Travelling with Airbag packs?

[Gaperious Basterd]

Do these have to be shipped ground ahead of time to your destination?

[SkiersLeft]

i would think that the hazmat/dangerous goods shipping charges would be expensive. since i'm a euro, i have been using an abs pack for years. traveling to, from, and within the usa is the problem. my recommendation is to discharge whatever brand canister that you are using, unscrew the top fitting/valve so that TSA can view the empty contents of the canister, and then filling/replacing it at your destination. or go ask fed-ex, should be good for a laugh.

[oreo]

Travelled on Jetstar, Qantas, Air NZ, Cathay Pacific, Hawaiian and Delta with an airbag, so pretty good spread. Never had any big issues. I declare it if the check in people specifically touch on something along the lines of compressed gas in their speech at checkin.When you do declare it, they undoubtably have about 10 minutes of not knowing what the hell your talking about but eventually will check your bag in. I've never had a problem after that, closest was I was called over the PA a few minutes after checkin by the TSA to explain what the canister they could see in the x-ray was.

1. Know that the IATA list of approved checked items lists it as Avalanche Rescue Backpack

2. Have the cylinder & trigger disconnected, obviously. It's always helped that I've kept the canister and trigger in the box from ABS that has printed on it "IATA approved for checked in baggage". That's always smoothed things over with the checkin staff.

3. Keep an ear out for being called by the screening people

Have a good trip.

[hop]

I've only flown from USA to Japan and back. Full canisters were in checked baggage w/ IATA list of approved items highlighted and attached to the canister.

On the way over NBD. Everything arrived as expected.

On the way back I got stopped at the gate while boarding and was told I had an illegal item in my checked bag. After some back-and-forth about what IATA was and what the canister was we settled on just discharging my BCA canister at the gate and re-checking. Gunder's one-time-only ABS canister was sacrificed.

I suppose you could claim it's a paintball canister or an inflatable life jacket canister because I think those are TSA-approved?

I travel with these on a regular basis and they always are good to go. Canisters are smaller than BCA ones though and we check extras with inflatable PFDs.

[auvgeek]

Bumping this old thread because it was the closest I could find to what I wanted.

Going on a hut trip soon. Was planning to drive so this was a non-issue, but I just scored a flight. Stoked to save 35+ hrs in the car, but I'm wondering if I can ship my pack/canister full instead of emptying and trying to find a place to refill. Has anyone shipped a full canister in the US? Any idea on cost/procedure for doing this? I have somewhere to ship it.

Alternatively, does anyone know where to refill a Wary canister in Kalispell, Whitefish, or Kimberly, BC?

[Shredhead]

If you UPS it to Kalispel, it will almost certainly go by truck.
Don't ask, don't tell.

[Steve Lavigne]

I've successfully flown domestically (Alaskaair and Southwest Air) and internationally (US to Canada to Japan - Canadair - ANA) with my Scott Alpride pack. I put the sealed filled co2 and argon cylinders in an inflatable life jacket along with a printout from the TSA website where it states inflatable life jackets are permitted. One cylinder is screwed into the life jacket and the other is there as a spare.

http://apps.tsa.dhs.gov/mytsa/cib_re...%20life%20vest

When ski season is over, the life jacket goes on my sailboat.

[toast2266]

Bumping this old thread because it was the closest I could find to what I wanted.

Going on a hut trip soon. Was planning to drive so this was a non-issue, but I just scored a flight. Stoked to save 35+ hrs in the car, but I'm wondering if I can ship my pack/canister full instead of emptying and trying to find a place to refill. Has anyone shipped a full canister in the US? Any idea on cost/procedure for doing this? I have somewhere to ship it.

Alternatively, does anyone know where to refill a Wary canister in Kalispell, Whitefish, or Kimberly, BC?

You can refill a Wary canister in Kalispell at Penco power products, but they charge a lot of money for it. I think when I did it they charged $25 / canister, but they knocked it down to $10 when I argued a bit and said that I wasn't giving them that much money for some air.

I think Sportsman's Ski Haus (main location is in Kalispell, but they also have a store in Whitefish) is doing them as well, but it'd be worth calling.

I've also heard that Rock Bottom dive shop (between Kalispell and Whitefish) can do it. Again, it'd be worth calling ahead.

It's worth noting that some places will want to keep the canister overnight since they have to fill it, let it cool, then top it off. The cooling process can be expedited by dipping the canister in water, but a lot of places might not know that or be willing to go through the (very minor) hassle.

[auvgeek]

^^Thanks very much for such a detailed reply. It looks like shipping it full (i.e., via ground) isn't an option due to timing.

I called Sportsman's and they won't do it. Penco seems nice because they definitely know the Wary system, and they're right next to the airport. I'll call Rock Bottom and see if they can do it for cheaper than $25, though.

If conditions are going to be pretty consolidated (which it seems like they are), I might just abandon the airbag pack in favor to save hassle and weight...

[adrenalated]

Shipping a canister full - if you do it legally - requires a hazardous materials tag. In the past that was about a $50 fee and some paperwork on top of the normal shipping cost. It would have to go ground.