RRC Archives

im going to be traveling around New Zealand for 3 months next year and am trying to figure out what im going to do about a stove b/c of the plane issues. do they let you take the cartridge type stoves on the plane? do they let you take on whisperlite type ones w/o the bottles? just trying to figure out my options.

The first summer after 9/11 I flew back from Italy, via France, with a pair of shoes, a chalk bag, and a locking biner in my carry on. The guy at Charles deGaul wouldn't let me take the biner on. I said "What am I going to do, pinch everybody? Shouldn't you take the chalk too, I can blow it in people's eyes." He was nonplussed, and still wouldn't let me take the biner. I got to keep my chalk though.

a friend of mine found out recently that all u.s. based airlines now have a written policy that passengers can not check any stove part that has ever had fuel in it, i.e. a brand new stove still in its packaging is fine, but otherwise you may not be allowed to take it. it probably depends on the baggage handler, but i guess if you want to be 100% sure, you should ship the stove ahead of you.

thats what i was thinking i'd have to do. i wonder if they'd allow alcohol stoves? i've heard the fuel for them is much more common in NZ than it is here in the US

the couple of times yasi and paul have flown to a trip they wrapped their gear in their sleeping bags.

neither yasi nor i had problems with our ropes (nor i with my draws).
i think maybe being neato looking tough girls helped out. i mean, who could resist yasi's smile?

On the TSA web site there is information on what is allowed and what is not allowed on the website, that might help you out.

Go to the local store and get a box for your stove, then shrinkwrap it. They'll think its new when it gets scanned since they won't be able to see it. As long as all fumes are gone you should be fine.

thats a great idea, but sneaking the bottle might be tough. i can always buy a new one of those, they're cheap.

when i flew they didnt care about empty fuel bottles just as long as the cap was off and it didnt smell like gas. also i would just check your rack. i was not allowed to carry on a jointer (small blunt tool used to smooth out joints between bricks). they said it was a tool and that no tools were allowed. they may call the gear tools...

I put all my gear in my backpack so that it is ready to go as soon as I arrive at my final destination. So far, it has only been searched once... a couple of times it weighed more than 50 pounds and they put some kind of a "heavy" sticker on it. I watched from the window as the luggage was being tossed onto the plane and laughed when they tried to toss my pack, but instead they had to pick it up and carry it.