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Commercial Arline Travel - Backpack Tactics

dragginwood

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Aug 9, 2017
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Was hoping for some insight on how folks turn their gear over to the airline and get it to destination without having baggage handlers stealing or damaging your gear?

Some thoughts I've had are:
Pack like going afield and then throw it into a big duffel so it is lockable?
Pack a lockable suitcase with your gear and check your backpack separately?
Pack everything into a box and ship it to a hotel or better yet, Randy's house, and have them/him hold it for me?
 
In the past I've always taken my backpack as my carry on bag. Worked great.

With the new carry on bag dimensions my pack doesn't make it if it is packed very full so the last time I flew I was able to carry it on on my way there but had to gate check it on the way home.

It seems to me that the only carriers that care much about the new carry on dimensions are the smaller regional type carriers so it probably depends on what kind of plane you are going to be on.
 
I usually pack my expensive/fragile gear - glass, flyrod(s), reels, electronics, etc. in a daypack that I carry-on or in my Pelican gun case.
 
Locks don't do anything. If it's expensive, carry it on.

Amazon sells cheepy duffle bags that are perfect for putting your pack into. Only reason I do it is to keep a strap or worse from getting ripped off by the machines or the angry gorillas working in the back.
 
Locks don't do anything. If it's expensive, carry it on.

Amazon sells cheepy duffle bags that are perfect for putting your pack into. Only reason I do it is to keep a strap or worse from getting ripped off by the machines or the angry gorillas working in the back.

I guess it is all relative; but everything I'm taking is expensive all the way down to my Firstlite drawers.. Guess it's just the paranoia in me, but I'm dreading getting there just to open my bag and see all of my fancy technical gear gone. However I could look at the silver lining if that were to happen; I would have a nice leisurely vacation in Bozeman hotel somewhere living comfortably sleeping in a bed with my likelihood of becoming Grizzly fodder being substantially lower..

Appreciate the tips. I hadn't considered carrying on my pack.
 
I always carry on my pack. I'll fill it with my optics, rangefinder, cameras, etc and then surround with clothes. Never had a problem with the dimensions.
 
I'm bow hunting in Colorado next week, but had to fly to Portland the week before and San Francisco the week after for work, so paying additional baggage fees 4 times wasn't feasible. I shipped my bow to a hotel that I'll be staying at the night I arrive in Colorado. I packed all of my camo in my bowcase to help protect the bow, then locked the case shut. My pack is too big to carry on, so I put it in the top part of my checked bag, along with my tent poles, knives, stove, long spoon, sleeping bag, and whatever else is not allowed to be carried on. I also have my work clothes in the checked bag and I was just under the 50lb cutoff. I have a carry on bag with as much as I can possibly take. I put small items in my boots, so there is almost no dead space. I also have a backpack that i carry for work, and use all available space in it. I can post some pictures when I get back to the room tonight
 
I load up my pack then place it in a hockey bag along with my boots and a scent free bag packed with my clothes. I always place my rangefinder and glass in either my rifle or bow case. You could pay an overweight or size bag fee depending on the airline and what class you are flying. The hockey bags are large and strong.
 
I toss everything not breakable into my pack then toss my entire pack into a waterproof dry duffle bag (I think my current one is 120L) with an empty Yeti style soft sided cooler and an old army duffel bag in the bottom (combined weight is maybe 4 pounds-ish. Optics and breakables not in the rifle/bow case go in my carry on. On the return trip the cooler and dry bag become meat hauler once the meat is frozen and I toss my pack into the army duffel bag. I am not so much worried about theft as I am some baggage ape or conveyor belt snagging a strap and leaving me with a busted pack at the start of a hunt. Only have to pay extra baggage fees on the way home.
The cargo area of most planes are not heated so frozen meat stays frozen. Sea-Tac even has a service that will store your meat in their freezer during layovers.
 
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I use my clothes as padding around my stuff. Then on top I bought a pack of the biggest white undies I could find, rubbed them strategically in the oil spot in the garage, washed them so they're just stained and not actually foul, and I put one at the top of every compartment. If anyone ever searched my bag, I couldn't tell. I watched security in Nicaragua searching everyone's bags, then get to mine, open, close, and hand it back.
 
This is what I brought for a 12 day trip to Alaska. Brought back a caribou and 8 salmon. Fish went in Yeti, bou went in a dry bag and then with my optics into my SG backpack. Action packer with gear + rifle were checked, yeti + SG were carry on. $25 baggage fees total. A Stone Glacier bag in bivy mode will fit in a standard overhead bin the “correct” way with the bottom of the bag towards the fusalage and the top facing the aisle. (Also used my SG this weekend as a carryon to get a turkey back from an Oklahoma turkey hunt. Flew Alaska Air to AK and Southwest to OK.

CEDE9922-0FDB-4BF7-A5E2-66846C215BA1.jpg
 
I've packed my Badlands 2200 as a carry on with my optics in it. I have a roll up duffle bag with wheels I put my 2 sleeping bags, pads, tent and other bulky boots and warm clothes in. My trailhead camping gear goes in a hard plastic tote. The tote weighed 48 pounds and the duffle weighed 49 on my elk scouting trip.

Wilm above has the same setup as I describe..
 
PEAX Trekking Poles

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