flying with gear

[synthoid]

hi,

I travel with gear quite a bit. The way I've found to be the safest is to pack the gear in Pelican flight cases with foam cut-outs that fit the gear exactly. (The Pelican cases come with block foam that's partially cut up into small cubes, so you can simply pull sections of the foam out to fit stuff more or less exactly.) Then buy / rent /borrow racks when you get where you're going. The Pelican cases are tough as nails, waterproof and airtight, and even if they get pitched around by baggage handlers they hold up really well. Never had a single problem with stuff shipped that way.

The downside is that those cases aren't cheap, and if you leave adequate foam around the sides of the gear, they get filled up quickly.

I've also shipped stuff in smallish racks with heavy shock protection, the kind of rack-within-a-rack design that has a rack box and maybe 1 1/2" of dense foam around that box, then another outer shell. Those are pretty good if they are very heavy in design, but if the gear is mounted using the faceplates only (not secured at the rear) then heavy banging of the cases can still beat the gear up a lot. I avoid shipping things in rack cases when I can, I've had better luck with the gear surrounded on all sides by good foam.

Also watch out for any individual piece being too heavy. You'll probably have to pay the airline something for extra pieces, but it's much less if you stay under their limit for individual pieces, which varies but it's usually in the 50-70lb range depending on the airline.

hth,

-synthoid

[CarloBadalamenti]

Originally Posted by synthoid

hi,

I travel with gear quite a bit. The way I've found to be the safest is to pack the gear in Pelican flight cases with foam cut-outs that fit the gear exactly. (The Pelican cases come with block foam that's partially cut up into small cubes, so you can simply pull sections of the foam out to fit stuff more or less exactly.) Then buy / rent /borrow racks when you get where you're going. The Pelican cases are tough as nails, waterproof and airtight, and even if they get pitched around by baggage handlers they hold up really well. Never had a single problem with stuff shipped that way.

This is excellent advice for traveling with gear; Pelicans are made to take pretty much anything and foam is an excellent shock absorber. Whether or not you go with a hard-shell case or slap together something, there are a couple of tips for dealing with packing foam: Pick and Pluck foam (the DIY packaging grid-foam) can be had in different thicknesses, so by layering sheets and removing foam in different areas, you can get protection on deep and irregularly shaped items. When you place an item on Pick and Pluck and trace it or mark it with toothpicks, ALWAYS remove pieces INSIDE the outline of the shape. Foam will compress against the item when it's squeezed in, and is the main reason it works so well at keeping things in place. If it's too tight you can always remove a little extra foam, but you can't really put it back if you carve out an insert that's too loose.

Also, if you get a case second-hand or find an empty one, be sure the lid is lined with a padding material as well. You can have a perfectly formed insert carved out for a mic, but with that inch or two of open space left by an unlined case lid, it'll shake right out. Eggcrate works well in lids because it will gently compress against contents to help hold things in place and is the most affordable type of material for that use.

Good packaging foam that you intend to use for more than one trip should have a blend of density and firmness, as the density gives it durability and shock absorption, while firmness helps hold items in place better, particularly in custom-cut/plucked inserts.

[MoneySound]

Thank you both for the excellent responses. I will look into the pelicans for sure. Would you typically use one case per rack unit or can you pack 2 single space pieces into one case (with foam in between)?

[CarloBadalamenti]

You definitely can put two pieces of gear in a case, as long as you make sure you have ample padding all around the items. The heavier the pieces, the more padding you’ll need obviously, especially with two weighted items having to be suspended by the material in the case, instead of one. It comes down to finding a point where you’re comfortable with the size of the case and the amount of foam padding you have inside. It’s not something that’s impossible by any means, it just takes a little extra care to do correctly.

[MoneySound]

Okay. Thanks again.

