Backpacks and Airlines

Morning all,

I am heading out to Colorado for 10 days, and this is my first time flying with my gear, and not driving. I carry an Osprey Atmos 65....What is yalls input on purchasing an airliner bag to put your pack into? Is it worth the $40? Anyone experience any issues if their bag was open to the airline elements?

Airporter Bag

I haven't air-traveled with my backpacking gear, yet, so I can't give a very full answer. I do know that airline baggage handlers are not gentle. They are working against the clock and tend to do whatever is fastest, not what's best for your baggage.

The general advice I've read before is that it is worth enclosing your pack inside a duffel, so your exterior straps don't get snagged or ripped. The item you linked to looks fairly deluxe and ought to work very well. Odds are you can find a cheaper way to accomplish the same task, so I guess it comes down to how much money or time seems appropriate to spend. I would also consider the prospects for re-use. A common duffel bag might have more future uses for you.

Purchase a duffel. Straps and such catch in the conveyor belts and can tear the pack to shreds. Often the TSA will look in backpacks as lots of BP stuff looks like bomb material, if it's in a duffel , at least it catches the spillover. They do not put it back in the way it was. Trust me. Do not fly with fuel of any type, either. If it's a white gas or multi fuel, I dismantle them to prove it contains zero fuel. If you use collapsible trekking poles, have a spare set of shoes or a fishing rod tube, you can throw that in too. Don't forget your size limit is 62" total width x height x depth for most airlines .For example, if your pack is 32 inches high 10" depth and 18" wide = 60" it makes it.
The duffel won't change that figure much, if at all.

thanks for all the feedback!

I took my JanSport pack to Ecuador a couple summers ago. I ended up getting a cloth laundry bag and stuffing the loaded pack inside to keep my straps from going everywhere. Granted, I was not packed for backpacking, so I didn't have my stove, pot, etc. that looks so crazy on x-ray.

My brother-in-law just joined the Peace Corps this spring and flew to the Republic of Georgia with a similar setup. It worked well for him, too -- but again, no stove, no pot, nothing suspicious looking.

The duffel mentioned above is a good idea, too. That idea gives you a bit more room to pack things like a post-trail change of clothes.

Bluefish has it right. I will be leading a group of 13 scouts and adults this month with a flight to Seattle from Houston. I provide a list of what goes where for the flight:

Wear or carryon:

1. Boots – Wear (Remove for WTMD or WBI)
2. Wallet
3. Lighter/Matches
4. Cameras / Electronics
5. Water Filter
6. Stove (Must be Clean; No Fuel)
7. Expensive Gear (Sleeping Bag, Tent depending on size)
8. Medicines
9. Jacket
10. No Liquids, Gels or Aerosols except in 3.4 oz containers or less, all of which must fit in 1 quart ziplock bag
11. No knives, hiking poles or fishing hooks

Checked (Max. 50 pounds):

1. Duffle Bag without wheels
2. Name and address on outside and inside
3. Food & Any Liquids (except for food you plan on eating on the plane)
4. Backpack
5. Clothing not worn
6. Knife, hiking poles and fishing hooks

I'm not a regular for the airlines but the couple of times I've traveled with my pack I haven't put it in any duffle or other "protective" bag. What I have done (based on suggestions I read long ago) is tighten up my compression straps and tuck the remaining strap under itself; tighten up my shoulder straps to the back of the pack; wrap my hip belt around the front of the pack and snuggly tighten the belt, tucking any remaining strap under the buckle (hope that all makes sense). So far I've done this without any incidents or problems with a Lowe pack to/from Ireland & the Boundary Waters plus a canoe pack (like an old Duluth pack) for a trip to the Okefenokee NWR via Jacksonville, FL from Albany, NY w/ a stopover in Baltimore.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

We pack our empty packs in a large military style duffel and then cram our other gear in and around them. I wouldn't pack it and then travel with it because odds are you will need to repack it before you set off on foot anyway. We tend to pick up a lot of our food/snacks close to our destination to keep things from melting or getting ruined. Find an outfitter or Wal Mart to buy your fuel near your destination.

Snappypepper is right about having to repack before you set out. I know on this recent trip it certainly took some time to do this. Thanks, TSA.

I seem to draw the lucky straw as far as TSA goes, it's happened to me 3 times. The first was without a duffel, and the pack came down the carousel with the extension collar fully extended and banging around, about to spew its contents. They also confiscated an empty fuel bottle. No problems since going with an added layer, as they seem to not want to bother, or they've not been able to damage or lose anything since it's contained. The pack has been messed up, but not in danger.

