Rack in carry on pack

[mark1980]

Has anyone recently flown to Red Rocks from SeaTac, with a rack in their carry on pack? A few years ago, someone asked a similar question on this site, and most of the replies stated, that it could be done. After reading those, I did it in “09” without any problems. Can I expect to do it again, or have things changed, or did I just get lucky in “09”.

[keenwesh]

call up the TSA.

[glassgowkiss]

The only issue you might have is your nut tool.

[DPS]

The only thing TSA is consistent about is being inconsistent. I have never chanced it and had no problem stowing in my checked baggage.

Edited April 15, 2012 by DPS

[keenwesh]

The only issue you might have is your nut tool.

 

or aid hammer.

 

in all seriousness though I have a similar question, I'll be flying to chico in a couple weeks to drive a car back, maybe with some climbing in between. shouldn't have any problems with a rack of draws and a rope, should I? I guess a gigantic noose could be constructed out of the rope, and a bola could be made out of a chain of draws...

[Coldfinger]

Ditto on the nut tool in carry on, that's the only thing I've heard causing trouble. Just get there early in you're worried. Or fly SW and check it free.

[DPS]

shouldn't have any problems with a rack of draws and a rope,

It may have been Jens who tried to carry on a rope and TSA made him trow it away because it could be used as a restraint I suppose.

 

Why are folks unwilling to check climbing gear? Fear of theft? My guess is baggage thievs are looks for high value items like cameras, jewerly, and electronics. But what do I know?

Edited April 15, 2012 by DPS

[Coldfinger]

Why are folks unwilling to check climbing gear?

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[max]

It may have been Jens who tried to carry on a rope and TSA made him trow it away because....

 

Now I'm not calling anybody a liar. Lets get that straight. And you seem to be pointing at a "it may have been" (which is cool and all), and I can't say I know anything about what Jens said (other than your post here)...

 

If a rope ended up being a "prohibited item", I can't believe they'd say "You have to throw that away." I speculate that TSA would say "you can't enter the terminal area with that. Go check it."

 

Nosing around I found on the TSA page...

 

If you bring a prohibited item to the checkpoint you may be criminally and/or civilly prosecuted. A security or law enforcement officer will decide how to handle the situation depending on the item and the circumstances.

 

Depending on the circumstances, the security or law enforcement officer may allow you to:

 

-> Consult with the airlines for help to put the prohibited item in checked baggage.

-> Take the item away from the screening checkpoint.

-> Make other arrangements for the item, such as taking it to your car.

-> Abandon the item at the checkpoint.

 

To ensure everyone's security, a security officer may decide that an item that is not on this chart is potentially dangerous and may prevent you from taking it through the checkpoint.

 

Our list of prohibited items applies to flights originating within the United States. Restrictions on items when you travel from destinations outside the United States may be different. Please check with your airline or travel agent to make sure that you will be able to bring back all the items you are taking on your trip.

 

To learn more, read our guidance on civil sanctions.

 

So it looks like they could "abandon" the property at the checkpoint, but it seems like security has become a little less twitchy in the last ten years.

[genepires]

Look at Dave doing homework and research on the interweb. smart fella.

 

[max]

the "research" on the internet is a diversion from my real "homework.

 

Next research topic: were does genepires @ cc.com live. Begin creeping.....

[keenwesh]

monroe, it says right below his name... creeped for ya

[keenwesh]

as for where you live, R6 isn't a place I'm familiar with

[glassgowkiss]

Why are folks unwilling to check climbing gear?

Because they friggin lose bags! If I fly to LV for 3 days and my bag gets lost, I guess your climbing trip will turn into drinking and gambling trip pretty fast! Cost is another thing, but most of trips people book a flight are a week or under and if the bag gets lost your trip will turn to shit fast.

[DPS]

It may be that my memory is clouded by the hospital herion I have been taking, but as I recall the upshot was that Jens threw away the rope. Could have been he didn't have time to go back and check the rope or whatever, but that is my recollection. Perhaps Jens (K) can post up and clear up any confusion.

[DPS]

Why are folks unwilling to check climbing gear?

Because they friggin lose bags! If I fly to LV for 3 days and my bag gets lost, I guess your climbing trip will turn into drinking and gambling trip pretty fast! Cost is another thing, but most of trips people book a flight are a week or under and if the bag gets lost your trip will turn to shit fast.

Fair enough, but it seems like an equal gamble that the TSA folks will confiscate or at least make you check the gear anyway.

[Coldfinger]

Well if you fly non-stop very little risk of the bag not making it.

 

If a connection, check the time between flights, less than an hour = some risk.

 

Bags rarely get "lost", they just don't make it out of the hold, onto the cart, through the sorting, back onto a cart and onto your plane in time.

[max]

More thread creep: (skip if you're still interested in carry on rules...) R6 is the USDA designation for the national forests, monuments, grasslands, and some other crap in (roughly) Washington and Oregon. It really doesn't apply to me because I'm not longer with those fascist bastards (JK!).

 

I'm not really a creeper. Gene and I go back.

 

Funny story about R6 and air cargo rules:

 

I worked for a national fire resource (we traveled around the country working wildfires. Part of our SOP's was that every crew member carried a sigg bottle of gas and a sigg bottle of bar oil 'cause if the saws shut down, the whole crew shut down.

 

We used to fly to AK every summer or so for fires there. We kept a supply of unused, clean siggs that we could fly with us, then fill once we landed. The first thing we did when we got a "flight dispatch" was ditch our siggs, fussee's (glorified road flares), MRE's, and any other TSA no-no. All of our gear went as checked luggage.

 

Now IT WASN'T ME! But the story was that somebody forgot to take their siggs out of their pack, and they (the siggs full of gas) made it to AK! It was figured out once we were in the field, so the guilty party just freaked out and ditched it somewhere in the central AK bush! My guess is our stuff reeked or gas, oil, spit, and smoke so much that their sniffer devices went balistic, they figured it was useless checking all the stuff 'cause we were with the feds anyways, and just let it all pass. Ooops!

 

[ColinB]

I had no problems flying with my rack this spring (ice screws in the checked bags...) and don't see why they should care. I had to unpack my bag every time I went through, but I think that's because the metal makes it hard for them to see whats there. I think that crackers did the same thing to Red Rocks recently and I'm pretty sure they didn't mess with him. Good luck and have fun!

[mark1980]

Thanks for the replies. Now that I think about it, a few years ago they were only charging for checked baggage, if it was over a certain size and weight. I put the rack in my carry on and kept the weight of my checked bag within the weight limit, to avoid paying extra. Now that they are charging for everything that isn't a carry on, and to avoid issues with TSA, it might be best to keep it with my other gear.

 

Let the thread drift, it's entertaining.