Last summer I flew back from Kodiak Island after a kayak trip. Because I figured it was safer than being in the cabin, I packed a few lighters, some safety (book) matches and some pencil flares in my bag. A companion packed some strike anywhere matches in her bag. The airline thoroughly inspected the bags, since they didn't have a luggage x-ray machine. I was written up for the lighters, matches and flares, and my companion was written up for the matches. The FAA fined us. They initially proposed a fine for me of $2,000 per item, for a total of $6,000! My companion's initial fine was $2,000 for the matches. We later compromised these amounts with FAA for a lesser amount and some education. Word to the wise -- don't pack matches, lighters or flares. By the way, our liquid gas stoves and fuel bottles were emptied and aired out for half a day before we traveled and passed the sniff test. They were OK. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 6/8/2004 1:58:06 PM Pacific Daylight Time, TJoyce_at_bellboyd.com writes: > The thread about lighters makes me curious about an old topic: matches, > stoves, etc., in checked baggage on airlines. In studying the official > baggage exclusions published by airlines, I notice that they seem to be > careful to exclude fuel and fuel-containing camping equipment, but not > camping equipment per se, such as clean, dry, used backpacking stoves > and open bottles. This would seem to be a continuation of historical > practice and common sense. However, the same guidelines do exclude > strike anywhere matches from the category of acceptable checked luggage. > Has anyone had recent bad (or good) experiences with empty > stoves/bottles or matches? Do people ignore the prohibition on > strike-anywhere matches in their checked luggage? > I carry Strike Anywhere matches in a pocket as they are fine for carry on, but not checked on. I routinely clean the heck out of a fuel bottle before checking it on and have not had any problems. Since the advent of the TSA , they have inspected my checked bags every time I've used a plane for paddling or backpacking. I think I have had 6 roundtrip flights travelling to kayaking or a backpacking location with no incidents. Rob G *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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