Topic: gear on airplanes

[coloartist]

I fly all the time with 3 sets of mics, a 788, laptop, and numerous batteries all the time.

As long as you take your rig apart with all your wires in a ziploc not connected to anything, and you separate your batteries, wires, laptop and recorder in separate bins so they don't overlap. You will be fine.

[nxb]

ALWAYS carry it on.

That is excellent advice, I flew from England to France to record two shows in Paris and Strasbourg. The taping gear was in a checked bag which got lost by Easy Jet on a flight from Luton to Charles De Gaule.

The bag eventually caught up with me but not until the day after I arrived back home...

[kingkita]

I fly all the time with 3 sets of mics, a 788, laptop, and numerous batteries all the time.

As long as you take your rig apart with all your wires in a ziploc not connected to anything, and you separate your batteries, wires, laptop and recorder in separate bins so they don't overlap. You will be fine.

This is what I do too no problems never!

[taperj]

I use the big super-thick slide-zip see-through ziplock bags for all my cables/chargers/etc, and then I put each large device in a separate bin when I get to the check station. I've only been pulled aside once for a closer look by TSA, it was coming back from Jam Cruise last year when I was leaving Ft. Lauderdale. I had a ton of gear with me though, it was understandable, and they were very nice about it and respected the fact that I had asked them to treat the gear gently as it was quite expensive. I'll re-state what Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B) said... ALWAYS carry it on.

[JusTapin]

I flew to a few shows this year and after my first I found to slip through security without much hassle, put your cables in one ziplock bag, any misc tools in another, pull your deck, pre or whatever and put in a bin.  No worries at all. 

I lugged the 12' stand with extension pole and stand umbrella buggy strapped together through security and onboard with no issues.  The only issues I had onboard were on some of the smaller commuter flights that I had to slide the stand and bag under the seat because they wouldn't fit in the overhead. 

Flying with gear as carry on is really not a big issue (at least that's my experience).  I definitely wouldn't put my cables or any other key components in checked baggage, unless I suppose you're arriving a couple days early.  I wouldn't check any of my gear to avoid the risk of not having it on the other end. 

[morst]

TSA flips out on opaque things in the xray machine, so keep clamps and other solid metail items like goosenecks and extensions out where they can visually inspect them. They also don't like 9v batteries much.

I will agree to ALWAYS carry important gear on, but I do like to check cables, batteries, & stands if I can.

[vwmule]

Went from DC to SFO and wasn't asked once about bag, which went through machine. First time I have breezed through like that.

[jb63]

Just made it through 3 different flights between September and today, each one I had a carry-on bag that BARELY fit in the overhead, packed gear, batteries, cables, clamps, computer parts & hard drives.

In sept, I had to parcel stuff out. Anything with a hard drive or lithium battery had to go into a bin for separate scanning. I was really good at packing for this over the years. By thanksgiving, the rules has changed. Shoes on and laptops left in bags. Christmas we were back to shoes off and laptops in bins again.

But no one blinks at all the taping gear.
I even left the 9v batteries in the bag the last 3 flights with no problem.

In my experience, it's tougher to get into a venue than on the plane these days.

[rastasean]

I actually have experience with this now as I was on my first commercial flight in late October. I packed light so my only concern was that the senheiser md-42 would be construed as a weapon so it went in the take away luggage thing. My recorder and smaller mics went in the carry on luggage without any issues.

The TSA is just security theater anyway. Once you go through screening, I was never asked to provide my ID to verify it against the boarding pass nor was I subjected to further security screening. 

[JusTapin]

While on the topic, I found this On Stage bag to use for a stand bag in case you want to check your stand in a bag.  It's nearly half the price ($29.95) of an actual stand bag and is very well padded with room to spare.  I was able to pack a tent, lightweight sleeping bag and a several other misc things in it for my trip out to The Gorge earlier this year.   

 

[TommyAudio]

First of all...Carry your gear on,,,Never check it....

I too have flown several times with lots of gear. In fact I'm going to CES from Mpls. in Jan as I have since 1982 and I bring lots of recording gear, cameras, MP3 players, etc. and have had no problems. The only thing I've had done almost everytime is to be pulled aside for a closer inspection done with swabbing, and maybe they ask me to power something up once in a while. but no problems to speak of.

[welshylad]

Why would airport security stop you? .... That puzzles me

Anyway I've flown loads round the UK / Europe and never had anything said to me..  I always take it on the plane, never check them in

[TommyAudio]

Maybe the UK is different or more lax on security, but not in the US. I've been questioned a few times. Not to any great depth, but more than a "what's this for". It's always been someone who appears to have no clue what the gear is for.

[bobstammers]

Why would airport security stop you? .... That puzzles me

Anyway I've flown loads round the UK / Europe and never had anything said to me..  I always take it on the plane, never check them in

I have had the same UK experience as welshylad. I flew from Birmingham UK to Koln Germany last weekend and had no issues taking 2 rigs through as hand luggage in either direction. They swabbed my ipad in Birmingham but didn't question my two sets of rig.

[NSL]

Flew with my gear twice in the past few months.  Never stopped or questioned coming or going both times.  My bag was small enough to fit under the seat of the plane as well.  I had all my gear packed nicely in pelican cases as well.