airplane travel with pack

[backtrack213]

What do you do with your pack when you travel by plane? Can you bring it in carry on? If you check it how do you secure your gear on the outside? If it helps i have a zpacks arc blast pack.

[DuneElliot]

ZPacks mentions on their website that their packs will fit in overhead bins and are appropriate size for carry on. I personally wouldn't even consider sending my pack as checked luggage, not with $1500 worth of gear in it. I have the Arc Haul. Certain things they don't allow on flights (which you will have to check), but you can always buy a cheap dufflebag and put those things in it, and check them.

[backtrack213]

What things don't they allow? I'm gonna assume trekking poles is one of those items.

[Greenlight]

I clicked over to a thread at Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...ir_Travel.html

Packs seem to do well as carry on luggage, and it should fit in the overhead bin. Just from my own flying experience with bulkier items, if it doesn't fit in the overhead or under your seat, the steward will normally store it up front for you, and you pick it up as you exit the plane. The other option is to check the baggage. Sometimes straps get ripped off in the conveyors, though, so if you do this, it's best to put it in a duffel or even a plastic bag to keep everything reined in.

What about trekking poles, etc? That issue will be solved when you get to the security checkpoint, not when you get to the boarding area. The TSA list is pretty thorough, but bottom line is you had better ship the stuff that can't go with you on the plane, if you're not willing to check it as baggage.

[saltysack]

Poles, fuel, lighters, multi tool or knife, some stoves and the list goes on....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bigcranky]

No fuel anywhere. No empty fuel containers. Sticks may get thru security but it's iffy. Knives and other sharp things need to be checked. The arc haul will fit carryon but you need to remove the stays. If it were me I would buy a really cheap duffel and check it all, then donate the duffel when I get there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[colorado_rob]

Lots of paranoia with Backpack travelling, I've never had any problems and I've made a couple dozen trips, including about a dozen international trips with my full backpack.

I've simply checked it. Never a problem whatsoever. I always separate my stove burner from the pot in my pack, and wrap the burner up in TP and double baggie it. I also put a couple layers of duct tape on the trekking pole tip(s) so it doesn't poke anything in the pack with the sharp point.

On the plane itself, I take a doubled disposable largeish cloth grocery sack of whatever fits in it and is legal for carry-on, like my most expensive items, including my small personal items, camera, cell, "hiker wallet", my zpacks tent and stuffed sleeping bag (both very compact) and hardshell jacket, and of course I'm just wearing my hiking clothes and hiking shoes. This is all the extremely unlikely event my luggage is lost, I don't want the total value in the pack to be more than the reimbursement limit from the airline (this used to be $750, now probably more, but I don't care because the pack and checked contents will be less than the $750).

A few times early on I used the cheap-disposable duffle method, then I tried the large compactor pastic bag method, now (for the last half-dozen trips), I just check the backpack unwrapped. Take the pack, buckle both the waist belt and sternum strap backwards around the back of the pack to secure everything, and tuck any loose straps in.

Here's a couple pics from my most recent trip. The first pic is actually the back of the pack, note that the straps are not showing as they are wrapped around the front of the pack and buckled, as shown in the second pic.

easy-peasy.

[DuneElliot]

What things don't they allow? I'm gonna assume trekking poles is one of those items.

For most of the things hikers carry that aren't allowed in carry on: Fuel, knives or multi-tools of any kind, hiking poles (tips), some matches (strike-anywhere type), bear spray. Fuel is the only thing that can't be checked either, which is why many people buy it at their destination.

The TSA website does permit lighters (Bic or Zippo style, not torch style) in carry-on bags. You are also permitted to carry camping stoves as long as they are purged of all fuel. And make sure any toothpaste, hand-sanitizer, contact lens solution etc is under 3oz and in a clear baggy.

