TSA Damaged my gear...

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I've done a claim against the TSA, I documented the crap out of it, and filed it. About a year later I received a notice that my claim was accepted, and a couple months after I agreed a check for $500 to replace the prosthetic liner they destroyed.

That being said the best thing is to avoid claims, so I keep anything that can be destroyed in my carry on.
 
Anything life support, goes in carry on.

I can buy underwear at destination and if I must rent a wetsuit.
 
i usually carry everything on with me but if i have to check, only the bcd and fins get checked. I just booked flights to CUN for December on Frontier and they charge for everything so I managed to fit everything except bcd and fins in my "personal item". I really hope they don't weigh it. Also, don't forget your pockets when packing. I sewed "smuggler pouches" into the inside lining of my rain-coat for just that reason.
 
Anything life support, goes in carry on.

I can buy underwear at destination and if I must rent a wetsuit.
Same. The threads about people checking their CCRs are the ones that really scare me
 
Same. The threads about people checking their CCRs are the ones that really scare me

Of course with a stainless BPW in carry on security is going to open it and I get nasty looks and comments about weight, my response is my life depends on this equipment, it stays with me.
 
Like many, we carry on as much as possible. Interestingly my steel backplate has never caused a search but Eric’s passing through right behind me has. :)

I have never had anything damaged but they don’t seem to be able to completely close zippers and on more than one occasion we have actually had things hanging from the bag on the carousel. It was frequent enough that we now also band the bags with a strip of webbing hoping that will help contain our stuff and I try not to leave small loose items in the zippered section.
 
On my last travel dive trip, my very sturdy checked roller bag arrived in Bonaire totally shredded at one end with my stuff falling out. It obviously got stuck somewhere on a belt line (probably Newark) then the belt proceeded to sand off the seams at one end. Luckily it was only clothing, because all of the important stuff was in my carry on. I was able to purchase wire and duct tape at the hardware store and I stitched it back together with wire and lined the inside with duct tape and it survived the trip home, but no crucial or expensive dive gear goes into the checked luggage.
 
when i went through Beijing a couple of years ago they actually pulled me aside and had me show them how my regulator, bcd, and dsmb worked. I had to orally inflate and everything. I think it was more out of curiosity than safety. Going through security in Amman, I was nervous and started to explain to the x-ray guy what he was looking at and he barked at me, "yeah, yeah, scuba... go through."

Checking in life support equipment is terrifying. Those people are animals.
 
Never had issues with scuba but in the past I traveled quite a bit with my parachute container and that always made for exciting diacussions ...
 
This is all good to know. I travel with medicine and am no stranger to how TSA can really be rough on kit.

What do you think of using a peli case as a carryon with my regs, comp and other fragile things?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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