When traveling by air with a three piece longbow, do you have to check it as baggage or can you take in on board, or has anyone UPS'ed it ahead.
You must put it in your checked luggage. No way will they let you carry it on. You do not need to declare it like a firearm though.
Like said above check baggage. So far no problems I put the bow in its case down in my bag along with a tube of arrows with sharp written in big letters on the outside. I UPS my stuff once ahead of time and they lost the package for 3 days.....stabow
i MANAGE AN AIRPORT AND CAN ASK THE HEAD OF dhs IN dc FOR THE OFFICIAL RULING. wE ONLY RUN SMALL PLANES HERE SO IT IS NOT A PROBLEM-BOWS, ARROWS, GUNS OR KNIVES-IT'S YOUR PLANE CARRY WHAT YOU WANT....
I'm also interested in this, I'm flying to British Columbia in Sep. I normally check a bow case but I'm trying to cut down on # of bags. Can I just put my bow in my checked bag and let it go or do I need to tell them it's in there?
I've UPSed stuff in the past with no problems.
I use a superb longbow hard case by Viking Voyageur when flying to bowhunt.. I've flown alot using these with never any issues..
Kustom King, The Nocking Point both sell these cases.
John III
Archery equipment doesn't need to be declared like firearms do. I would suggest checking with your airline to be sure of what they require.
I've been around the airlines for over 20 years, and can tell you that a lot of times the agents that are checking you in don't even know how to handle it.
Best if you have official word from their 1-800 #, so you show on travel day well informed.
I use a custom made ICC aluminum case that holds two Black Widow 60" PAX's, two dozen arrows and some small equipment. It uses the locking rod and a case hardened master lock that can't be cut by anything in an airport terminal so I have to make a point to arrange to be there when they inspect it, which is a good thing. I open it, they look, and I close and lock it for them. I have some buddies that I travel with that use cases for takedowns and they have been opened and the bow parts pulled out of the cut outs and just tossed back in case getting scratched up in the process. Nothing has ever come up missing but it is obvious that TSA employees have little regard for your property.
Wickles,
I would tell them it is there. They will either pass you thru at customs or they will want to see it. I've had it happen both ways depending on the agent you get.
Last year when I was leaving Calgary the lady agent I had asked me what was my pupose for visiting Canada had been and I told her I was hunting. She said then where is your gun. I said I didn't have one I had a bow. She said then where is your bow. I said it is disassembled in my bag. She said get it out she wanted to see it. I had to completely empty my bag in order to comply. She then said she used to shoot archery when she was younger and just wanted to see what kind of bow I had that could fit in my duffle bag.
Inconvenience at not extra charge..... just another service they offer. What will they think of next?
I bet you were steamed Jack!
No, not really. I didn't get steamed until a few minutes later when I got to the boarding gate and found out my flight was delayed. Because of that I missed my connection in Chicago and had to spend the night there and didn't get home until the afternoon the next day.
Could of fried an egg my forehead.
i would never chance taking a bow into the cabin - cargo only.
if i needed to hunt with a 1pc bow, i'd definitely wanna ship ahead. td bows fly with me.
i fly with a 2pc longbow (sometimes two of 'em), in a td sock, inside a heavy wall cardboard tube with plastic end caps (arrows in their own tube), tubes wrapped in hunting clothes inside a high denier nylon duffle. no worries - unless yer bag gets lost.
For a 1 pc you may as well ship it because the airlines are going to charge you 25.00 for an extra bag any how....stabow
I flew to New Brunswick with a 1 piece longbow and 2 fly rods in a piece of 4" pvc with no problems, even with the ends in duct tape. Didnt charge any extra either, it counted as my second piece of luggage. Got some strange looks with it!!! It came flying out the door in Toronto. This was just last month.
Thanks for the info
When you think about it, it is rediculous though if you had a takedown bow with no string and no arrows with it. I suppose one could use the riser as a billy club so we are once again forced to jump through the hoops.
Will, I got my latest shipment of Wickles. By the way, if you folks haven't tried Wickles Pickles, they are the BEST pickles you can ever imagine. I'm addicted to them!
OK Gene I am a pickle addict also, so bad I will drink the juice. Where do I get Wickles Pickles?
Jack
This is getting WAY off topic, but save me a taste of those pickles Uncle Gene...please!
