Flying with gear??????

[saltysack]

I am planning to do a JMT thru hike late August early September. I'll be flying from Florida to California do I check my pack or carry-on ? I realize I cannot pack my stove fuel in the airplane but what about trekking poles multitool etc. thanks for the heads up as I've never flown to go hiking...


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[pyro_]

Poles and multi tool are probably a no go for carry on

[Coffee]

In order to carry on a pack, a number of items will have to be sent ahead including trekking poles, tent stakes, knives/multitools, possibly the stove, and really anything likely to be looked at with interest by the TSA. Ultimately, some pieces of gear are going to be outside your direct control when flying to a hiking destination. It is a matter of whether you trust TSA more or less than the USPS, UPS, or FedEx. For the JMT last year, I purchased a XL REI duffel bag and put all of the contents of my pack in the duffel, loosely packed. This protected the backpack and also made the duffel easy to search for TSA (it was searched on the return). Out of an abundance of caution, I mailed my stove (without fuel) to Yosemite Valley PO along with my first few days of food which both lightened the weight and eliminated the chance of TSA confiscating the stove.

Watching my gear go down the conveyer belt was pretty nerve wracking but it did turn out ok. I was very relieved to see the duffel come out of the baggage chute in California.

Try to get a direct flight if you can. I had a one stop which added to my nervousness...

[July]

I have traveled placing pack and all gear inside a large duffel, put poles in a cardboard tube and tape to duffel. I checked my baggage with no problem.

[Sugarfoot]

Especially if you are having to pay to check the pack -- I think Delta's charge is $35 -- you can UPS it for less. UPSing my pack from Florida to PA, including the UPS store boxing it up, cost $31.33 (weight = 21 pounds) and took three working days. You have the assurance that your pack is waiting for you instead of worrying about it the whole flight. You still can't ship forbidden things, like fuels.

[saltysack]

I have traveled placing pack and all gear inside a large duffel, put poles in a cardboard tube and tape to duffel. I checked my baggage with no problem.

What did you do with the duffel bag when you begin your hike....


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[Odd Man Out]

I'm flying out east for a hike this summer. Planning on using my big green canvas army surplus duffel bag to hold everything (pack poles, food) except fuel. Will come up with some shipping tube to protect the trekking poles but they will just go in the bag with the pack. Flying SW so no fee for checked luggage. It's a direct flight (followed by train/bus to final destination) so it's less likely they can loose my luggage. Plan on keeping the bag with me during the train/bus leg. Shuttle driver will hang on to the bag for the return trip.

[Coffee]

FWIW, I'm planning to use the same duffel bag method this summer on the Colorado Trail. Flying out with SW direct flight with no baggage fee and back on United where I have free bag allowance due to having the United credit card, so it is economical. Since I'm using a bounce box for the CT, the folded up duffel will just go into the bounce box while I'm on the trail.

[Maui Rhino]

What did you do with the duffel bag when you begin your hike....


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I plan on doing the duffel bag thing as well for my JMT hike. I will mail my stove to a family friend in LA before my hike and pick it up along the way. My wife will be flying with me and dropping me off at the trailhead, then driving down Hwy 395 back to LA. Along the way, she will drop a box at the hotel in Lone Pine with my duffel and a change of clothes. If she weren't driving, I'd simply mail it to myself at the hotel or general delivery at the post office.

[Coffee]

One other option on what to do with the duffel is to get a really cheap one on Amazon or Wal Mart and then donate it or throw it away after flying to the destination, then pick up another cheap one for the flight home (or go duffel-less and risk some backpack damage - more tolerable of a risk returning home vs. going to the trail). There are duffels for $15-20, which could be less than the cost of dealing with shipping it down the trail. But my duffel is a nice REI one that cost around $50 so I won't discard it.

[stillatit]

I've used the duffel bag way too. Of course, be prepared to pay extra for the luggage. I buy gas locally after I land and contribute any left over to the local rangers. They've appreciated it. If you want to ship your stove ahead, you can use any of the numerous mail drop locations listed online. I just pack mine, dry, of course.

[Feral Bill]

If you are using a white gas stove, do not risk taking it on the plane. Ship it.

[July]

What did you do with the duffel bag when you begin your hike....