[illabelle]

When we fly, we stuff my husbands pack into a duffel along with trekking poles, boots, stove (no fuel), whatever won't fit in my pack. My pack is small enough to qualify as a carry-on if I take some stuff out of it. We leave the duffel with whoever is shuttling us (often a hostel). On the return trip, we make sure our most aromatic items (socks!) are loose in the duffel to discourage TSA snoopers.
If you're doing a longish section where you won't be using the same shuttle at both ends, you can use a big garbage bag. It's not as tough, and you'll have to secure your poles to keep them from tearing the bag open, but in my opinion it's still better than leaving your buckles and straps loose to get caught on conveyor belts.

[DuneElliot]

Here's the FAA link...forgot to add it:

http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/hazmat_safety/

[DuneElliot]

Lots of paranoia with Backpack travelling, I've never had any problems and I've made a couple dozen trips, including about a dozen international trips with my full backpack.

I've simply checked it. Never a problem whatsoever. I always separate my stove burner from the pot in my pack, and wrap the burner up in TP and double baggie it. I also put a couple layers of duct tape on the trekking pole tip(s) so it doesn't poke anything in the pack with the sharp point.

On the plane itself, I take a doubled disposable largeish cloth grocery sack of whatever fits in it and is legal for carry-on, like my most expensive items, including my small personal items, camera, cell, "hiker wallet", my zpacks tent and stuffed sleeping bag (both very compact) and hardshell jacket, and of course I'm just wearing my hiking clothes and hiking shoes. This is all the extremely unlikely event my luggage is lost, I don't want the total value in the pack to be more than the reimbursement limit from the airline (this used to be $750, now probably more, but I don't care because the pack and checked contents will be less than the $750).

A few times early on I used the cheap-disposable duffle method, then I tried the large compactor pastic bag method, now (for the last half-dozen trips), I just check the backpack unwrapped. Take the pack, buckle both the waist belt and sternum strap backwards around the back of the pack to secure everything, and tuck any loose straps in.

Here's a couple pics from my most recent trip. The first pic is actually the back of the pack, note that the straps are not showing as they are wrapped around the front of the pack and buckled, as shown in the second pic.

easy-peasy.

I've had multiple trips where my bag (suitcase not backpack) has been damaged in some way. Glad that hasn't happened to you, but I'm just not willing to take the risk. I think everyone has personal feelings towards this and what works for them.

[saltysack]

Forgot.....tent stakes.....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[saltysack]

Last year I carried on my ula circuit with all allowed gear and shipped everything else ahead to hostel/hotel a week ahead so I could confirm it arrived before I flew out..worked great...trips with tight schedules cant afford lost gear. If you tighten up compression straps you'll be surprised how small you can get it. On return flight I left all gear in pack Inc poles and used my compactor bag and put pack inside it taped shut.....checked on way home as wasn't as big a deal if got delayed...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[moldy]

My pack will not fit in the sizing gauge nor the overhead so I check it. I ask for a large plastic bag, if they don't have them ask for the roll of yellow tape. Wrap it around the pack so as to contain all straps and dangle'y bits. Your knife goes in the pack, the lighter goes in your pocket not the other way around. No fuel. If asked by an astute airline employee as to whether or not you have a stove...say no. Any stove you have, minus the fuel is just a hunk of metal and by any definition, not a stove at all. Minus the fuel you can't cook on it, it can't leak fuel nor cause the plane to explode. Airline employees sometime nap during training and will get confused so it's best to not attempt to have a discussion as to what is or isn't a stove. Just say no.

[mandolindave]

Just a bit of useless hiker gear trivia. My brother hiked all over the world. He tried a suitcase that morphed into a backpack. It also had wheels. I used it for an 18 mile hike in Grand Gulch. The hip and shoulder straps were good. It had matching side pockets for liter bottles. It would have made a not so great thru hike pack. But it was the coolest suitcase …EVER !

[Gambit McCrae]

In September I flew up to CT, I brought with me a large canvas low oz duffel back that I could put my pack in. I needed it. I put all my crap in the duffel, locked it right at the gate and checked it. little airplace up from Nashville. Now after all the other airport bamboozments, I refused to check my pack(ula circuit) on the way back. she finally let me hold it in my lap lol

no fuel- no alc- no knifes

My tent stakes and tekking poles were not a problem

stove was not a problem.