[hbphotoav]

I carried a DAV BG8 mic amp, a Mackie Onyx 1220, headphone amp, 2x250' lightweight stereo cables and other assorted cables, a small HDV video deck, and other bits and bobs to a gig in Italy three years ago in a TamRac Rolling Vault case, a ballistic cloth and carbon-fiber case designed for photo gear. The Mackie was swaddled in loose foam pieces; the DAV was wrapped in bubble wrap, and the cables and other bits were placed with the foam bits to make for a tight pack. The case was just under 50#/23kg so it required no excess baggage fees. However, today it would require a $50-$75 "second piece of luggage" fee from the weasels running the airlines.

Mics were put into a plastic pencil case (Gefell M296 and Sennheiser MKH8040 pairs) and were carried in my carryon backpack with the MacBook Pro, the Edirol R09HR, a couple of 2.5" HDDs in OWC FW enclosures, FW cables, headphones, etc. Everything was listed on a US Customs declaration list (to ease my reentry into USA, more than to do with Italian Customs) and insured via an "all-risk 'floater' policy". That came in handy when a camera and two lenses were stolen from a venue... both for remuneration and for the police report.

Important thing (for me) is to have the mics, HDDs and backup recorder/SD cards in my possession (carryon) and to use more foam than I thought necessary. It was all good.

HB

[Charlie-O]

I hate flying with gear. I looked out the window of the plane I was on, and watched the baggage handler power slam my mpc 4000!

[MoneySound]

If I can fit a couple 1U pieces into my carry-on would that be the best solution?
I was going to take my Tele as my carry-on, but one of these responses reminded me that my laptop should stay with me which means checking the axe (!). If I can cram my pres and converters in with the laptop as carry-on then maybe that's the way to go.

[CarloBadalamenti]

At this point, you may want to consider shipping some of these components if you’ve got a place you’re confident sending your things to, since you’ll be over there for a while. A thread from a few weeks ago had a few scary stories about having to check guitars, since it doesn’t sound like you’ll be able to get all the gear, plus the laptop, plus the guitar on board at once. If you brought the gear and laptop as a carry-on, you have a lot more control over their safety so you may not need to go overkill with a hardcase and foam to package them, but then you have the guitar to worry about getting damaged. Bringing your Tele and checking the two pieces of gear AND a laptop in the same case might be pushing it, unless you’re getting a lot of space and padding in the case. It sounds like you’re in a bit of a pickle unfortunately.

[MoneySound]

Yes, my wife and I have looked into shipping, but are trying to find ways to travel as light as possible to avoid it due to cost and not having secured long term accomodations.
I can always take a guitar that I'm less worried about losing.

[ShadowAMD]

Originally Posted by MoneySound

Hello Slutz,
I am travelling to Manchester UK from Canada to live there for 1 year. I want to take some of my recording gear to work on my own stuff plus leave open the possibility of getting some new projects while I'm over there.
I will take a few mics, a couple cables, JDV DI and one guitar.
For I/O, I have a Zoom R16, but I would prefer to have my other recording rack gear as the Zoom doesn't always cut the mustard sound wise or I/O wise compared to my Daking Pres and Focusrite interface.
My question is: what is the best way to transport this stuff (the rack gear)?
My Tele will be my carry-on, so I will need to check or ship the other stuff. Will it survive a flight in a rack or should I box it up in its original packaging?
Any other tips, info from anyone who has travelled overseas with some gear?
Thanks,
Greg

You can get in trouble for flying with Gear I would recommend against it.. or get someone who could hide a daking pre.. Ouch!

[hbphotoav]

I was just in and out of Germany, Moldova and England last week, and I've schlepped gear for a major Church Music Festival over the past decade. I used to do a Carnet ("passport for your stuff") back when it was two full-sized Sony ENG cameras (DSR130 and DSR300) with mics and tripods and a mixer and computer and, and, and... First time (1997) I went through Heath Row with it, I had to (since I was without Carnet) hire a broker to "babysit" the gear while I visited friends... the Swiss had no problem with it. The Carnet would have been less expensive, so I did that as long as I traveled with that gearpack.

