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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Can I Carry on a Power Pack on a plane?
Joe Morahan, Photographer
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Denver | Co | USA | Posted: 6:09 PM on 11.15.09 |
->> Hi everyone,
quick question.....I am traveling tomorrow morning and I am planning on putting my power pack and my lights into a carry-on bag. It does meet the size requirements ...but am I allowed to carry this on? Its a big lead battery and I am unsure if security has issues with this?
Has anyone have advice for me? |
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Darren Whitley, Photographer
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Maryville | MO | USA | Posted: 6:14 PM on 11.15.09 |
| ->> You don't mean a Vagabond battery do you? I believe the batteries are not permitted on flights. I usually FedEx them instead. If you mean a power pack like a Dynalight box, then I don't believe you'll have a problem. Check with Fish in the meantime. |
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Joe Morahan, Photographer
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Denver | Co | USA | Posted: 7:06 PM on 11.15.09 |
| ->> Its a profoto B2 kit. Just the pack and two batteries |
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Darren Whitley, Photographer
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Maryville | MO | USA | Posted: 7:23 PM on 11.15.09 |
| ->> The batteries are the only thing that you may run into problems with in my opinion. Those are small, but it seems they're expensive to replace. My suggestion is you FedEx those rather than risk losing them to TSA. I've read somewhere online that photographers open their kit and find the batteries have been removed for security reasons. And this happens even when the item in question is approved for air travel. |
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Jordan Murph, Photographer, Assistant
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Carlsbad & Honolulu | CA/HI | USA | Posted: 8:40 PM on 11.15.09 |
| ->> I'd carry the batteries in a separate carry on, like a backpack or something. I regularly carry on a Think Tank pouch within my main carry on with 12 or so batteries for Nikon D3's and TSA either doesn't care or just runs the pouch through again. It shows up as a dark mass on the x-ray I think I was told once. Once a TSA at LAX pulled the batteries for scanning but they knew they were just batteries. I haven't done it before, but I think it would be fine carrying the B2 batteries...but I'd probably stick them in a separate little pouch to avoid having to pull them from the pack and make it more difficult for a TSA to wrap their heads around. |
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Robert Caplin, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 9:33 PM on 11.15.09 |
->> I've carried-on a Profoto 6B pack and head, which is much smaller than the 7B pack....but they had no problem with the pack itself. Although they did hand-search the bag because what bothered them was the sandbag in my case because it looked suspicious beside the battery....and that's what flagged it.
The Pocket Wizards and coils of cords probably didn't help either....
Ultimately, they cleared it. I always alert the x-ray guy that photography gear is going to go through the machine....just to forewarn them. It usually helps.
Robert |
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Joe Morahan, Photographer
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Denver | Co | USA | Posted: 10:12 PM on 11.15.09 |
| ->> thanks guys!!! I will see what happens |
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Jim Colburn, Photo Editor, Photographer
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McAllen | TX | USA | Posted: 1:07 AM on 11.16.09 |
| ->> Does your pack (like the Vagabond) use a motorcycle battery? If so you might want to think about traveling without the battery and hitting an auto supply store when you get there. It probably won't be charged though... |
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Bill Allen, Photographer
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Baltimore | MD | USA | Posted: 4:28 PM on 11.18.09 |
->> I realize this is a couple days late, but according to the instruction manual that came with my Vagabond, you are allowed you to fly with it:
DOT 49 CFR 173, 159 (d), and IATA/ICAO Special Provision A67
available here:
http://tinyurl.com/6d9qza
I wrote the DOT reg on a piece of paper and rubber-banded it to the Vagabond before checking it on a flight from Baltimore to Jacksonville, FL. The only thing I noticed was that, on the return flight, security had disconnected the wires from the battery terminals to the circuitry. I hooked the wires back up and it was fine. No problems otherwise. |
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