To get back on topic, you can carry your eqpt many ways in the belly of the plane; ONLY in the belly of the plane in your checked luggage. I usually have my broadheads mounted on the arrows in a seperate case.
I have used in the past a soft case in a duffle (scares me to death) or a hard sided golf club travel case (this works great with rifles too), but the following system utilizing a drop bottom rolling duffle has about 400,000 air miles on it and hasn't let me down yet.
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b351/osminski/DSC06851.jpg)
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b351/osminski/DSC06853.jpg)
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b351/osminski/DSC06856.jpg)
It is not cheap but the Pelican case for my takedown widow is perfect and airline proof.
I put my arrows in a cylindrical arrow case inside my large duffel and broadheads in small box inside the Pelican case. Both will be checked bags.
www.wicklespickles.com (http://www.wicklespickles.com) Clever, eh?
Thanks Gene.
Jack
i brought home a take down 3 bit longbow and had it in my suitcase with a down pipe full of arrows and i put the points in a plastic box no problem at all even padlocked my bag. but my bag went to aussie and the dirty buggers there cut open the padlock and looked through every thing then zipped it up and sent it on the next plane back to New Zealand when it arrived the airport just sent it out to me. everything was there no damage to anything at all.
Between the idiots and the thieves, I don't take them with me when I fly. I ship them enough ahead of time that they'll be there waiting for me when I get there. That way I can track them online, insure them and have some faith that they won't go to Florida while I'm going to Texas.
I have started putting one bow/arrows with enough to hunt with in one bag and the same in another. Twice before I started doing this I lost hunting days. Since then I have had one bag show up one time. Saved my hunt.
Doug
Thanks Gene...I haven't been following this thread. I'm just packing my bow in a tube in my duffle with my clothes etc. Headed out Saturday for 10 days moose/black bear in N. BC! Good luck this season guys.
Shanks I'll let them know it's there, thanks.
I just pack my arrow tube and bows in my duffle with my clothes.I pack clothes all around the bows as cushion. If I'm carrying rubber boots I slide each end of a bow into the boot. No broadheads on the arrows, pack them separately if possible.Some airlines are picky about that for some reason.
It's getting tough to pack for a hunt now with the baggage restrictions and costs for extra bags. I just spent an extra 190 to get my bags and 2 coolers( under 50lbs each)of boned elk back to Fla.
Anybody know about taking sharpening stuff in your carry-on, i'm wondering if they'd allow a KME shapening kit.
thanks
I just came back from Arkansas Rick Welch's school to Ontario Canada. All packed in my suitcase told customs office he asked where my bow was told him in the suitcase he said enjoy.
Coming back no one asked. All smooth way to go if you have a TD.
I think it was Rick McGowan who first suggested a golf club hard case. Some airline don't charge extra for them and you can stuff the crap out of them, yes you might get some odd looks at camp but they are very strong and you can pretty much pack every thing you need in one. I have two of them and have no regrets in using them. One is an SKB the other looks like it is carbon fiber.
I just returned from 3 weeks in mn using a 2 piece longbow and a large arrow case. I use a large duffle and put all of my good inside of this duffle, no seperate checked baggage fees...but somehow on my way home I'm always over weight by a "FEW" pounds even when I dont shoot a thing like this year haha...oh well.
I leave my broadheads on my go to arrows in the arrow case and bring some extras stuck in a foam block...knives and even my favorite windproof lighter (thanks coop!).
Before 9-11, actually was the late late 90's I was carrying a bob lee 3 piece td as carry on...arrows and all, WITH broadheads DOH! They didnt even bat an eye.
Here is my story from two weeks ago. We flew to Fort Hood Texas to do some bowhunting down near Bracketville on a freinds ranch. When I got to the airport the baggage guy took my bag and box with two longbows and arrows inside and checked them in for me. Cost 30 + 20 dollars for a total of 50 bucks. Coming back the baggage gal puts a tape measure to my bow box and charges me 30 + 20 dollars and tacks on 100 dollars more for over size bag. I argued how come it is oversize on the return trip but ok on the trip down? Needless to say I was furious and will do everything in my power not to fly Continental because of this highway robbery job they did on me. It would be cheaper to mail your bags down and back than deal with these crooks.
JD,
Did you fly Continental on the way down?
