Ponies and TSA

[Web Monkey]

One of the dive mags did a story a couple years back about how the "average" diver makes 6 figures, takes at least 2 vacations a year and so on. I guess I am a significantly LESS than average diver.

That shows that the magazine has a lot to learn about statistics and surveys.

Terry

 

[Scared Silly]

Rich, I would not worry too much as the airlines can not cancel a flight and leave you hanging. In 2002 Delta quit flying to T&C. I found out a few months before the flight and they had stuck us on American for that part of the journey. It actually worked out fine because we go to redo our reservation for free and I did it far enough ahead of time that we got better flights than we originally had. The only bummer we had to fly through Miami.

 

[RICHinNC]

SS....yep I have had that happen too.

Liz believes...from professional associations....that I am good and I am going to be positive and think so as well.

Just need a couple people to hop on the plane and go diving with me!!

 

[M_Bipartitus]

Typical cruising altitude is around 8000' which is the equivalent of around 10 PSI (as opposed to the 14.7 we all know to be sea level). That means that our 3000 PSI tank is no longer 204 x atmospheric pressure, but it is now 300 x more pressure inside the tank than ambient pressure. As Ronfrank says under depressurization, the tank could explode. This is because at 30,000-40,000' (3-4psi) we now have 750-1000 x more pressure inside the tank than ambient pressure.

Pressure Conversion Table - Transwiki

I hate to go off topic, but this should be corrected. While true that there us a significant change in the ratio of pressures, the absolute pressure difference changes very little. The absolute difference in pressures is what can cause the tank to fail. The force on the walls of the tank are determined by pressure on some unit area. The force from the gas inside stays the same, but the force from the gas outside goes to zero.

Consider a 1 inch square patch of metal in your tank. If we take the pressure inside as 3000 psi, then a 1 inch square patch of the side wall of the tank has 3000 lbs or force on it from inside. The force from the outside of the tank at sea level is about 14 lbs. (14 pounds per square inch*1 square inch). If we took the tank all the way out into space (0psi pressure) the change in forces on the small section of tank would only be 14lbs. If the tank were to fail with this change in forces, it would also fail if you put 3014psi in the tank.

 

[Scared Silly]

M_Bipartitus it was corrected in post #22 above http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/4269346-post22.html

 

[Allen Herron]

I just returned today from the Dominican Republic. I flew with my pony bottle in carry on from Newark, NJ to Santo Domingo and back. No problem. In fact 3 of us carried them. One of our guys got randomly searched at the gate and having the regulations printed out helped him get through.

 

[ssturges]

I take the valve off the tank; place the tank in a sealed clear plastic bag along with a copy of the TSA regulation on transporting gas cylinders. I then check it with my checked luggage. This is the only allowable way to transport a tank. They could consider the tank a blunt weapon if you tried to carry it on. Trust me on this, the LAX TSA thought my sea & sea 110a flash was some kind of high power flash weapon and had a hard time getting them to believe otherwise when I carried it on.

 

[salth2owannabe]

I hadn't read all the posts here so this may have been covered:
TSA regulation link
http://www.scubatoys.com/store/tanks/tsa_scuba.pdf
I'm not sure if you are refering to a full size tank, but, I carry on my pony, as ,many here have and it is allowable.
I carry it the same way you do but carry it right on ---No problems.
I'm not sure what TSA regs are on a blunt weapon but that's a new one!
One could strangle someone with a headphone cord and stab someone to death with a ball point pen! Those are just fine. I like safety but it is funny how we react to paranoia.

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Ive been stopped twice at LAX when attempting to bring my Pony bottles for my RB as carry ons. TSA there will not let them go through and do consider them as blunt objects. Stupid, but true. Common sense is not so common when it comes to TSA. My favorite story is I had two special allen keys that were specific to my Gates housing and a small crescent wrench. They would not let me take those one...yet the woman in front of me got through with a small pair of scissors. I argued with the TSA agent and asked him if he thought I was going to disassemble the plane...guess if I woulda had the body parts she had, I may have gotten through. Sad.

 

[charlesml3]

This is the only allowable way to transport a tank.

Wrong. It is clearly stated on the TSA Website: TSA: Compressed Gas Cylinders

"Compressed gas cylinders are allowed in checked baggage or as a carry-on ONLY if the regulator valve is completely disconnected from the cylinder and the cylinder is no longer sealed (i.e. the cylinder has an open end). The cylinder must have an opening to allow for a visual inspection inside."