Regs in checked airline luggage

[trob09]

One question while on this subject - seeing that I was going to ask it anyway: I'm about to buy a HID can light and will carry it on - however there appears to be competition between designers of HIDs to see who can most closely make their battery pack resemble a bomb. I expect to be stopped at every check in I travel through - anyone NOT have problems with their battery packs?

Cheers,
Rohan.

Uh huh. yea. A bunch of small tubes shrink-wrapped together with wires coming out of one end? you say it's a flash-light? for scuba diving? riiight.

Just a few of the questions I had on a recent trip. In preparation I recommend that you:
- bring along the owners manual (Note to halcyon, please upgrade from the 3rd generation photocopy to something slightly more professional looking for my $1,300 flashlight. it will help as I am trying to explain to the 7th TSA agent that it's a flashlight as I try to avoid any indication of 'home-made terrorist bomb')
- TSA used to have a section on their website about Dive gear and flashlights in particular. You just need to have the battery disconnected. I printed this out & brought it along with my other 'just a flashlight' documments.
- Be prepared to answer questions Some people want you to turn it on. others act as if they expect it to blow up if you turn it on (but still let you on the plane with it!)
- Be prepared to spend extra time as they go through your other carry-on stuff.
- Don't joke about anything
- Don't get angry or frustrated about anything
- Answer every question and tell them what you know to be proveable fact.

Have fun!

 

[cmalinowski]

I always check them and often travel with 4 or more regs. Losing them is a risk, but relatively low. If by Pelican case you mean one of the large ones that holds all of your gear, be careful since they are so heavy and tend to put you over weight restrictions.

My dive bag is huge (I check my regs with most other stuff, but carry on my computers) and weighs a ton. I was surprised the last time that I went (the first time I had used it) that when it got weighed it only said 46lbs on the scale. It appears that the wheels must have been off of the scale and on the non-scale portion of that counter. That made it weigh a lot less. Since then, I've decided to use sky caps and tip them well... there are no scales at BWI at the sky-cap check-in Hopefully this is the case at all airports I need to use.

 

[pilot fish]

Hello, I am new to ScubaBoard and this is my first post. My wife and I have made an annual dive trip to the Carib for the past eleven years. We have always hand carried our regs. Question: I recently won a Pelican dive case. Is there any reason that the regs could not be placed in the case with the checked luggage?

Always carry my reg, puters, mask and camera & strobe in my carry on. I've had no problems, which surprised me a lot. I've had checkers look away from the screen and say, Dive gear, huh? I thought I'd have a lot more hassels than that. Since my reg and computers are so expensive, I don't trust them in unlocked bags.

Isn't there also a reason that in unpressurized holds of aircraft it does something to the diaphram on the reg?

 

[JustAddWater]

I pack my gear in a locked Storm case with the exception of my regs and computer that I carry on. This past summer, on a transfer on my way back from Grand Cayman, I was questioned in the security line regarding my dive computer. My ol' Monitor II must have raised some red flags, but it was no big deal.

 

[Diver Girl 1]

Greetings and welcome to the board, Masterdon!

I'm glad you asked this question, since I'm heading down there in Nov. Do the TSA give you any problems carrying a reg and computer? Those idiots hassle you for anything as it is.....

Jack

Woa Jack!
You better watch what you say, you might not realize who is listening (or reading)! I used to be one of those 'TSA idiots'. Anyway, you can carry on a regulator and computer, no problem. Just leave your scissors in your checked luggage! Ha! You will definately be searched due to the metal content and the uniqueness of the image on the screen (unless you get someone who knows exactly what it is and has seen many before, but more than likely you will be searched). TSA is gentle on checked luggage as well, it is the airline bag handlers you need to be leary of.
Diver Girl

 

[scubapro50]

one more thing ..... take a direct flight if possible. The fewer times you change planes the less chance of them looseing your bags. If you have to take sereral different planes to get where you want to go then try to stay with the same airline ...... it's better for them to trace and find lost bags and they can't point fingers saying the other airline lost them.

 

[Charlie99]

Isn't there also a reason that in unpressurized holds of aircraft it does something to the diaphram on the reg?

The cargo holds of all jet aircraft and virtually all prop aircraft are pressurized. Not all are heated to a nice comfy temperature, but they are pressurized to the same pressure as the cabin (otherwise that big flat floor between the passengers and the cargo compartment would collapse.).

 

[padiscubapro]

Hello, I am new to ScubaBoard and this is my first post. My wife and I have made an annual dive trip to the Carib for the past eleven years. We have always hand carried our regs. Question: I recently won a Pelican dive case. Is there any reason that the regs could not be placed in the case with the checked luggage?

First Dive equipment insurance is cheap..

I frequently travle with 6 to 8 sets of regs, plus camera equipment, rebreather and other stuff..

My carry ons are my electronics (dive computers and cameras) and 1 prescription mask (and anthing else I need to get my checked baggage under the limit).. everything else can be rented if its lifted.. The only time I ever lost anything is when I had one of my dive computers in my dive bag.

Pelican cases signal expensive equipmenet.. I never use them other than a small one for carry on camera equipment..

 

[padiscubapro]

Hi there - and welcome! Got to agree - carry it on. I travel a lot through asia and although I’ve never had a bag delayed or lost (knock on wood...) there is one airport in particular (Manila) where I have regularly had equipment pilfered from my checked in bags: a leatherman once, a torch another time... It’s also quite common to find the locks on my bags cut off.... At the gate maybe one check in out of five I have to show them my regs – usually just saying ‘yep - diving gear’ works.

Important observation: If asked about a piece of dive equipment at check in do not, under any circumstance, make a joke about it. Customs traditionally hires sufferers of 'Short Men In Uniform Syndrome’ (parking meter attendants being the other main source of employment for sufferers) and they have had their senses of humour surgically removed as a prerequisite for the job. Joke and you will be whisked away to a small room faster than you can say ‘rubber glove’.

One question while on this subject - seeing that I was going to ask it anyway: I'm about to buy a HID can light and will carry it on - however there appears to be competition between designers of HIDs to see who can most closely make their battery pack resemble a bomb. I expect to be stopped at every check in I travel through - anyone NOT have problems with their battery packs?

Cheers,
Rohan.

Be prepared to chech another bag if you try and carry a big battery pack on carry on baggage.. I found about 30% of the time they decied it looked too much like a bomb and felt it would scare others if they saw it... I was even escorted back to check in to check it (I didn't have to pay an extra bag fee), luckily I had a bag I was able to use.. Now I don;t bother I just check the battery pack in checked baggage..

Use metal hydride battery or nicad packs, some agents will refuse to allow anything with lithium batteries..