Travleing With Fly Tackle

[RCream]

Hi-

In July I will be flying with some fishing tackle, and since I have never done it before I could use some advice. Ideally, I would like to bring an 8'6" 3-piece, 9' 2-piece, and a 6' 2-piece. Since I will be changing planes 3 times, I wouldn't feel very comfortable checking them in baggage. So are you allowed to bring rods as cary on items, and does that mean that you can no longer take a bag? What about reels and flies, seems to me they should definately go in a cary on?? If I take all three rods, is it ok to have them in seperate tubes, maybe tied/taped together, or do I need to make / buy a large tube that will hold all three?? Is the 9 foot rod too long? I guess thats all I can think of, but I'm sure there are other things I should consider. Please let me know any information you have on the subject, since my tackle is the most improtant thing I need to pack! Thanks.

-RC

[Normand]

youre gonna get as many different stories as people responding but heres what i did from hartford ct to bozeman mt last september

i carried 2, 4 piece fly rods like this on to the plane plus a backpack with my camera gear. all my other fly fishing gear was checked in and went to the belly of the plane. the rods were in plastic tubes but others will tell you aluminum tubes are OK too. the rods and backpack fit into the overhead bin. my backpack contained no fly fishing gear whatsoever. everything made it out to bozeman and back to hartford and nothing was lost or stolen.

this is only my experience and i would do it the same way again. its not nice to pi$$ off any TSA agent. you dont know what side of the bed they got up on the day youre traveling so why take any chances!

[ducksterman]

There may be a difference between 4 piece rods and the 2 piece ones.....

[Bamboozle]

R:

Two piece rods; three plane changes, three different airports...

...disaster waiting to happen.

Do yourself a big favor and ship your stuff in advance FULLY INSURED via UPS, FEDEX, DHL, etc.

I've done it lots of times with no issues and real peace of mind. I had stuff shipped to my lodge, my friends and held for pick-up which is the option I like best.

Oh yea, I ALWAYS put my metal rod tubes inside of PVC tubes with bubble wrap for extra protection when shipping. It costs more to ship because of the extral weight but the additional protection is worth it to me, especially if you have a rod that is no longer available.

Good luck!

[Normand]

Bamboozle,

do you have a problem finding mailing/shipping tubes??? cant find mailing/shipping tubes for a 2 piece fly rod tube in my area. what do you use???

the shipping services you mention only carry the short triangular tubes.

[Bamboozle]

Normand:

Like I said in my previous post; I put my metal tubes inside of a homemade PVC tube with one removable end cap. I wrap the rod tube in bubble wrap so it doesn't jiggle around and tape the removable PVC cap in place. I NEVER ship a rod without the PVC since 99% of my rods are irreplaceable for various reasons so if they get busted; even the insurance won't get me back what I lost.

I have shipped lots of rods that way with no issue except the increase in the shipping cost because of the extra weight. I just put the labels right on the PVC and I'm good to go. I have quite a few lying around the house for everything from 4pc to 2pc rods.

IF I can find a large enough piece of cardboard or a big enough and long enough box; I'll also put the PVC inside of that just so it won't roll around in the back of a UPS truck which I figure is a good thing. But I have shipped plenty of rods without the box.

Uline, which is a distributor of shipping supplies; sells long cardboard boxes. Unfortunately you would have to buy a bunch from them but in all honesty; getting a large cardboard box and cutting it down to make a 6" X 6" X 36"+ box isn't that difficult.

Also; I have taken two of the FREE Priority Mail triangular tubes and joined them together to ship a rod once. It's amazing what you can do with a box cutter, some arts and crafts ability and some packing tape.

[Normand]

sorry didnt see the pvc thing. that would be rather costly from a shipping stand point. like you also said you do have to buy boxes in bulk and thats costly too.

i guess it come down to good old yankee ingenuity to create a shipping tube from good old cardboard.

i just thought you knew of a magical place to get cardboard shipping tubes.

thanks

[Bamboozle]

Well the extra cost in shipping becomes a minor issue if you ship ground; the added cost per pound isn't that bad. Obviously if you go next day or two day it can get expensive but as far as I'm concerned; if I lose a rod because I was too cheap to spend a few extra few bucks to protect it in transit; I had it coming.

ESPECIALLY knowing what I do about how stuff gets thrown around by the freight companies. Cardboard may be OK for the rod makers 'cause they can just send you a replacement if a new rod is damaged in transit; but when it's my own stuff; it goes PVC Express!

JMHO

[ducksterman]

If you decide you want to use cardboard....try checking with your local golf courses. Golf clubs and shafts are shipped in triangular long boxes [sometimes rectangular]...I'm sure they just throw them away. They're not long enough for a 2 piece 9' rod though so you'd have to cobble two together as Bam says.

[Kathy Scott]

I feel your pain... we're always worried about shipping rods, yet nothing has ever happened.

This past week, we were trying hard to see my Mom in Florida, our once a year visit. Tough to get tickets school vacation week in Maine, tougher yet with the Boston Marathon going on, then throw in a good Nor'Easter! We were due to depart from Portland Sunday around six a.m. but made it down to Ft Myers from Boston Wednesday evening instead. Despite switching through three different airlines and our baggage going ahead (somewhere) on that Monday without us, even the two fly rod tubes taped together were safely waiting for us in the correct airlines' office when we landed. We were impressed!

Kat