I don't care so much if they go through my stuff. But if you're going to rip through my bag, at least have the decency to put it back the way you found it.

The empty fuel bottle confiscation is an example of why I keep my stove in my carry-on. At least then I have a chance to discuss with a TSO why it is not a WEI.

This past trip the TSO did a bag check of a scout's carry-on and pulled out his stove. I explained what it was and how it was not prohibited. Eventually she was satisfied. And on that same leg I did receive a love note from the TSA in my checked bag.

I use a 40 liter backpack. Isn't that small enough to just take everything with me as a carry-on?

Generally, carry-on size limitation is around 9 inches x 14 inches x 22 inches.

The other question is whether you are carrying a knife, fishing hook, liquids, etc. that are not allowed to be in a carry-on, but must be checked.

The "etc" can include trekking poles, stove sometimes (sometimes not, hard to tell what will get them going), some foods might come under the liquids or gels thing (for example, some people like to bring olive oil to put in their food).

The tricky thing is that not only do rules change, but enforcement can vary. I have a friend who swears he always brings his trekking poles as carry-on with never a problem. Except the one trip where he and I flew together and he was stopped at the security area after I had gotten through, had to go back and check his poles separately. Then the poles for some reason came out in the "oversized" luggage place on the other end (which I guess was really "unusually sized" luggage output), so we wasted more time on arrival trying to find his poles. PITA.

IMO, better to just plan on checking luggage if you're flying unless you really can get by with no poles and no knife on your trip. Hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain I did just that, though I did buy a cheap knife on arrival and gave it away at the end.

When my wife and I fly to hike somewhere, we typically check one bag between us, and use the other backpack as a sort of shared carry-on, and that works well. I think it would be nice if airports with a lot of backpacking options in the area had a little business where they would rent poles and knives, sell stove fuel, and hold your protective duffel bag for you. Probably not enough demand, but would be nice! Alternatively, a hostel in the area could do at least some of this perhaps.

I don't use poles, and I don't use a stove, and I can get by without a knife. I actually have a small knife that disguises as a single key.

I guess the questionable? items I would bring are:
- folding mini scissors
- a saw composed of a single wire and plastic loops on the ends
- a multitool that folds to 2" long and has pliers and 4 screwdrivers
- small bic lighter
- a micro bottle opener
- a micro wine bottle opener

...but I could make due without all of these things, or buy something inexpensive on the other end. That would be my preference. Actually, my preference would be to do away with TSA bag check. But that's not up to me, unfortunately. If you travel internationally, they may have different opinions of what can and can't go. For example, a set of mini screwdrivers that was just the thing the official may have needed.

edit:
freeze dried food allowed: https://apps.tsa.dhs.gov/mytsa/cib_results.aspx?search=freeze%20dried%20foods (I use the campfire method, or I can also soak during the day as I hike, if I'm desperate)

ndsol, I've read that backpacks are quite often overlooked by airlines, if they aren't exact measurements, because they can change shape to fit in most places. That's not official, but at the moment I feel safe to carry the 40 Liter backpack.

Food is fine; it's just liquids and gels. Almost everywhere I go, campfires are not permitted, so I do need the stove, which I do as a carryon with buying fuel at my destination.

Your list should be fine, except perhaps the saw as it might be viewed as a garrote. What is incongruent is that while small pocket knives are not permitted, scissors with up to 3" blades are. Many have a screw holding them together, which means you can readily unscrew them and have two knives longer than your little pocket knife.

If you do have a small knife disguised as a key, I would recommend not taking it in the cabin. If TSA finds it, they may consider that to be "artful concealment", which would cause you greater trouble.

As for the size of your pack, it can also depend on the airline. Certain ones will weigh and measure every carry-on. When I mentioned the size above, that was for mainline planes. Smaller ones may require you to gate check what would fit on that 737, for example. On the other hand, I am looking forward to my upcoming flight on an A380.

While the NTSA has guidelines, there is still a lot of room for interpretation by local staff.

I fly 100K miles per year. My security check is a lot different when I fly on my usual airline, vs. when I fly somebody else.

Even more true in Europe, where Lufthansa is usually quite strict, while Alitalia is....not.

Get a large duffle bag for your gear and have that checked. Then keep the pack with maybe a few items in it. Then use it as a carry on making sure you can put it in a overhead. You should with not much in it.