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I just mailed to myself at the destination, picked up at PO. Bouncing and donating are excellent options also, I would not donate mine as it is original US issue when I was in service.

[Spirit Walker]

We have used a duffle, if we were renting a car at the far end or going to a motel where we could leave it while we hiked. Alternately, we just wrapped our packs in heavy duty garbage bags, with lots of duct tape. Poles were left in the pack. I've only once had a problem with the garbage bags - pack caught on something and the bag tore, top of the pack opened and some of my gear spilled. I watched, horrified, from my seat above the cargo bay, as the pieces went up the ramp. Fortunately, a nice baggage handler reassembled everything and the only thing I lost was a sleeping pad, which I replaced at Neels Gap.

[shakey_snake]

You can request a "stroller bag" from most airlines if you intent to check your pack. Beats worrying about a duffle.

[rusty bumper]

For my flight from Cleveland to Atlanta in 2011, I bought a cheap suitcase at one of local discount stores for around $25. It easily held all my gear including collapsed hiking poles, and I checked it in at the airport. I spent that first night in Atlanta and when I left for the AT the next morning, I asked the owner of the B&B where I stayed if she'd like to have the suitcase....she gladly accepted.

[Marta]

For the JMT, I sent my gear FedEx to a friend in San Luis Obispo (whom I would be visiting and who was dropping me off in Yosemite) ahead of time. For the return journey, I packed the uncheckables in my bear canister and sent that priority mail. The poles were put in a mailing tube and mailed separately.

The Post Office managed to smash one of the caps off the end of the tube. The poles made it, but the smaller items in the tube, including a little knife I'd hiked with for years, were lost. :-(

For my most recent trip, I used the duffel method. My son drove us to the end point and we were shuttled to the start, so no problem reuniting with the duffel. When I use a duffel (20-year-old Lands End nylon duffel), I put the poles right in there, minimally protected by a piece of closed-cell foam pad. I've done this quite a few times. The poles have always made it just fine.

[Odd Man Out]

For the JMT, I sent my gear FedEx to a friend in San Luis Obispo ...

Just on the news this morning that FedEx was going to start charging by the size, not weight of the package, which could hurt those using this strategy, since packs/poles are light but bulky.

http://news.van.fedex.com/fedex-anno...ricing-changes

Don't forget resale shops (Goodwill, etc..) as a place to buy a cheap old bag or suitcase to pack your gear when flying. And one other thing to think about. If you choose to dispose of an old duffle bag/suitcase, be sure to dispose of it properly. Left lying around the airport/station can get a call from the bomb squad and ruin the day for a lot of people.

[colorado_rob]

I've flown dozens of times with a backpack or all sorts of sizes for all lengths of trips, and I always just go ahead and check it. I used to use the "duffle method" and still would for a trip where I had a TON of gear (major mountaineering expeditions), but for more modest trips with more modest amounts of gear, I now just simply check the backpack. I just recently returned (last night) from a 400 mile AT section, here's specifically what I did this time (and previous two AT section trips):

Break down your stove into it's parts (burner, pot) and separate them, and put the burner section into a triple-layer set of ziplocks; in a few dozen flights with my various stoves, never ever lost one from a TSA inspection. Keeping the stove all together makes it look more like a, er, stove. The separated burner section looks innocuous enough, and triple-bagging it minimizes it's residual odor. Of course you cannot fly with any sort of fuel. When I carry a liquid fuel stove (cold expeditions), I also clean all soot off the burner section. For most other trips I'm carrying a jetboil, with a small burner section separated and triple-baggied.

I carry a few items on, like a few clothing items and personal items and other misc stuff in a plastic throw-away sack; takes some bulk away from the packed-backpack.

For the rest of the fully-packed backpack, I snap the waistbelt around the back, pulled nice and tight, pull the shoulder straps as tight as possible and secure all loose straps buy tying them around things (or each other) on the outside of the pack. My trekking pole shrinks down small enough to put inside the pack; I put a couple layers of duct tape on the sharp tip.

Basically just make sure there is nothing dangling on the outside of the pack. The overall package is nice and secure, at least with my AT-size backpack.

[saltysack]

Cr... Do u put it inside a duffel or as is?


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