Air travel gear confusion

[H20doctor]

I am leaving next week for florida with MZ to go dive in florida with pensacola... I am taking all of y HD video gear, and dive lights.. I dont want to have the airlines to ruin or waste my investment and have my stuff lost,or bla bla bla... My options are to mail my video rig and lights parcel post, or pack it all in a carry on and sto it above my seat... Or pack it in a suitcase and check it with baggage claim.. Should I trust the airlines ???

[boydski]

My options are to mail my video rig and lights parcel post, or pack it all in a carry on and sto it above my seat... Or pack it in a suitcase and check it with baggage claim.. Should I trust the airlines ???

I always pack my housing, strobes, lens ports, chargers, etc. in a Pelican Case and check it as baggage. That's 50 lbs and much too heavy to carry on. I put the actual camera, lenses, laptop, etc., in a backpack and carry it on. The Canister Light (HID) is usually checked as baggage in a roller bag with the Dive Gear (battery disconnected) and I've never had an issue with it.

A lot of people that I travel with carry their Dive Light on board, and sometimes they are allowed and sometimes they are not. I prefer to send it in the luggage and be safe.

Of course, YMMV,

[Bric Martin]

My camera and lenses are small enough for a carry on. I pack my camera and regs and carry it on the plane. Everything else goes in a travel bag.

I don't want my reg or camera handled by the baggage guys.

[Curt McNamee]

I always carry one my rebreather, batteries, video equipment and dive computers in a backpack and one rollerbag, the total weight ends up at about 90 lbs.

I would never take the chance in checking this part of my gear, I have seen way to many problems with TSA and the airlines, I want to be able to explain in person what I have and try and protect my rights to take this stuff with me, you can't do that if it is checked

[H20doctor]

I went to sitka last year and carried on my dive lights and weights with no problems... My main concern is theft, or damage to my housings, and HD rig.. And I dont own a pelican..

[gutholmj]

On our last trip to Kona I packed my camera, housing, strobes and can light in a carry on bag. I had no problem leaving Seattle but on the return trip, they weighed it and it was 7 lbs over the limit. They almost made me check it but I asked to speak to a supervisor, showed her the contents and explained the value and she let me take it. This was the airlines, not TSA. I also got quite a hassle about my light from the fine TSA folks. If you are going to carry it on, I would say, check the batteries for your lights and keep the weight under the carry-on limit. That last part sounds obvious but this was the first time ever that I've had someone ask to weigh my carry-on.

[Tangfish]

I carry on all of my photo gear. You might take your light head and check the battery and can.

[ArcticDiver]

I might be struck down on the next flight for saying this. But, in the past two years I have had no luggage lost or misdirected. In two cases I have had problems with items missing or an item added to luggage when it was inspected by TSA. In both cases I'm positive TSA was the problem because I saw the bags being inspected.

That said, I pack lights and regulators, because I use soft luggage and I'm concerned about crushing.

I've tried shipping in advance but it was both expensive and produced a problem at the destination.

[Matt S.]

I like the idea of taking the light head and checking the battery and can. However, if the battery is lithium then if it isn't installed in the light it is considered "spare" and a spare lithium battery cannot be checked, but must be carried on.

If you are taking anything with batteries, especially big scary looking batteries, you should check the TSA's battery rules. They are scattered all over but this is a starting page.

http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html

IT IS SO SIMPLE A CHILD WITH EXCELLENT READING AND MATH SKILLS COULD DO IT!

You need to calculate the Equivalent Lithium Content for all of your batteries.

To do this, calculate the Watt-hours in each battery with:

Battery capacity in Amp-hours * voltage = Watt-hours

Then, knowing that 100 Watt-hours has an ELC of 8 grams, it becomes simple to calculate the ELC of your batteries.

Batteries with an ELC of up to 8 g are "small lithium batteries" and any amount may be taken in carry-on baggage. Spare lithium ion batteries may not be checked but they may be installed in devices.

Batteries with ELC between 8-25g are "large lithium batteries" and only one (installed) and 2 (spare) are allowed. Is that across all bags? I don't know. The rules are not clear.

(This is not an elaborate joke, I assure you.)

When I check stuff that might look scary to the TSA, I actually label it and might even attach a printout of the relevant rules.

[ljjames]

I've now done the same as scott a couple times this year and been pleased with the results...

my luggage looks like:

1 pelican with housing/video lights/ arms/etc... Sometimes i just pack the camera in the housing.

1 ginormous rollybag for dive gear including primary light.

backpack for carry-on, laptop, etc...

depending on the airlines and how many bags they let me check without charging a ridiculous, i have to travel with a non-diver (or at least a non-photographer diver) if i plan on taking any clothes (the camera takes up one whole 50lb allotment, dive gear the other, if its a trip to someplace non-tropical i'm basically hosed)

My options are to mail my video rig and lights parcel post, or pack it all in a carry on and sto it above my seat... Or pack it in a suitcase and check it with baggage claim.. Should I trust the airlines ???