Recently (past three or four years) I travel with a Z1U Sony HDV camcorder (compact, but significantly larger than the current crop of HD tiny-cams), one DSLR (Nikon D700 or D90, depends on the trip), several mics (Senn MKH8040s or Shure BG81s or SM58s or DPA4061s, depends) and a couple of Senn ENG radiomic TX/RX systems with the stock ME2s. As all of that stuff fits into the (largish) Swiss Army Gear backpack I use as carryon, I go to US Customs the day before departure to get a certified list (everything with a Sn, and with value, country of origin, and weight) registered, largely to help get it back into this country... although it couldn't hurt if HM Customs were to query me. No one has ever asked to look at it, at any border check. It is my own personal gear... it's registered with the US Customs office, I go through the "Nothing To Declare" line with the Z1 and D700 slung over my shoulder, and it's not been a problem. Must be my clear conscience...

As to the guitar... good luck. One guy on this summer's annual church trip to Moldova took an inexpensive acoustic in a chipboard case, and it survived... albeit with most of my remaining duct tape on it on the return. I shared the aircraft on one of the return legs (LGA-BNA) with a band... three guitar cases, one bass, and it was a regional jet. They carried on, and barely got them into the overheads. There's rarely a problem with anything but the smallest regional jets (Embraer RJ175 and the like, I want to say). The trans-Atlantic birds have plenty of overhead space... however, be prepared to gate check if they demand it. Seems to be "luck-of-the-draw", but passengers and aircrew alike (BA, American, Lufthansa, Southwest... those are whom I fly regularly) seem to be more considerate of instrument cases than they are of my Pelican case for the Z1. So it goes.

HB

[Grummy77]

I did a part time baggage handling gig for a few years once. I'll say this you NEED to pack your luggage as though you know for sure it is goin to be kicked, thrown, stepped on, sat on, dropped, rained on, snowed on dropped in a puddle. All things I saw and did (though not always intentionally) on a daily basis when I had that job. Weather permitting obviously.

For the most part baggage handlers don't have the time to be "careful". The airline companies don't pay them alot and expect a lot of stuff to get crammed into not alot of space in a very short amount of time. Baggage handlers that are "careful" with luggage end up getting yelled at and hated by the rest of thier crew. "Fitting" luggage and cargo in the pit often would require using your entire body to it's fullest extent (especially flights going up north). Body checking, kicking and pushing with feet or back with all might was a near every flight occurrence. Some planes would have incredibly long pits and there was no time to carefully roll luggage one at a time to and from the back. The solution- one person up front one at the back and throw that sh!t as hard as you can and hope it makes it all the way. Generally speaking objects like lobsters in styrofoam boxes and soft shell guitar cases might get a little extra love and attention. Def not always (some guys just don't give a f@€£). Actually bread boxes. Those we learned to be more careful with. I think they purposely made those damn things as flimsy as they could. That worked because you never got rough with the breadboxes more then once. Dealing carefully with a few still in tact bread boxes took less time than when they broke open a spilled loaves of bread everywhere. But that tactic only worked because we shipped food up north every day and learned through regret to take it easy on flimsy bread boxes (same went for some of the berry packaging)

Some of the automated machines that the luggage goes through is less then forgiving also. Imagine giant metal arms that basically kick bags from one motorized belt to another. I've seen bags get caught on the belt and then a dozen more bags pile on top. Alot of pressure. I've seen Grown men standing on bags and sitting on them but that's nothing compared to the weight that you should expect from other luggage being stacked on top all shaped and sizes. Not to mention luggage leaking all kinds of fluids. One passenger brought back what must have been kill from a hunt up north in the Territories. There was blood all across the bottom of that pit when we opened it up. It was up at the top of the pit and leaked almost all the way back. Any other cargo and baggage on the floor had blood in it.

Food for thought. Pelican is expensive but sure is good for piece of mind. Also I believe you can use it as a floatations device should your plane ditch! :D

[Rolo 46]

Pelis are best for flying with accompanied baggage
However in your case is it worth it?
You need mains xformers for your American kit.
Bring just the zoom ,mics, DI and the tele
Dont need a carnet, just provide a customs list with SNs and Value
Make a few copies
State you are a hobbyist not a working muso.
Hire over here or buy from Thomman.
Euro rates are cheap at this time.

