Advice for Checking a Backpack for a Flight

[Reverie]

I am considering doing some overnight trips at the end of some business trips. I would like to bring my pack along as a second piece of luggage. What advice would you share? I will not be packing fuel for the stove. I will be packing my sticks and they will fit inside of the bag. How do I prevent damage? How do I prevent damage to the straps?

[HooKooDooKu]

When I flew to CA to hike the JMT last year, I packed by backpack and boots in a cheap duffel bag I bought at the thrift store. Once I got to CA, I tossed the cheap duffel bag.
For the flight home, I went to the store and bought a roll of saran wrap. I wrapped the pack in the saran wrap to ensure all the straps would be tied down and have no chance of getting caught in conveyor belt machinery, but still left the top of the pack accessible in case TSA needed to access it while inspecting checked baggage. I secured the saran wrap with some of the duct tape I keep in my repair kit.

[illabelle]

We put our packs in duffle bags when we fly. Keeps everything contained. No worries about losing critical items because TSA forgets to close a zipper on the pack. No worries about straps getting mangled in a conveyor belt mishap.

On the return trip we especially enjoy putting the smelliest clothing loose in the duffle to deter any overly curious or dishonest baggage handlers.

[ldsailor]

Ditto on the duffle bag. I have a ZPack Arc Haul, and I doubt it would survive without the duffle bag. I got my last duffle bag from Walmart for $18, but the suggestion to check out thrift stores is where I'm going next. Once at my destination, I do a cost analysis on the cost of the duffle vs the cost to mail it ahead to my end point. If it is cheaper to mail ahead rather than buy another duffle for the trip home, I mail it; otherwise I dump the bag at my start point and buy another at my endpoint. Yeah, it can get a little expensive, but I invested a lot of money in my hiking gear and I want to protect that investment.

BTW, I used to have an Osprey Atmos 65. I checked it as is on an airplane and it made it as luggage just fine - several times. I rolled up the straps and used a rubber band to secure them. Unfortunately, the Osprey is just too heavy, thus the ZPack.

[ant]

The Samsonite Tote a Ton is perfect. Extra space for all, one bag. Works great and like $25

[blw2]

.....For the flight home, I went to the store and bought a roll of saran wrap. I wrapped the pack in the saran wrap to ensure all the straps would be tied down and have no chance of getting caught in conveyor belt machinery, but still left the top of the pack accessible in case TSA needed to access it while inspecting checked baggage. I secured the saran wrap with some of the duct tape I keep in my repair kit.

Nice idea. I might suggest looking for stretch-tite brand instead of saran wrap. It's much more like commercial shrink wrap....very tough. My FIL turned me onto it years ago & we find it much better in the kitchen. Sticks to itself and to bowls very well, and stretches tight and secure.
https://www.stretchtite.com/


Another option....I'm pretty sure I saw zpacks sells a cuben stuff sack intended just for this purpose...

[HooKooDooKu]

[saran wrap]Nice idea. I might suggest looking for stretch-tite brand instead...

Looks like an interesting product.

But you got to work with what you can find.

The idea behind the saran wrap is that you find yourself at the end of your hike and don't have anything to pack your backpack into. Saran wrap is cheap and common. You should be able to find it in any grocery store, perhaps even quick marts/gas stations. A small roll is 100' for a couple of bucks, so you have plenty of material to wrap the pack many times over. Of course I wouldn't rely on the saran wrap sticking to itself to stay secure. So if you don't have any duct tape on you, for another few dollars, it should be about as easy to find some packing tape.

Another option....I'm pretty sure I saw zpacks sells a cuben stuff sack intended just for this purpose...

Now that's a neat idea... to be able to have something light enough you can take it with you on your hike and already have it ready at the end.

[blw2]

for what its worth, Stretch tite is available at grocery stores....& walmart I think
It's nothing special order....it's just one of the thousands of things in the grocery store that folks don't see.... (I think about this sometimes, about how there are so many things there that I have no idea about)

[Ethesis]

Clear heavy duty trash bags for my last few section hikes.

[Feral Bill]

You say you are carrying no fuel. Make sure your utterly harmless stove won't be seized. Airlines vary on this.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

Doublebagged in trash bags.

[Traveler]

Saran wrap type solutions may not allow baggage handlers to move your pack easily, who will break the wrap to find a strap they can use to more efficiently manage the bag. When I check a pack, I use light cord to wrap the pack and its various straps and belts and secure the pockets and top from easy access. Then I put it into a cheap duffel bag that will have the proper loading straps handlers can use.

Stoves are a different matter, residue from them can be "sniffed" by TSA devices looking for combustible or explosive residues. These devices are amazingly sensitive. To avoid that potential complication, I ship the stove to a hotel or place I am going to be for business and ship it back, making sure I get cleaned up after touching it before I touch my bags (carry on or checked). Depending on how my travel schedule looks, I will also ship the pack (in the same duffel) ahead of me as well and avoid the whole issue.

Good luck!

[garlic08]

Consider trying a stoveless trip to avoid those issues.

If you have any of those large cloth sleeping bag storage sacks, that's a good pack protector. Some packs can be turned inside out.

[Reverie]

These are terrific ideas. I happen to have a vast collection of Duffle Bags courtesy of my former employer. They are rugged and almost all OD Green. Some have my name stamped on them. Don't know why I haven't considered this before.

About the stoves. Is there anything I could wash the stove with in order to get rid of any residue? If they smell residual fuel, will they throw my stove away or will they exercise common sense and see it is a stove without a fuel source?

[illabelle]

These are terrific ideas. I happen to have a vast collection of Duffle Bags courtesy of my former employer. They are rugged and almost all OD Green. Some have my name stamped on them. Don't know why I haven't considered this before.

About the stoves. Is there anything I could wash the stove with in order to get rid of any residue? If they smell residual fuel, will they throw my stove away or will they exercise common sense and see it is a stove without a fuel source?

We have flown with our stove (no fuel!) several times with no issues. It's always in our checked baggage, not in a carry-on.

"Common sense" - what's that?

[HooKooDooKu]

We have flown with our stove (no fuel!) several times with no issues. It's always in our checked baggage, not in a carry-on.

I took the opposite approach. I always kept stove in carry-on. At first, I think I did carry-on because if it did get confiscated, I would know as early as possible and could work on a plan to get a replacement while still en-route. But in hind-site, it seems that most carry-on doesn't get sniffed. The only obvious thing I can see is that the carry-on gets passed thru x-ray, and only if something looks suspicious or can't be made out what you've got (like a bear canister full of food) will the carry-on get pulled aside and "sniffed".

[Feral Bill]

These are terrific ideas. I happen to have a vast collection of Duffle Bags courtesy of my former employer. They are rugged and almost all OD Green. Some have my name stamped on them. Don't know why I haven't considered this before.

About the stoves. Is there anything I could wash the stove with in order to get rid of any residue? If they smell residual fuel, will they throw my stove away or will they exercise common sense and see it is a stove without a fuel source?

A canister stove is less of a risk than white gas, which would very likely be seized. Can't eliminate the odor, I suppose.

[swisscross]

Thread drift...what about food? Seems jam, jelly an peanut butter can not be carried. Anything else?
I like the small packets of almond butter. Will they get through TSA? summer sausage? Nido?

[swisscross]

Thread drift...what about food? Seems jam, jelly an peanut butter can not be carried. Anything else?
I like the small packets of almond butter. Will they get through TSA? summer sausage? Nido?

This is regarding carry on.

[saltysack]

Compactor bag works fine


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