Flying with a canister light

[scuba-punk]

I'm going to be flying to a warmer dive destination this weekend (I'm actually miffed to be missing some ice diving, but I'll get over it ut: ) and I'm probably going to do some night dives. I have a few questions that I hope those of you out there in TV can help me answer:

1) Since I have never flown anywhere with my canister light, let alone recently, can anyone tell me if it's going to be a pain dealing with security and my canister light?

2) It's an acrylic AUL 12V/14aH light, so does anyone have good packing tips?

3) Checked baggage or hand carry?

Thanks!
-Frank

 

[-BlueHole-]

Hand carry- Have you seen how they handle your luggage ?
During travel keep your cannister open !!
Enjoy the holydays

 

[MikeS]

Just flew to Miami and back with mine. I took it in carryon along with our regs and computers but put the batteries and charger in checked baggage. Boarding in Miami they inspected it but had no problem once they saw what it was.

Mike

 

[Cave Diver]

I carried my HID cannister light on my last trip to Grand Cayman. The cannister and the batteries went into checked luggage. I packed the inside of the cannister with clothes, etc and packed it in the middle of my suitcase for protection. The batteries and chargers I packed in a small cardboard box sandwiched between some of that grey foam material.

The light head was packed inside of two styrofoam drink coozies and put in my carryon bag along with my regs and computer.

One note... If you have connecting flights, don't turn your computer on to do your dive logs while on the first leg of your flight. I did so, and on landing, my computer thought I was diving... in 5' of water... and out of air since it wasn't hooked to a tank...

As a result, when I went to clear the security gate for the second flight, I had a computer beeping and blinking 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 when they opend my bag to examine it!

Needless to say, security was a bit taken aback and it required a rather lengthy explanation and several detailed checks for explosive substances before they allowed me to proceed.

 

[Aquamaniac]

I have an Acrylic Cannister, that just went from Atlanta to London to Perth to Sydney to Los Angeles to Dallas/Ft Worth and back to Atlanta over a 3 week period.
I took the Cap and Head off and put them in a foam lined box ( similar to a lunchbox),I layed out my 7mm Wetsuit, placed the light can at the feet, and rolled up the wetsuit. Tied the Wetsuit into a tight roll (with light inside the roll) with a couple of lengths of Cave line, so I could undo it and show inspectors.
I then just tossed it into a Bag with some other clothes.

I made sure that I had a sticker (from Vance Harlow, thx mate) on the batteries that stated clearly that they were non spillable.

I had no issues with the light at all, I had some other issues, but the Light never raised an eyebrow.

 

[scuba-punk]

Thank you all for your input and experiences. Still not sure if I'm gonna' take it or not, but I still have 4 hours to make up my mind before leaving for the airport...

-Frank

 

[detroit diver]

I just pack my cannister light in my suitcase with the clips opened and the whole thing padded with clothes. Never had a problem. I make sure that the battery connections are disconnected.

 

[O-ring]

I flew to Bonaire and back in Dec/Jan and the one thing I would suggest is do NOT carry on your battery. I got a bunch of grief about that (the connectors freaked them out) and the TSA supervisor in Puerto Rico came over and told me that items like that need to be checked in the future.

 

[oxyhacker]

Actually you should be thanking Steve not me since the stickers are from his lightbook. They are also on the Airspeed Press website, under What's New or Updates I think, so folks too cheap to buy the book can download and print them - see the link at the end of this to get there.

The idea of the stickers is that if the inspector sees the regulations spelled out right in front of him/her at the same time as he/she notices the batteries it will sort of subliminally convince them they knew it all alongor at least they won't want to admit they don't, while if you let them get their suspicions up first, they'll very likely dig their heels in and no amount of waving the regulations in front of them or asking them to consult their superiors will prevail. My buddies and I travel with divelights all the time, and have had no trouble, though every once in a while you run into an official who gets obstinate, several delays and close calls but so far no confiscated batteries.

Aquamaniac once bubbled...

I made sure that I had a sticker (from Vance Harlow, thx mate) on the batteries that stated clearly that they were non spillable.

I had no issues with the light at all, I had some other issues, but the Light never raised an eyebrow.