Travelling/Flights with Trad gear

I'm heading from NY to Colorado next week to climb. I'll be flying with all of my trad gear & full rack. I've never flown with my rack before & I'm trying to decide whether to check my bag or bring it on the plane. I'd prefer to bring it with me, to make sure it travels safely & isn't thrown around too much. However, I'd prefer not to have to deal with being searched & have to repack everything because of my gear & of course, wouldn't want any of my gear to have to be tossed. Any experience or suggestions on the best way to get my gear out with me or how the airport security feels about it? Thanks!

I brought nuts cams rope biners. Checked the nut tool and knife and multi tool and the like. Me and my girlfriend's bags got looked at under the X-ray for a while but they let it pass without opening them up.

Edit: probably helps if you're white and not too scruffy/dirty looking when trying to pull this off. I'd say odds are in your favor if you are. Because yes, TSA profiles.

Thanks for the input & link to old thread!!

The cheapest and a fairly oconvenient option for me has always been to ship via Amtrak freight. (As long as there is a station on either end)

i would suggest taking all your gear other than stuff like the nut tool and anything sharp with you because cargo holds tend to be quite dirty and sometimes they store extra fuel there so i wouldn't want it in there because there is a chance that it may bump into some petroleum product and obviously that's no bueno.

Aside from the fact that cargo holds are not used as aircraft fuel tanks... jet fuel has no effect on nylon, aluminum, or Spectra-type fibers. If you want to worry, worry about your gear getting stolen by ground baggage handlers.

Regarding carry-on: I just got back from Spain and France and they didn't say a word! Just leave the nut tool at home. Everything else will be OK! However, if for any reason you go through Dubai (in the future/random heads up) for a transfer, they will confiscate your rope ...learned that the hard way. Have fun here in CO!

I'm recently from NYC and live in Colorado now. I've flown out of LGA, JFK and DEN many times with my trad rack/shoes/harness in my backpack, and haven't had much of a problem; I've only had to pull my rack out once. I would definitely carry them on (along with a change of clothes/jacket)--losing your baggage even for a day can totally ruin your trip.

I fly 5 or six times a year with my rack as a carry on and have never had a problem.
MO

I know people that have been stopped just for having a full size carabiner on their backpack. TSA said the carabiner could be used as brass knuckles. I always check my gear, and 9 times out of 10 when I get to destination I get one of those friendly "The TSA conducted a random inspection of your checked baggage" pamphlets. If the TSA always looks at my gear on my checked baggage, they would probably be even more paranoid about carry on. I've flow over 50 times and I have never had a lost bag. I think lost bags are a bit more rare than most people think. Only 3 in 1000 bags are mishandled (to include not only lost but damaged as well). There is probably an equal if not higher chance your gear will get lost in the mail coming from REI.com.

travelandleisure.com/articl…

However, I would not have a problem trying to take the gear on my carry-on either. I would just make sure I leave enough time to backtrack to the ticket counter in case the TSA said no. The worse they would probably do is just say no, in which you just add it as a checked bag. Easy day. No reason not to try unless you are pressed for time.

The TSA seems to have cut back a bit on the zealous mall-cop-that-thinks-he's-important attitude though. A few years back a laptop seemed to be borderline contraband.