[synthoid]

Originally Posted by Charlie-O

I hate flying with gear. I looked out the window of the plane I was on, and watched the baggage handler power slam my mpc 4000!

I hear you about that. Once I checked two rack cases with 'special handling' and insurance. I was waiting for my bags at the destination airport; after I collected them I was going to go to the special handling area to pick up the racks. To my amazement, the racks came up the ordinary baggage chute and rolled/bounced end over end down the conveyor and onto the carousel. some special handling. Sometimes I think the baggage handlers take a special pleasure in beating up stuff that looks expensive.

-synthoid

[MoneySound]

Originally Posted by Grummy77

I did a part time baggage handling gig for a few years once. I'll say this you NEED to pack your luggage as though you know for sure it is goin to be kicked, thrown, stepped on, sat on, dropped, rained on, snowed on dropped in a puddle. All things I saw and did (though not always intentionally) on a daily basis when I had that job. Weather permitting obviously.

For the most part baggage handlers don't have the time to be "careful". The airline companies don't pay them alot and expect a lot of stuff to get crammed into not alot of space in a very short amount of time. Baggage handlers that are "careful" with luggage end up getting yelled at and hated by the rest of thier crew. "Fitting" luggage and cargo in the pit often would require using your entire body to it's fullest extent (especially flights going up north). Body checking, kicking and pushing with feet or back with all might was a near every flight occurrence. Some planes would have incredibly long pits and there was no time to carefully roll luggage one at a time to and from the back. The solution- one person up front one at the back and throw that sh!t as hard as you can and hope it makes it all the way. Generally speaking objects like lobsters in styrofoam boxes and soft shell guitar cases might get a little extra love and attention. Def not always (some guys just don't give a f@€£). Actually bread boxes. Those we learned to be more careful with. I think they purposely made those damn things as flimsy as they could. That worked because you never got rough with the breadboxes more then once. Dealing carefully with a few still in tact bread boxes took less time than when they broke open a spilled loaves of bread everywhere. But that tactic only worked because we shipped food up north every day and learned through regret to take it easy on flimsy bread boxes (same went for some of the berry packaging)

Some of the automated machines that the luggage goes through is less then forgiving also. Imagine giant metal arms that basically kick bags from one motorized belt to another. I've seen bags get caught on the belt and then a dozen more bags pile on top. Alot of pressure. I've seen Grown men standing on bags and sitting on them but that's nothing compared to the weight that you should expect from other luggage being stacked on top all shaped and sizes. Not to mention luggage leaking all kinds of fluids. One passenger brought back what must have been kill from a hunt up north in the Territories. There was blood all across the bottom of that pit when we opened it up. It was up at the top of the pit and leaked almost all the way back. Any other cargo and baggage on the floor had blood in it.

Food for thought. Pelican is expensive but sure is good for piece of mind. Also I believe you can use it as a floatations device should your plane ditch! :D

This is frightening and amusing all at once. I always pack for the worst case scenario (packed a lot of wine into my luggage a couple times), but I think I need to change what I think is the worst case scenario.

[MoneySound]

Originally Posted by Rolo 46

Pelis are best for flying with accompanied baggage
However in your case is it worth it?
You need mains xformers for your American kit.
Bring just the zoom ,mics, DI and the tele
Dont need a carnet, just provide a customs list with SNs and Value
Make a few copies
State you are a hobbyist not a working muso.
Hire over here or buy from Thomman.
Euro rates are cheap at this time.

This sounds like what I need to do. I was leary of buying stuff there as I was frightened of the prices I saw on a previous trip. If I get some real work, then I have an excuse to get new gear. Win win!

[MoneySound]

Originally Posted by synthoid

I hear you about that. Once I checked two rack cases with 'special handling' and insurance. I was waiting for my bags at the destination airport; after I collected them I was going to go to the special handling area to pick up the racks. To my amazement, the racks came up the ordinary baggage chute and rolled/bounced end over end down the conveyor and onto the carousel. some special handling. Sometimes I think the baggage handlers take a special pleasure in beating up stuff that looks expensive.

-synthoid

This is much more frightening than it is amusing.