What can be carried on an Aircraft

[Celt_Ginger]

Hi.
I wondered if anyone has a definative answer on what can or cannot be carried on an Aircraft with regard to Bushcraft kit. As I understand it, knives and axes can be carried, but only in luggage that goes in the aircraft's hold. Does anyone know if any fuels can be taken on board a plane, eg petrol in a proper fuel bottle, gas canasters or hexx cubes? I imagine that gas and pertol would be a no no, but perhaps this is allowed, as I know that gas lighters are allowed.

 

[shinobi]

Hi.
I wondered if anyone has a definative answer on what can or cannot be carried on an Aircraft with regard to Bushcraft kit. As I understand it, knives and axes can be carried, but only in luggage that goes in the aircraft's hold. Does anyone know if any fuels can be taken on board a plane, eg petrol in a proper fuel bottle, gas canasters or hexx cubes? I imagine that gas and pertol would be a no no, but perhaps this is allowed, as I know that gas lighters are allowed.

As you say, blades are ok in the hold, so long as they're safely wrapped.
As far as fuel goes, it's a big no-no. Either in the hold or in your hand luggage. I know, I got pulled by BA on the way back from Sweden for a fuel bottle, when in fact, what they'd seen was my sigg water bottle!! Just goes to show that they do look. Also, sometimes an airline will have the check-in and baggage handling done by a third party company that runs different regulations to the airline.
the best solution is to check the small print on your ticket, or ring the airline direct.

HTH,

Martin

 

[spamel]

The RAF doesn't allow hexy as it is DAC, or Dangerous Air Cargo. God, I hate acronyms! Anyway, if the RAF won't allow it, I'll doubt civvy airlines would. Petrol and the like should be easy to source at your destination, why not pick it up when you get there?

 

[VIRULENT SALAMANDER]

.... .. restriction have been getting tighter since the sad Lockerbie bomb (a pea size bit of santex or something like that). canned spray is doggy due to pressure changes which might make things go bang too! this is the link to a regulater http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/safety not sure if you can find what your looking for though. I am fairly sure that about a year ago DHL would not let you ship pressurize canisters of flammablethingsor fuel etc. except by speical arrangment?......???and that was in a cargo plane .....?

 

[Wayne]

I was stopped coming back from Northern Ireland and lost 20m of paracord. Apparently i could have tied up the cabin crew. Shoe laces are fine.

The security officer said that the security arrangements had to comply with american regulations or the airport would have trouble with landing in the US.

I had spent a long time removing all sharps from my bag and still over looked the cord. Check before you travel or you will be in for an expensive day.

 

[Shepherd]

Every airline has different rules from what I have found but recently the western world has been getting so paranoid it's making me want to sail everywhere...

Before I became a journalist and needed ridiculous amounts of kit, I used to travel hand luggage anywhere and everywhere. Now ten years on and 56 countries later I have found that even phone conversations you have had in certain countries can have you pulled over at customs.

Now-a-days anything I question I leave at home and only take a book onto the plane.

If i am going away for a while I tend to post stuff ahead.

 

[lardbloke]

I totally agree with the above, things have tightened up so much it is not worth the hassle anymore. I consider taking any type of fuel with me as a big no no. I am an ex RAF airloader and remember the problems this used to cause (the amount of extra paperwork).On civvy airlines, I have been pulled up for carrying a Gerber and even questioned over carrying a mint imperial in my pocket (they thought it could be a class A drug) too name a few.
The simplest method as mentioned by 'Shepard' is to post your items on to the nearest PO or place you will be staying near, otherwise just purchase the items at your destination which could turn out cheaper in the long run....

 

[C_Claycomb]

Stuart had a problem with someone saying he could restrain people with the line on his Hennessy hammock!

However, last year while in the US I had some blocks of metal in my carry on bag, the x-ray showed them up, security wanted them unwrapped which we did. I then used the roll of duct tape I was also carrying to wrap them up again!

The rules on fuel have been set down for many years. Spray cans, lighter fluid and so on were not permitted decades before September 11th.

http://www.tsa.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/Prohibited_English_4-1-2005_v2.pdf

This is worth reading. I know its only for the US, but its a good guide.

 

[arctic hobo]

When I flew to Russia we took a bizarre triple -connecting flight, that detoured to Beijing before heading to Yakutsk (It was cheap, ok? ). Stopping in China everyone got searched - don't know if this is normal or one-off, but as we changed planes everyone had their luggage and persons searched - three people didn't get back on the flight because they had had pocket knives in their hand luggage, and one had a goth-style belt that apparently was a potent lethal weapon. My friend was fined 750 Chinese Yuan or whatever they are (about 50 quid) becuase his water bottle (with water in it) smelled of alcohol, which is forbidden to import there. It all seems very petty and I guess they can pick you up for anything if they want to.
Apparently you are less likely to die in a hijacked plane than you are to be killed by a frisbee. Either Oddjob has been very busy lately, or it's airlines take themselves way too seriously

 

[swamp donkey]

On the same lines as Claycomb,
When returning from 6 weeks walking Exped to Tanzania last year . I inadvertantly left my firstaid kit in my hand baggage , customs picked up the splinter tweezers but left the tuff cut scisors and the scapel!!
I also broke a murcury themometer on a Herc once, not a popular man , I'll let the loady explain why .Never quite understood at the time as I was escorting broken bloke did not stay around long enough.
I have not had a problem with fuel bottles as long as they are fully aired and the top is not fitted .

