Re: [Paddlewise] Camping Equipment on Planes

> > I am aware that lighters are no longer permitted in checked or carry
> > on luggage on commercial aircraft.  But someone told me that he had
> > heard even empty fuel bottles are no longer permitted in checked
> > baggage.  That is
> news
> > to me.  Within the last year I have transported used but clean and
> > dry fuel bottles and backpacking (no reservoir) stoves on flights
> > and I know the baggage was examined.  Furthermore, airline FAQs do
> > not prohibit empty fuel bottles and backpacking stoves, as they do
> > many other items, including fuel itself, pepper spray, strike
> > anywhere matches, empty propane tanks, etc.
> Is
> > the story about empty bottles and stoves just a rumor, or has
> > something new happened?
> 
> 
> Six months ago lighters were fine in checked-in luggage in USA/Canada
> flight. I usually carry one in repair kit, as a back-up, - my LPG
> stove has a built-in ignitor, much better to use than a lighter,
> especially with soft skin after soaking in water for days.
> 
> LPG stove didn't cause any problems, but they used a sniffer machine,
> which is probably some chromatograph analyser (I think it was it - a
> strip of paper was rubbed around the inside of my bags, then put into
> the analyser slot).  I always wash the stove in soapy water before the
> flight, completely immersing, and then dry it out for a few days (but
> didn't do this on my way back - didn't have a time).  I also a Trangia
> Mini alcohol stove (in fact, just an empty burner-container), as a
> back-up, but haven't been use it for a couple of years, so it is
> pretty much clean.
> 
> Containers that ever contained a fuel have been banned from the
> luggage for a long time now, if I'm not mistaken.  Technically, this
> should include an alcohole burner too, but so far - no problems (like
> I said, not in use for a couple of years).


While you and I might do an exemplary job of cleaning our fuel 
containers, I'd rather not have a cargo bay explosion because someone 
else didn't. It's the fumes that are the most volatile (for most, if 
not all, flammable liquids), and how are the airport staff to know -- 
without time-consuming examinations -- which fuel container is really 
clean and which isn't? It's enough of a hassle to fly these days 
without adding more "overhead" of examiners testing each and every 
article in our baggage for compliance.

-- 
  Darryl
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