walmart  and would even be willing to buy new harness and shoes if i had to. but I couldn't afford to buy a new rack and rope if it got lost. Especially when i'm going to places not close to the airport. having you bag lost for a day could ruin an entire trip.. probably flown with gear 10-15 times.. I think they have looked in my bag once? I've flown from upstate NY, Colorado, Cali, wyoming, Idaho, and Calgeri. Cary the gear on.. worth it. 

I've never had an issue with flying with cams, nuts, nut tools, ropes in my carry on. HOWEVER, when I flew to Monterrey Mexico, the Mexican agent took my rope and looked at the label and said it was too wide (whatever that means) and can be used as a weapon and my quickdraws were dangerous and made me check them.

He might have just been hassling me, but I've flown with trad gear in my carry on around 10 times and never had an issue in the states.