Flying with pack(s)

[WolfpackNOgun]

Making my first trip(s) west next year and have a couple questions for the seasoned vets:

Assuming pack size is ~6000ci max
When traveling via plane, do you carryon or check pack as luggage?
How do you travel with tripods and any glass excluding scopes?

Lastly I know there are some excellent packs out there but I would appreciate any thoughts and advice if you have ditched one pack for another and/or brand for another.
I will use mine for everything from pack hunting/day pack to backpacking. Thanks.

 

[AdamW]

You aren't getting 6000ci worth of gear on as a carry on unless they just happen to have mercy and let you walk by and board with it somehow. Probably some of your hunting gear (knife, anything pointy, etc.) isn't carry on approved either.

I'd put my most expensive gear, electronics and enough to get you by if your bag is a day late in a lightweight carry on. To protect your pack straps, belt, etc. I'd put that in a duffel and check it.

As for packs, I'm no expert but after a lot of reading it's Kifaru, Mystery Ranch, Stone Glacier, Exo, a few Seek Outside and a few Kuiu...pretty much in that order it seems. I've got a Kifaru Timberline 2 that I like a lot, my buddy a MR Marshall that we both like.

 

[WolfpackNOgun]

Thanks AdamW. I figured carrying glass on plane is the safest, and know not to carry sharp things; just curious if and how everyone does it.

 

[Hunthigh1]

Flying with a large but lightweight cooler as a checked bag is a good option. Its what i do for trips to alaska. Load it with extra gear for your hunt and be sure to put a large dry bag in there for the trip home. When you come home, load that gear into the dry bag and your meat into the cooler and check the extra bag(s).
i like to use a very large older igloo style cooler. durable but not overly heavy. Yeti style coolers would never work as you would never get much meat in them without exceeding weight limits.

remember, 50 pounds or less for normal checked bags.
If you go over 50 you pay extra, but you can not fly with a bag over 100lbs
I run my coolers of meat on the way home from a successful hunt right at 99lbs. and the other bags at 49lbs anything i can do to not have extra bag fees.
(i am referencing alaska airlines policy and am not farmiliar with other airlines)

 

[WolfpackNOgun]

Flying with a large but lightweight cooler as a checked bag is a good option. Its what i do for trips to alaska. Load it with extra gear for your hunt and be sure to put a large dry bag in there for the trip home. When you come home, load that gear into the dry bag and your meat into the cooler and check the extra bag(s).
i like to use a very large older igloo style cooler. durable but not overly heavy. Yeti style coolers would never work as you would never get much meat in them without exceeding weight limits.

remember, 50 pounds or less for normal checked bags.
If you go over 50 you pay extra, but you can not fly with a bag over 100lbs
I run my coolers of meat on the way home from a successful hunt right at 99lbs. and the other bags at 49lbs anything i can do to not have extra bag fees.
(i am referencing alaska airlines policy and am not farmiliar with other airlines)

Huntinghigh, are you referring to a standard igloo hard sided cooler? What size would you recommend for a muley/pronghorn combo hunt? Do you take it shut or lock it somehow for the flight? Thanks.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

If you value your pack, and check it, you might consider a cheap duffel bag as a container for your pack. It won't weigh much, will protect all of your straps, zippers, and buckles, and can provide a bit of extra room for dirty clothes and stuff on your way home.

If you are flying with a rifle or bow, pad everything fragile that is too big for carry on, like your spotter, and put it in the hard sided weapon case.

 

[mcseal2]

I'm learning from this thread on flying with packs, good ideas.

As far as the pack itself I have been very happy with the Exo 3500 I bought. If you need a bigger bag they offer a 5500 bag also.

 

[WolfpackNOgun]

I'll check out the exo pack. I have my eye on the sg solo 3300 and the mr Metcalf, but kifaru I can't narrow down.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I use my Kifaru AMR as a carry on. It's in day pack mode. I carry clothes that are needed for the hunt in case my checked luggage doesn't make it. My expensive stuff goes in my Pelican 1750 with my gun. If that case doesn't make it, I'm not hunting until it shows up anyway.