Flying Delta to Kansas next Saturday, just got finished reading all I could find on there site regarding baggage and travel in the US. Bow MUST be checked as baggage not carry on. Will charge me $20 for the first bag checked and $30 for the second if I can't meet the weight limit (50#) with one bag, if I check in at the ticket counter. I can pay bag fees online prior to going to the airport and save $5 per bag. They also list total length bag restrictions, length+width+height, 45" for carry on, 62" for checked or over sized fees will be charged. That is probably what JD ran into, that and somebody being efficient for the airlines.
Also if lady luck shines on me and I fill my whitetail tag and the antlers won't fit in my baggage there is a mere charge of $175! I will probably take my large duffel so they will fit in there. The points must be protected so I will probably pick up some pipe insulation tubing to take since I am thinking positively.
I wonder when they will begin charging for using the restroom? Of course it will need to accept credit cards.
you should rubber made those antlers and fedx them home...probably be 20times cheaper imho!
Flew Delta to Texas last week. On way back they decided the same two bags were oversize. Wanted to charge me $300. Almost made me miss my flight. Finally charged me $265 plus $30 and $20 to check the bags. When I got home I found they had not liked the files I had in my LaCross boots so they tore the soles apart to see if there was anything inside. From now on I'll drive. I have done this trip for 6 years and each year it gets worse. No more flying for me. Harry
I sure hope that you are getting a new pair of boots from them!
The boots were one week old and no I won't get new pair from them. They put a note in the bags telling me they are not responsible for damage. They also pried apart the little water holders in my travel cigar humidor. All in the name of safety. Harry
Thanks for the suggestion AKDan.
these stories make me glad that I drive everywhere I go to hunt... Oh yeah, I like pickles too!!! :biglaugh:
I've never flown with my bow, but I have with about 100 lbs of dive gear and I know my buddies have flown with their hockey gear. We all just call ahead, have them make an amendment to our boarding passes and when we check in, they'll inspect it right there, tag it and send it on it's merry way. That would seem to be the best way when I decide to travel because they're happy, you're there when they inspect it so you're happy, and best of all, there's usually no charge for "sporting equipment".
Hope this helps.
I've read through all of these. Good information and some bad experiences. In Oct. I went down to Texas to hunt. I shipped my longbow but took a back up TD recurve in my large duffle. No problems. I put the arrows, points unscrewed, into a pvc tube with caps and labeled it clearly: "Warning! Sharps... arrows". Had another tube similarly labeled but "Knife and Tools". Told them what it all was and it caused no particular reaction.
However, shipping the bow back and forth was expensive, so I am now in the final stages of finishing a TD longbow. I plan to build a mate to it as well, and in future will take one in luggage and ship one, for insurance. The TD will ship for about $12 instead of the $35 each way for the one piece longbow.
I send the stuff ahead via FedEx, insured. No worries.
Snakeeater, yes I flew Continental round trip and they did not charge me for an oversize bag on the way down. Just on the way back where they decided to tack on the extra $100.00 charge. It would have been cheaper to buy clothes when I got there and thrown them away before I left than what they did to me. Next time I mail everything ahead rather than deal with these crooks.
I have flown quite a bit with my one piece longbow case. Most everytime the airline check in people just assume it is for fishing poles. I don't correct them. "sporting" equipment (skis,bows,fishing poles, ect) are included in your FREE baggage allotment and are not charged and oversize fee. At least in my experience they havn't been...
Last year I had enough with being treated like a criminal just to board the plane after getting nickel and dimed. Chemical sniff your luggage, take off your shoes, stand in the painted footprints while someone from TSA pats you down... Too much!
I don't like 15-25 hour drives and LOVE to bowhunt Canada but it will be a cold day before I ever pay again to get treated like a criminal.
Just my .02...
I put my TD and a tube of arrows in check in luggage without problem with Delta/NW.
For my longbow, I have a longbow hard case from Black Widow. Since most of the airlines are going to charge extra fee for excess size and if more than 2 bags, I would ship it out next time.
I usually check it with no problem but I have carried it on as well. I had to show it to TSA before boarding. They thought it looked neat but wanted to know how I was going to fix it since it was broken into three pieces:)
Apparently on Delta/NW if you hide it in your undershorts, nobody seems to care.
:scared:
Some say to have security check the contents adead of boarding at check in. They willl tag it, and the clowns in the pits won't open and damage the bow or arrows.
Going to un-sticky this one.....