Commercial Air& My Gear

[Kirils 1]

My wife and I will be jumping in Hawaii soon. I could use some advice about getting our gear there. Should I take as carry on luggage, check it as baggage, ship it FedEx or what?? I really worry about it getting ripped off or damaged.
Your thoughts please??
Skydiving is not a static excercise with discrete predictability...

[freeflir29 0]

Carry on in a gear bag! I wouldn't trust those ramp monkies with my life saving device. If you must check it make sure you buy extra insurance to cover REPLACEMENT cost plus a little for your time.
"I only have a C license, so I don't know shit..right?"-Clay

[rapper4mpi 0]

I would suggest carrying it with you in a non-descript gear bag. And resist telling anyone passengers what is in it, unless asked by the security people. Another handy little tip that was given to me. Tie a brightly colored hankercheif through the reserve d-handle and around the main lift webbing. This will prevent any unknowing security guy from deploying your reserve if they inspect it. Just remember to take it off before your next jump!
-Rap

[kingbunky 3]

this question seems to come up a lot... maybe there should be a faq on the site somewhere that people could refer to... what it boils down to is contact the airlines and see if you can get written approval from someone, if you have an aad, contact the manufacturer for a picture of what it looks like under x-ray and arrive early at the airport to deal with security.
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings

[jfields 0]

There are "Cypres cards" that show exactly what the device looks like in xray. I travel with that, plus printed letters from the Airtec and FAA websites explaining what the device is and why it is safe to carry on.
Also, if you have a hook knife on your rig, remove it and put it in your checked baggage.
As mentioned by someone else, secure your handles.
Justin

[QuickDraw 0]

Try This
..Billions of people living out their lives..Oblivious..

[GrumpySmurf 0]

Make sure to print it out too. The checkin folk are not gonna have a clue about carry policy with sports equipment - at least this way they know what you are talking about, and it might help to enlist thier aid if the high school drop out in security says no go.
Hopefully with the Feds getting involved the training will be standardized to include rigs and CYPRES, since it supposed to involve over 60 hours of class time alone.

[favaks 0]

> Tie a brightly colored hankercheif through the reserve d-handle and around the main lift webbing. This will prevent any unknowing security guy from deploying your reserve if they inspect it.
What do you do if the idiot wants to pop your reserve and inspect it?
I've ran into too many security personels who were just completely ignorant. My friend and I were stopped once when we were carrying our rigs. The fool just said, "You can't take those with you! You must check them in." I replied politely saying that we called the airport and airline ahead of time and they said there was no problem. The fool kept repeating the same thing and didn't let us pass and time was running out. So we waited in line for another 30 minutes and checked in our rigs. There were two lines at the security gate, one for people with carry ons, and one if you don't have any. When we got to the gate, another security idiot said that our cell phones are considered carry ons, so we must wait in the other line, about 45 minutes long--you've gotta be kidding me. Now, I put my rig in a hard case and check it in--don't want to deal with all that crap again.
All this new security stuffs at the airport is a joke--it just doesn't work. Sure, we're not allowed to bring sharp objects, but once passed the security gate, we can buy a pen or stick in the stores. I can even break the frame on my glasses and use it as a weapon, not considering that your hands alone can be used as weapons. When it comes down to it, we need more sky marshalls on the planes and shoot any idiot who fck around--you don't fck around at 40,000 feet in the air.
Now that I feel much better! favaks