I always pack my housing, strobes, lens ports, chargers, etc. in a Pelican Case and check it as baggage. That's 50 lbs and much too heavy to carry on. I put the actual camera, lenses, laptop, etc., in a backpack and carry it on. The Canister Light (HID) is usually checked as baggage in a roller bag with the Dive Gear (battery disconnected) and I've never had an issue with it.

A lot of people that I travel with carry their Dive Light on board, and sometimes they are allowed and sometimes they are not. I prefer to send it in the luggage and be safe.

Of course, YMMV,

[H20doctor]

well i have reached a Verdic...... ship the dam gear ... ship it to Hell i say !!! , box is packed and going to florida parcel post insured for 2K , that way it has my terrabite Hard drive, Hd rig , 2 can lights with Batteries, and chargers, my Cannon Powershot , and camera housing , all good to go ... No delays at the airport for when they pat me down in the private areas ...
thanks for all the help , i will put a Pelican , or a Gun case on my to Buy list for future travel

[ArcticDiver]

Now that you have made your decision I'll tell you the only damage I've ever had on dive gear was when I shipped my gear. Just thought I'd add that in for your comfort.

I have had a couple of fun events when my can light went through passenger security. The most humorous, in a sick way, was when the agent picked up the battery pack by its' connector wires and asked a supervisor standing a short distance away: "Is this a bomb?" I was only partially successful in stifling my laughter.

At my home airport, and only at my home airport, I always, always get a hand exam of my carry on case. They say they can't tell what the regulators are so they hand check. It says something about how few divers there are that the screeners don't know what they are. It is to their credit that once I tell them what the items are and explain they are life safety equipment, please treat gingerly they show the regs utmost respect.

[edm81363]

I work in video production, and just travelled with 6 cases weighing about 280 pounds with about $200,000 worth of gear. We shipped our stuff UPS to the hotel to await us and then sent it back from a UPS store. (Government rate to send it back UPS Ground was only $33 and it got there in 3 days.)

[April]

Hey chris, I just got back from Monterey and I checked my drysuit, clothes, Christmas presents. I had a carry on for regs, bp/w, and light. I didn't have any problems but I took my light out so they could scan it separately and swab it, everyone was super nice about it and maybe took 2-3 minutes longer than everyone else. I also shipped my scooter ups with no problems, though I missed it today so I'll have to pick it up to make sure it returned ok. Good luck, have fun in Florida!

Oh yeah, and I flew Alaska air, $20 for checking a bag.

[spatman]

I didn't have any problems but I took my light out so they could scan it separately and swab it, everyone was super nice about it and maybe took 2-3 minutes longer than everyone else.

that's probably because you're cute. most of us ugly terrorist-looking mofos get hassled for much longer than that. which means that chris will probably be detained overnight.

[ktb]

I don't know about the cuteness factor, but I've never had any airport hassle me about scuba equipment (Seattle, San Diego, Maui, Bonaire). Granted, I haven't traveled with my can light yet, but I always carry on my reg and computer. I've never even had TSA open the reg bag. (One time the guy looked at me a little funny during the scanning, I said "scuba regulator" and that was it.) Also carried on a Pelican Case with camera and strobes for SD with no issues. Although maybe one thing that helps . . . I'm always wearing some sort of dive t-shirt. I figure it can't hurt!

[H20doctor]

I shipped it ... Waaahoooo 45.00 to florida

[pensacoladiver]

Now your only concern is me selling it on EBay before you get here!

[H20doctor]

i know .... the box showed up oday at yr house in FL, looks like im going diving there this weekend ? EH ? wooo Hooo !!!

[mz53480]

Now your only concern is me selling it on EBay before you get here!

I'll give you $25.
(you pay shipping back here to Seattle!)

[spatman]

Now your only concern is me selling it on EBay before you get here!

I'll give you $25.
(you pay shipping back here to Seattle!)

$50, and i'll cover shipping.

[H20doctor]

thats it.... no dive report now with HD video .. " NO VIDEO FOR YOU !!! "

soup-nazi_320.jpg (33.64 KiB) Viewed 2573 times

[spatman]

thats it.... no dive report now with HD video .. " NO VIDEO FOR YOU !!! "

that's right, because chad will have sold your gear by the time you arrive.

[pensacoladiver]

Hahaha. Just one caveat before I send it your way Spatty... The housing is just a bit banged up. I took it night diving last night and was trying to feed a bull shark. It got hold of the camera for just a bit. Made for some good video though, just as soon as the camera dries out, I will try to salvage it and post it.