Carrying Gear through Air Flights

[thegatsby]

Live in LA but originally from south eastern PA. Friend of mine is hiring me to produce/engineer their album in his studio in PA. They are paying for my ticket, food, and time.
I need to carry some gear with me, some preamps and a few mics on the plane.
Can anyone recommend the best way to do this.
Gear is:
API a2d, Daking IV, Power Conditioner. So maybe 4ru portable rack?
And a couple mics pair of Oktava mk-012's, 414 ULS, and 2 Heil Pr30's.
Not really sure if this is safe to do or not. Anyone have any experience in doing this?
Thanks.

[sonare]

My advice is ship it ahead-- with that much stuff you are asking for grief. FedX Ground is reasonable, and you can arrange ahead of time for them to pick it up and send it back home.

Carry the mics in a carry-on and tell them they are microphones-- and resist the temptation for "smart" remarks.

I have gone through this many times with no trouble. You will be surprised how cheap the FedX with insurance is. If you checked it as baggage it would not be insured for much at all, and you would have the thrill of seeing it careen down the luggage chute and hit the bottom conveyor belt. No thanks--

Rich

[mpdonahue]

If you really want to put the gear through as checked baggage, my advice would be to take it out of the rack and pack it in a good double walled cardboard box with plenty of bubble wrap. It will save you the $50 overweight fee and the gear will arrive intact. Most baggage handlers look at road cases as annoyances to be thrown or dropped. Also, if your gear is not both front and rear mounted, the faces will shear right off the chassis.
Rich is right about the mics. They will want to swab them but there is typically no issue with hand carrying them.
All the best,
-mark

[PoxyMusic]

I've carried on my Nuemann RSM191 in it's pistol grip and shockmount countless times through security. It looks just like a weapon to most people. Only once has TSA showed any interest, and that's probably because I bought a one way ticket at the last moment.

[Remoteness]

If time permits, I also with the 'ship ahead' camp.

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by sonare

... and resist the temptation for "smart" remarks.

I would just honestly have to explain that I am "smart-remark-resistance" challenged.

[hbphotoav]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

I would just honestly have to explain that I am "smart-remark-resistance" challenged.

Also enjoy Flexi-Cuffs, do you...?

=)

I fly with audio four or five times a year, and with photo/video another half-dozen. I take everything I can in carry-on (cameras, mics, media - DVDs, tapestock, etc) and arrive early enough so I can say (without irritation) "Why, certainly, officer... I'll be happy to unload this backpack and this rollerbag..."

If I take VTR (Sony HVR-M15), micamp (DAV BG8), cables, etc, I pack them (no rack... lotsa bubblewrap) in a large Tamrac "Rolling Vault" case, usually at 49.6 pounds... and lay a note to TSA inside describing what everything is, and where it's packed.

Mostly they swab the obvious, sometimes want the camera turned on, and a shot taken, look through the big 70-200/2.8... and marvel that there is indeed a short roll of gaff and a roll of 3/4" console tape hanging from trickline on the outside of my backpack.

About every other time, the TSA dude/dudette says... "you must be a sound guy..."

Leather jacket, jeans and ponytail seems to aid the identification...

HB

[JEGG]

Originally Posted by hbphotoav

I fly with audio four or five times a year, and with photo/video another half-dozen. I take everything I can in carry-on (cameras, mics, media - DVDs, tapestock, etc) and arrive early enough so I can say (without irritation).......


Mostly they swab the obvious,

I'm interested in hearing from people on "how" they swab pencil style mic's-does this cause any cringing on the part of the owner? BTW-what's on the swabs, are they wet, powdery, etc.?

(BTW, if any wine has ever been spilled in a case, that may be a no-go. It was for a friend. It's the nitrates/trites from the wine.)

Thanks

This is a good thread!

[Sheikyearbouti]

OK, how about European flights?
I am in a situation where I am going to travel abroad and I want to bring my nearfields (Adam A7) for an album recording. I need them as I know them very well and the same are not available for rent where I'm going.

They are small enough to fit in a bag (both in their original super-thick-cardboard boxes) but not as small as to be checked as a hand luggage.

Do you know if there is another option? I would rather prefer to take them with me if possible than to ship them...

[fifthcircle]

Anything that I'm that worried about on a plane gets packed in foam and placed in a Pelican Case. Case is zip tied shut with an extra couple ties taped to the outside for TSA. Sometimes if that pack is difficult, I'll include a photograph and description in the case to explain everything. If I go overweight, so be it and I pay the fees and charge it off to the client. Mics and lightweight rack gear goes in a carry-on suitcase.