 

[BorderReiver]

When I flew to Russia we took a bizarre triple -connecting flight, that detoured to Beijing before heading to Yakutsk (It was cheap, ok? ). Stopping in China everyone got searched - don't know if this is normal or one-off, but as we changed planes everyone had their luggage and persons searched - three people didn't get back on the flight because they had had pocket knives in their hand luggage, and one had a goth-style belt that apparently was a potent lethal weapon. My friend was fined 750 Chinese Yuan or whatever they are (about 50 quid) becuase his water bottle (with water in it) smelled of alcohol, which is forbidden to import there. It all seems very petty and I guess they can pick you up for anything if they want to.
Apparently you are less likely to die in a hijacked plane than you are to be killed by a frisbee. Either Oddjob has been very busy lately, or it's airlines take themselves way too seriously

Chinese flights don't like opened bottles of water.Someone (Chinese) took a bottle of flammable liquid on board a flight and caused some consternation a year or two back.I have been asked to take a drink out of my water bottle,after the security lady had sniffed it,to prove it wasn't petrol or similar.

 

[Mr_Yarrow]

You are not even technically safe with sharps in your holdall luggage in UK airports. I say this because of an interesting point raised on BB. The restrictions in the UK refer to a public place, an airport is a public place and there have reportedly been cases where items have been confiscated from cargo luggage as they were weapons/blades and in a public place.

I know it seems ridiculous, but it has apparently happened.

Rgds

 

[Graham_S]

I also broke a murcury themometer on a Herc once, not a popular man , I'll let the loady explain why

mercury will attack the aluminium structure of an aircraft. it can rapidly destroy the structural integrity of anything it touches. the herc would have been grounded on landing and would have needed an extensive internal re-fit to replace anything the mercury might have touched. this will have cost lots of time and money.
if you think the loady was upset, you're lucky the riggers didn't get hold of you!!

 

[Kim]

Don't go by what you're told on here, ring the airline direct. Whereas we may be right, or not...saying you were told something by someone on a website isn't going to buy it with check in security staff.

 

[Shepherd]

You know what the answer is don't you..?

As we are forever looking for excuses to upgrade our kit and buy new stuff, why not leave a hidden cache of tools and/or fuel in each popular bushcraft country/area.

(I know it kind of defeats the object of fending for oneself but with all the restrictions we face on everything now-a-day's it's wouldn't surprise me if axes were banned outright.)

So.. You hide your equipment (very well) and log the GPS co-ords or grid reference emailing them to the address on www.geostash.org (see how quickly i knocked that up) Include a hint to make it easier to find.

The location is not made public but only given out to a Bushcrafter who emails the site stating where they plan to travel...

It's just an idea but i kind of like it.

I have an Axe I am not using and will get a little tub together with bits and bobs in and plant it in North Wales near my Dads place where I can monitor it.

If anyone wants to design a proper web page let me know.

 

[Spacemonkey]

Whenever I travel in Euroland, I drive. This is so that I can more or less carry what I want with minimal hassle. Also the drive is quite enjoyable.

 

[wingstoo]

The RAF doesn't allow hexy as it is DAC, or Dangerous Air Cargo. God, I hate acronyms! Anyway, if the RAF won't allow it, I'll doubt civvy airlines would. Petrol and the like should be easy to source at your destination, why not pick it up when you get there?

I also understand that the RAF don't carry used Litheum batteries on their aircraft, this is because they have the ability to spontainiously combust, not good on an aircraft,

Having been in the area when £250,000 worth of them went up in flames I would recommend that you buy on arrival and dispose of before returning.

LS Dave

 

[Andy]

I wonder if it would be a good idea to get the tiny ammo boxs to hold a few CR123s in

 

[Kepis]

Hi.
I wondered if anyone has a definative answer on what can or cannot be carried on an Aircraft with regard to Bushcraft kit. As I understand it, knives and axes can be carried, but only in luggage that goes in the aircraft's hold. Does anyone know if any fuels can be taken on board a plane, eg petrol in a proper fuel bottle, gas canasters or hexx cubes? I imagine that gas and pertol would be a no no, but perhaps this is allowed, as I know that gas lighters are allowed.

From Britishairways.com


The following articles should never be packed in baggage:


Butane lighters (when travelling from the USA)

Explosives - fireworks, flares, toy guns and caps

Flammable and non-flammable gas - aerosols (over 2kg or 2 litres), camping gas cylinders

Carbon dioxide cylinders for soda siphons, lighter refills, butane gas cylinders, filled aqua lung cylinders, mace

Deeply refrigerated gases - liquid nitrogen

Flammable liquids - paints, thinners, solvents

Flammable solids - firelighters

Oxidising materials - bleaches

Organic peroxides - resin kits poisons - arsenic, cyanide, weed killer, tear gas )

Infectious substances - viruses and bacteria (which would affect humans and animals)

Radioactive materials - instruments containing radioactive source radioisotopes for research

Corrosive materials - acids, alkalis, metallic mercury, thermometers containing mercury, barometers

Miscellaneous - magnetised materials, formalin etc


Restricted Articles

The following items may be carried with special precautions (details are available from your local British Airways office):


Sporting guns

Medicines and toilet articles

Matches and lighters

Butane hair stylers

Dry ice

Oxygen and carbon dioxide cylinders

Cardiac pacemakers

Wet-cell batteries

Munitions of war (see here for sporting guns )

Radio telephones

Christmas crackers

Radio, television and CD players

Cooking oil

 

[Beakytzw]

You can have fuel in a hold. As long as it is packed according the IATA DGR (Dangerous Goods Regulations) and you have the permission from the Airline (who will carry it according to the IATA DGR) You cannot however carry it into the US even if you use IATA DGR unless you have permission from the US I cannot remember the Dept This applie for minimal amounts (even as little as 1liter). Always check with the airline, and ensure you remember to tell the airline where your destination is.