Hi all, I’m new to Pistehors, apologies in advance if this subject has been covered before. I have an ABS Freeride rucksack and normally drive to the Alps so not an issue, however this season I am planning to fly with it to Geneva, Easyjet and also Munich Lufthansa. What do I need to do re flying with it? There seems lots of best advice about, but has anyone actual experience of this, and whats best to do, ie Carry sack onboard as handluggage like a normal rucksack, with canister in checked-in baggage?

Comments greatfully received!

There are a number of threads on this topic on snowheads forum. My personal strategy is to place the canisters and triggers inside my boots (check-in luggage) and the backpack inside a my main suitecase. I dont bother to call the airline ahead of time or let the ground staff know, as they either dont know what i am talking about,dont know what to do or dont care? At worst i think (hope) your cannisters and triggers will be confiscated or you may be asked to discharge them; cost circa 30euro.

Thanks, this assumes that you are carrying ski boots in a separate boot bag I guess, I tend to put mine in main hold bag. Do you think it’d be ok to carry the ABS sack and put the canister/ trigger in main hold luggage as above, or is this just highlighting the sack?

As ace1 said it’s probably worth having a look on snowheads as there is a lot of info there (although there is no problem at all discussing it here I think).

There was a thread on Easyjet, it seems they did have a blanket ban on compressed gas of any kind and the only expectption was on medical grounds. It now looks like this has been revised and ABS/SnowPulse etc are also specifically exempt from the ban and can be carried in the hold. There was a letter from EasyJet posted on SnowHeads that is probably worth printing off and carrying.

I don’t own a device like this, but I am interested because if I did I’d be flying with it so have been following the threads on Snowheads. Whilst I can sympathise with ace1’s approach of “don’t ask don’t tell” (so to speak) I am not sure loss of the canister is the only penalty you risk. You could have your bags pulled from the flight, and you could then miss your flight and/or lose the bags in the worst case scenario. Also, I think the IATA and airline rules are pretty clear - if you tell them then you can carry these items, if you don’t tell them then you can’t…

One option, depending on where you are going, might be to rent a canister in resort. I hope that as these devices become ore popular this might be a viable and simple option that would save a lot of hassle.

Flying with your air bag backpack is not a terribly difficult thing in most of the world, provided you notify the airline in advance, follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer, carry the material safety data sheet (download it off your manufacturer’s website), and bring it as a carry-on, NOT checked luggage.

http://www.wildsnow.com/3736/airbag-overview/

For the United States watch out which cartridge you have. U.S. cartridges are DOT certified but some Euro cartridges are not. ABS’s cartridges and trigger handle must be loose inside the backpack and not attached!

Snowpulse, Backcountry Access (BCA) etc must be empty and have the cylinder head assembly removed for visual inspection of the inside of the canister which will require tools and a strong grip.

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194734

davidof, thanx for the links.
Steve Haigh, I guess my attitude to this stems form the early days when very few people knew how to travel (air) with these devices. I got mine in 2006 and although we mainly drive last 2-3 years i have been flying without any problems. I guess times have changed. I am due to fly with swiss air in jan so will check if i can get it on board ‘officially’

ace1 - 27 December 2010 02:57 PM

davidof, thanx for the links.
Steve Haigh, I guess my attitude to this stems form the early days when very few people knew how to travel (air) with these devices. I got mine in 2006 and although we mainly drive last 2-3 years i have been flying without any problems. I guess times have changed. I am due to fly with swiss air in jan so will check if i can get it on board ‘officially’

Like I said, I don’t own a device like this, so I really am not in a position to comment… I’m mainly passing on what I read on SnowHeads, and although well intentioned there are no guarentees with any of it

Markymark29 - 26 December 2010 01:11 PM

… I am planning to fly with it to Geneva, Easyjet and also Munich Lufthansa. What do I need to do re flying with it?

Hi,

I am using an ABS Vario rucksack (30 and 50L).
Two weeks ago I had been in Munich with Lufthansa and I had no problems with canister.

While flying to Munich, I had my canister and trigger free inside of my big backpack (and the ABS official agreement paper - for any case).
On the way back, I had my full canister already in its slot (I forgot to take it off), but nobody said nothing.
So, at least with Lufthansa, there are no problems carrying ABS system.

Hi,

I work for BA and I’ve just looked up the British Airways’s policy regarding avalanche rescue backpacks, at the moment avalanche rescue backpack are permitted as carry on baggage and also permitted as checked bagged. 

The official text is as follows:

“Avalanche rescue backpack, one (1) per passenger, equipped with a pyrotechnic trigger mechanism containing less than 200 mg net of Division 1.4S and less than 250 mL of compressed gas in Division 2.2. The backpack must be packed in such a manner that it cannot be accidentally activated. The airbags within the backpacks must be fitted with pressure relief valves.”

As with most things the policy changes from time to time so would be worth calling them up prior to travel but should be no problem with BA.

Hope that helps....