--Ben

[hbphotoav]

Originally Posted by Sheikyearbouti

OK, how about European flights?
I am in a situation where I am going to travel abroad and I want to bring my nearfields (Adam A7) for an album recording. I need them as I know them very well and the same are not available for rent where I'm going.

They are small enough to fit in a bag (both in their original super-thick-cardboard boxes) but not as small as to be checked as a hand luggage.

Do you know if there is another option? I would rather prefer to take them with me if possible than to ship them...

Last time through Munich (January) with Sony Z1/AKG CK98/Sennheiser RF camera package/hard drives/computer/Nikon D700 all in a Pelican (video/audio) and backpack, I unpacked most everything both times, switched both cameras "on" and they swabbed the larger items (including the SB300 mic amp after removing the long foamie from the CK98). The German security guy on the way back commented about the gaff tape, and we had a brief conversation in English... the swab check came back benign, and I took about 4 minutes to repack. No rush... no pressure.

Swabs are lightly moist... I've never seen residue of any sort. Kind of like a very dry-ish alcohol swab. They've never swabbed mics themselves (Sennheiser MKH8040s in the factory case, Gefell M296s and DPA 4061s in a plastic pencil case, both in snack-sized Zip-Loc bags - unzipped, but wrapped around the mic bodies) but concentrate on the cases and latches. Z1 camcorder gets swabbed where fingers go (zoom control, on/off switch, tape compartment door).

As to A7s... They will be large and heavy enough that you'll likely be forced to check them. Inter-EU baggage restrictions are draconian... 1 checked bag at 25kg; one carryon at 15kg. Lufthansa weighed my carryon backpack (16kg) last summer and required me to check my Z1 Pelican... after weighing it (15kg) they charged me 10 Euro PER KILO as overweight... 150 Euro... to get it from Frankfurt to Chisinau, via Bucharest. FWIW, the original ticket was 130 Euro each way. Be certain you know the limits on your airline. I'd be very tempted to pack them well and ship them to your destination.

Let us know how you get on.

HB

[joelpatterson]

And even if you haven't done anything wrong... you still may not be able to find your way home.

[JEGG]

The real difficulty here is getting out of and back in the US, or traveling within the US; where security is just absurd political theatre and the many self important actors don't know they're just playing a part in an alarmist script.

[thegatsby]

Thanks for all the responses guys.
The session just got pushed back to May so I have another month to decide what to do.
Shipping seems the best option here.
Would you recommend racking the gear in a case and shipping the whole case?
If so, can you tell me about any company's that makes good cases I should look into?
Thanks again.

[Barnabas]

Originally Posted by thegatsby

Thanks for all the responses guys.
The session just got pushed back to May so I have another month to decide what to do.
Shipping seems the best option here.
Would you recommend racking the gear in a case and shipping the whole case?
If so, can you tell me about any company's that makes good cases I should look into?
Thanks again.

If you rack it, make sure the gear is attached at the front and rear of the rack. If not, the face plate might get bent or the rack rails might get bent, and that means the sound may come out a little bit bent.

As has been suggested, remove the equipment from the rack and pack it in foam in a suitcase.

[thegatsby]

Originally Posted by Barnabas

If you rack it, make sure the gear is attached at the front and rear of the rack. If not, the face plate might get bent or the rack rails might get bent, and that means the sound may come out a little bit bent.

As has been suggested, remove the equipment from the rack and pack it in foam in a suitcase.

Cool Thanks!

[Sheikyearbouti]

Originally Posted by hbphotoav

As to A7s... They will be large and heavy enough that you'll likely be forced to check them.
HB

Thanks for the comment Harry.
I don't mind to check them in. What I mind is having them damaged when I need them the most. But I see now that many of you do this. Actually the speakers come in very good boxes and are quite secured. But still... I have seen some airport guys chucking bags absolutely carelessly.

Actually I think that if you pay for check-in bags when buying the ticket and not at the airport the prices are not that high. There is a low cost company (Wizz air) which will give you per 30£ to check-in in both directions a bag up to 32kg. I think that you are allowed of max of two bags per ticket (+ 10kg of hand luggage). That is a darn good deal imo.

The reason why I asked is because a friend told me that some companies sell the option where you can actually bring an extra hand luggage with you on board. I personally can not confirm that but I am going to investigate it soon.

As to mics and other small and precious items - they always come with me on the plane.

[rcrowley]

Microphones always go in my back-pack as carry-on. Well-padded and sealed, but easily visible for inspection.
From bitter personal experience, I would also recommend boxing up rack-mount equipment in separate cardboard cartons with plenty of bubble-wrap, etc. Shipping any sort of rack, (except the oversize shock-mount variety) as checked luggage is just asking for trouble. My Alesis HD24 died as a result of being shaken to death in an SKB case as checked luggage. :-(