Topic: Flying to shoreline furthur shows, how should i bring my gear on the plane

[lastubbe]

If the battery is connected to the 722, does it have a greater chance of getting through unnoticed?

Also on the clamp issue.  Can it be carried on with no issues?  I was concerned it would be considered a dangerous metal object.

I'm flying next weekend for Phish, so I need to get everything in order soon.

I also would check nothing of real value.  My parents were flying back from a vacation a few years back going through Philly on US Airways (rough), and thought it was a good idea to pack the new digital camera in the suitcase cause they didn't want to carry it on.  Suffice to say it was gone when they unpacked. 

[vanark]

Anyone know how many 9V DVD Li-ion batteries (6000 mAh) I can carry on with me?  Probably only need 2, but would like to take 3 in case.

Going to a 2 day fest in Mississippi - I've already arranged to borrow a stand in Memphis - I may be the only taper there but would prefer not to drag a stand with me.

[page]

If the battery is connected to the 722, does it have a greater chance of getting through unnoticed?

I didn't try and push the limit, I figure I can pack a charger and just not run an external with it. They've always had trouble with my 722, I asked once and they said it's because there is just a ton of stuff inside so they never get a good xray.

Also on the clamp issue.  Can it be carried on with no issues?  I was concerned it would be considered a dangerous metal object.

Never had a problem with my superclamp. My extendable arm got a glance once but never the clamp.

I also would check nothing of real value.  My parents were flying back from a vacation a few years back going through Philly on US Airways (rough), and thought it was a good idea to pack the new digital camera in the suitcase cause they didn't want to carry it on.  Suffice to say it was gone when they unpacked.

I concur for similar reasons.

Anyone know how many 9V DVD Li-ion batteries (6000 mAh) I can carry on with me?  Probably only need 2, but would like to take 3 in case.

Going to a 2 day fest in Mississippi - I've already arranged to borrow a stand in Memphis - I may be the only taper there but would prefer not to drag a stand with me.

Technically if it's really li-ion then you probably can get 3, but bring MSDS sheets if you can find them to explain what the compound is and that the watt-hr rating is low enough that you are not exceeding 8 units of their equivalent scale (so a max of 25 units per person). The rub is what they consider "larger" batteries. Their publication (PDF) says you get 2 larger ones which are "8 equivalent units" which translates to around 100watt hours per with a max of 25 units per person per flight. The sticky point is lithium vs lithium ion and how much lithium is in the later. All of this is on the books because they can't put out a lithium fire with what they carry on the plane.

Now, will someone in bumfuck usa understand the reg of equivalent units? Dunno, I've never wanted to get into it with these folks since they have plastic gloves and vaseline.

[vanark]

Anyone know how many 9V DVD Li-ion batteries (6000 mAh) I can carry on with me?  Probably only need 2, but would like to take 3 in case.

Going to a 2 day fest in Mississippi - I've already arranged to borrow a stand in Memphis - I may be the only taper there but would prefer not to drag a stand with me.

Technically if it's really li-ion then you probably can get 3, but bring MSDS sheets if you can find them to explain what the compound is and that the watt-hr rating is low enough that you are not exceeding 8 units of their equivalent scale (so a max of 25 units per person). The rub is what they consider "larger" batteries. Their publication (PDF) says you get 2 larger ones which are "8 equivalent units" which translates to around 100watt hours per with a max of 25 units per person per flight. The sticky point is lithium vs lithium ion and how much lithium is in the later. All of this is on the books because they can't put out a lithium fire with what they carry on the plane.

Now, will someone in bumfuck usa understand the reg of equivalent units? Dunno, I've never wanted to get into it with these folks since they have plastic gloves and vaseline.

Thanks, page.  This pointed me in the right direction.  It turns out since they are under 100 watt hours, you can take quite a few. Now, as you say, convincing someone they are under 8 grams (100 watt hours equivalent) may be another story.

Looked for an MSDS, but couldn't locate one.  I'll look a bit more, but may need to go without.  Last time I flew, no one asked about the batteries.

[cashandkerouac]

Hey, if you end up not bringing your stand you can clamp onto mine.  I'll be at Shoreline for both shows.

[vegeta_ban]

I wound up making a bag for my mic stand, and carried on the rest of the gear, checked my suitcase and mic stand.

they searched my gear bag twice and were a little weirded out by the shotgun capsule box for the nak 100's until I showed them the mic. also they looked closely at my ni-mh batteries, but everything got on the plane.

[page]

I wound up making a bag for my mic stand, and carried on the rest of the gear, checked my suitcase and mic stand.

they searched my gear bag twice and were a little weirded out by the shotgun capsule box for the nak 100's until I showed them the mic. also they looked closely at my ni-mh batteries, but everything got on the plane.

were the batteries in pack form with a random cable coming out (aka "home made plastic explosive" style)? I had a TSA lady in Boston who did the same thing once cause she got a glimps of the bag as I put it on the table before scanning. 

[vegeta_ban]

nah, they were radioshack rc car batteries, brought 4, and the charger. I taped the cable ends of the batteries so there could be no shorts and had them wrapped in a separate plastic baggy in my taping case. Really condensed the case this time.  they were also curious about the zoom h2 haha

I wound up making a bag for my mic stand, and carried on the rest of the gear, checked my suitcase and mic stand.

they searched my gear bag twice and were a little weirded out by the shotgun capsule box for the nak 100's until I showed them the mic. also they looked closely at my ni-mh batteries, but everything got on the plane.

were the batteries in pack form with a random cable coming out (aka "home made plastic explosive" style)? I had a TSA lady in Boston who did the same thing once cause she got a glimps of the bag as I put it on the table before scanning. 

[fleish]

I wouldn't bring a stand at all if you know of someone else you can clamp to. I checked mine for Bonnaroo a few years back and it was damaged - I'm pretty sure during TSA inspection. It's a Sure S15A and it wasn't destroyed - but the threaded top was bent a little. I bent it back out myself so I can still screw things on to it - but it's not a smooth a process as it was when before the incident.

As for carrying on gear, it's funny to hear the varying levels of problems people have had. The worst I've ever gotten from the TSA was @ SEATAC 2 years ago. The woman running the X-ray machine asked me what was in my bag "out of curiosity" ... she didn't hold my bag or ask for secondary (re)screening or anything ... she just wanted to know what the stuff was. I told her and away I walked. Another time coming back from Indio for Festival 8 I waltzed right through with an R4 & 2 sets of mics + all the my cables ... while a fellow taper who wasn't carrying any gear was stopped and screened because of disc golf plastic ... and was told to pull that out of the bag next time and send it through separately. You just never know what's gonna do it IMO.

[yltfan]

I wouldn't want to fly with an Nbox--the inside of those look sketchy as hell...

[F.O.Bean]

I wouldn't want to fly with an Nbox--the inside of those look sketchy as hell...

so true

[Seth01]

Last summer I flew with a large Pelican hard case.  Designed to just meet the carry on specs.  It was packed full of mics, pres, cables, batteries and all kinds of goodness.  On top of that, I had a padlock on it.  Never got asked to open it.  One person asked me what was in it and when I said audio recording gear they said OK, x-rayed it and let me through without ever having to open it.  I checked my stand and it took quite a beating but survived.