 

[GotDraw?]

Get a bigger pack than you think you'll need, it will only weigh a few extra ounces and if/when you need the extra space, you'll have it. I run a 3500 Exo, works great for Sept elk, but if I am going to bivvy for more than 4-5 days then I am tight on space for food. If I had it to do over, I'd have gotten the 5500 Exo.

You can carry-on a backpack and stuff it with optics and electronics, but plan to potentially take the lid off and maybe the belt. I ran into problems once with a gate agent who was having a bad day. I made it work, but had to really compress the pack, remove the lid and belt...

JL

 

[bojangles808]

ive got a hunt coming up where ill have to fly. im going to put my exo 3500 in a golf travel bag with some other crap. optics and spotter will go in my carryon. if i tag out ill buy a cooler and check it or freeze the meat and use some soft cooler bags (costco has) and throw them in the golf travel bag for the trip back

 

[Nick Muche]

All optics, camera, electronics, etc go into a smaller carry-on. My larger pack, loaded with everything else goes inside a duffle and is checked. On the way home, that duffle bag can be used for additional items that you may have (meat, horns, etc).

 

[Ohio Darin]

I use my pack compressed down as a carryon. All my optics and electronics are in the pack. Everything else goes into a checked duffle. My rifle case contains rifle, sling, bipod and tripod. I could get away with optics in the rifle case but since I fly international often I don't want to deal with those items during customs checks so my habit is to keep them on my person. I carry on an additional small courier bag that has travel documents, entertainment and snacks. I'll leave this at base camp or wherever I leave my rifle case. Comes in handy to keep under the plane seat while my pack is in the overhead compartment. If I am traveling somewhere that I can bring meat home then I go with the duffle inside of an igloo cooler route and just check an additional bag coming home. I put my pack in a duffle on my first trip and took a larger carryon for optics, etc. Found this to be redundant as well as my pack adding weight to my checked bag and requiring a larger duffle.

 

[WolfpackNOgun]

Thanks everyone. Great advice packing a duffle of essentials and putting it in a cooler to check on the way home.
I think it will ultimately come down to what airline I fly, but much thanks appreciated.

 

[tommymo]

I check in my double skb bow case with as much gear to make 50lb limit. Carried on my 24inch kifaru reckoning with no lid, with 7 days worth of food and remainder of gear , the lid had my optics and range finder as my personal, no issues.

 

[Hunthigh1]

Yes, any larger normal type cooler will work fine i dont recall how big mine is but i can check later. maybe 120qt? I dont lock the cooler because tsa will need to check it out. I do however run a couple light weight straps around it. That way TSA can get in there quick and easy, but if the latches get cracked or busted the cooler wont come open.

Another option is to ship the cooler with your gear to your hunt location if you know someone in the area... My first season working in Alaska i traveled up there with no hunting rifle for work purposes. When I decided to do a hunt, my dad shipped me my big cooler. He took the stock off my rifle and made a custom cut foam package for it. Around the rifle foam he stuck all my other hunt clothing, optics and gear all of it was in the cooler. He shipped it to me via usps. on the way home i had many checked bags.
-caribou head
-locking rifle case
-cooler
-dry bag
-luggage bag
-carryon bag
-

 

[Hunthigh1]

Like others said, if you insist on flying with your pack it will be fine if it is capapble of cinching down to a compact size that fits somewhat within the airlines carryon standards. if your flight is full it can be a panic trying to cram your pack into the overhead when you have big $$$ gear in there. Better yet, watching someone smash their hard sided luggage into it when you know your binos or spotter are in there is always a fun feeling. . .

 

[texag10]

I've flown with my seek outside a ton, but it was not packed for hunting, now way it would make it as a carryon that way.

As for choosing a pack, find out what is important to you in a pack and start narrowing down the brands. If you have a super long torso, look for packs that offer taller frame heights. Do you need a pack that is designed to compress meat between the bag and frame?

Start answering those and your decision will start to get clearer. Most people seem to be pretty happy with what they buy because the higher end brands all make good stuff and treat customers right.