How do you travel with your gear?

It all depends on how much gear. The logic way is put it in a suitcase and check it on the flight. If it's going to be that I am staying at a good trusted friends place I may ship it ahead of time but for the most part I pack light and put it in a suitcase. Strip it down to the essentials and streamline and boom suitcase and go.
 
I go all over with my gear. Not abroad. But I like to keep it with me at work and at home (I have two homes). One in the city which I don't deem it safe to leave in the car so I bring it upstairs. And one in the mountains where I use it to rec climb with. I hike with it also. So I keep it compact. I use a glide light for all of these occasions. If I had to board a plane with it it would be no problem. It's a med. size backpack and a shoulder satchel for a length of rope. It holds all I need to climb and prune. Of coarse if I need a chainsaw that goes separate. If rigging needs to be called upon I have a little daypack for the little rigging I do. Hope that helps. Where you off to now? And the last post I read of yours said you weren't going to be asking any more questions.
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When I fly I use a gear bag from MEC. It's mesh and tough as nails. I check it because much in there isn't allowed in a carry-on. I haven't flown with a chainsaw but I believe it needs to be drained of gas and oil and packed.
 
I stuff my carabiners in a pair of socks, and keep all life support stuff packed tightly in soft clothes. Might be overkill, but take a look out of the window at an airport and see what they're doing with your luggage.
 
I've traveled around the US and to Europe with climbing gear. No chainsaws or rigging gear though.

One of THE BEST tips that I've ever read is to put a copy of an arbo supply catalog on the top of the pack or duffle bag. Maybe one from different companies. that way the bag checker might have an idea what all of this odd looking gear is for. If you have any carry on, even just a rope, include the catalogs. It might not be a bad idea to have some pics on your phone or camera of the gear in use too.

When I put the gear in the pack for checked luggage I put rope bags in the bottom. Next layer is my harness. Any loose biners and hard gear get clipped into a gob. When the bag checker grabs the stuff I don't want to have any loose gear skittering across the floor and getting lost.

throwbags get clipped together and to close to the top. I've seen the screen on the x-ray machine when my throwbags were on the bottom. The screener was amenable to having me explain what they were for instead of having to unload the whole pack. On the screen the look like h#nd gr#n#des :(

Flying with a used chainsaw is not likely. Camp stoves with attached fuel containers or even aluminum fuel bottles can't be brought on a plane. Best to ship them via UPS/FedEx, etc.

If my gear bag is close to shipping weight I'll bring a rope in my carry-on bag. It is the piece of gear that has the highest volume/density. Security can understand rope, they might not understand hardwear.

It doesn't take much gear to make the fifty pound weight limit. don't get too big a bag. Consider the extra weight from heavy duty rope bags etc. I've been one pound overweight and been told that 'something' had to go. My smart-mouth asked if I should tear off the covers to my books or pages out of magazines. The counter clerk was not amused :)
 
Anyone ever shipped their gear ahead of them by UPS?

I would like to ship mine but I am a little leery about shipping 7 Stihls and two totes the size of jobboxes filled with climbing and rigging gear and trusting UPS with it...

Anyone had any experience in doing so?
 
I've used this company for the last two city-city moves:

ABF U-Pack

Being able to control how things are packed in the containers is a huge plus to me. They were really easy to deal with and accommodated some special concerns of mine.

Even though I used one of their 27' trailers for my goods the price was sure better than any of the other containerized companies.
 
I use standard rolling luggage and check it in. Usually need two to cover personal belongings and tree gear. Pack it all smartly as others have mentioned, keep each bag under 50 lbs. I've never had a problem with many flights, either damage or security/TSA issues. They don't seem to mind big slingshots either, never had it questioned.
-AJ
 
I moved some throwbags into my carry-on once to get under the 50 lb. checked luggage limit. Had some fun with security, one guy holding a throwbag up, two others staring at it. They were fine when I explained what it was, said the problem is the imaging system can't see through the lead in the bag so they have to pull it out and examine. Gives them something to do anyway. Keep your throwbags in checked luggage.

Another time a TSA guy started to get gruff with me after I went through the scanner, I turned around, haha, it was an old friend working for TSA pulling my chain.
-AJ
 
I just came back from a trip to San Diego,Salem, and Spokane. I packed 120' of rope, a saddle, carabiners, throw line, throw bag, and a few other odds and ends. TSA never gave me a problem; in fact they never opened my bag once.

A tip for packing that I read on line is to keep all your metal wires like head phones in one nice neat pocket. Also pack gear in an orderly fashion. It helps them see what you have with out having to open you luggage.
 
I keep heavy hardware in my personal item, doesn’t get weighed. My carryon has my clothes, boots, and helmet. Ropes, throw cubes, and saddle get checked.

Don’t leave screnches in your pockets. Digging through the carryon for what looks like a knife on the screen is fun.
 
moss said:
I moved some throwbags into my carry-on once to get under the 50 lb. checked luggage limit. Had some fun with security, one guy holding a throwbag up, two others staring at it. They were fine when I explained what it was, said the problem is the imaging system can't see through the lead in the bag so they have to pull it out and examine. Gives them something to do anyway. Keep your throwbags in checked luggage.
Click to expand...
Third hand up for the throw bag thing. And it was actually in the Maui airport, to circle back to the OP. I was in between my time as an arborist in NYC and hadn't decided yet to move to Asheville, and was spending a few months with my brother on Maui doing tree work. I had the throw bags in the carry-on which was a mistake... but not quite as much as my ex's large collection of dry milk paint powders, each of which had to be tested separately for explosives.

3 months of personal items, plus harness, a rope, some doo dads, somehow crammed into a 49.9lb metolius half dome and the somewhat smaller metoloius bag. I think I skipped rig rope and only had a rigging block with me at that point.

I would ship a handsaw blade to the destination, keep the scabbard et al, and borrow chainsaws when you get there, or buy and then sell, depending on the situation. I bought an off brand chainsaw for $100 new when I got to maui and got my money's worth before gifting it to my brother.
 
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