As promised, here is a report of my recent experience Flying with my Tackle as “Carry On” items.
Flew from Hartford, CT to Boise and return on Continental Airlines … carried on board with absolutely no hassles, no questions. All in the past 3 weeks.
5 fly rods (all 9ft 4 piece) in an Abel rod carrier
5 Reels, with spare spools … all with lines mounted
and, surpising to me … I carrie d on (way too many) 10-12 boxes of Flies, including 2 dozen large size 4 Wooly Buggers.
Never had one word from the TSA folks or the airline folks.
I had the Reels and Flies all in a small rollaboard and some in my small backpack.
Also, I forgot that I had a small Swiss Army knife in my carry on along with my fishing stuff, probably a 2" blade (maybe 1 & 1/2") and no problems with that either.
Same good experience coming home from Boise a few days ago.
And oh yeah … the fishing out West was fantastic even though it was 95-100 degrees.
Many of you have mentioned that you are carrying on rods in tubes. Have any of you had problems carrying on the homemade PVC types? I only have the PVCs and a bit concerned that they may look dangerous compared to the commercially made.
It?s possible that a home made tube would draw more attention in a security control than one commercially made, but with todays x-ray equipment, dogs and what not, they would soon probably find out that your plan is to go fishing.
I will soon fly to Eugene,OR, from Sweden via London and San Francisco. Due to recent events in England, security has been tougher on flights from UK to the US. All I can bring onboard is a transparent plastic bag with my passport and wallet. I?ve decided to put my reels and flyboxes in a reelbag and that one in a larger suitcase together with waders,boots, wading jacket, fleece jacket and a wading staff. Extra underwear and t-shirts have to be bought there, there is just not enough space for it.
I had a hard time finding a rod tube shorter than the allowed 158 centimeters. I solved (I hope) the problem by leaving my 5 wt. home and stove two rods in an aluminium tube intended for one. The alu. tube fits well into a regular PVC tube dressed in cordura fabric. It also has a handle so it looks at least a little classy.
It?s possible that a home made tube would draw more attention in a security control than one commercially made, but with todays x-ray equipment, dogs and what not, they would soon probably find out that your plan is to go fishing.
I will soon fly to Eugene,OR, from Sweden via London and San Francisco. Due to recent events in England, security has been tougher on flights from UK to the US. All I can bring onboard is a transparent plastic bag with my passport and wallet. I?ve decided to put my reels and flyboxes in a reelbag and that one in a larger suitcase together with waders,boots, wading jacket, fleece jacket and a wading staff. Extra underwear and t-shirts have to be bought there, there is just not enough space for it.
I had a hard time finding a rod tube shorter than the allowed 158 centimeters. I solved (I hope) the problem by leaving my 5 wt. home and stove two rods in an aluminium tube intended for one. The alu. tube fits well into a regular PVC tube dressed in cordura fabric. It also has a handle so it looks at least a little classy.[/quote]
You might want to leave the aluminum tube home and just go with the plastic one. The aluminum tube can be used as a weapon similar to a baseball bat!
The husband carried on an aluminum rod tube of about cudgel length on a day when we couldn’t even carry on lip balm. Ditto for the return trip last week.
At security I did have to remove my sleeveless jacket and shoes and take my laptop out of it’s bag. We checked all of the tying and fishing gear, including the other multi-rod case.
I really missed the lip balm. But I guess you can carry that on now as long as it’s not gel or semi-liquid like a lip gloss with a brush.
Thanks for your comments but has anyone actually taken one of the homemade PVC rod tubes as a carry-on? My trip is coming up soon so I need to decide to check-in, or carry on (note: traveling with wife and kids 8/4 year olds.)
You might want to leave the aluminum tube home and just go with the plastic one. The aluminum tube can be used as a weapon similar to a baseball bat![/quote]
You are right, plus it?s to big to carry on. My tube will go with my other luggage.
d on (way too many) 10-12 boxes of Flies, including 2 dozen large size 4 Wooly Buggers.