Air Travel with a one-piece Longbow

[LaGriz]

My hunting partner is flying (1 connection) to Austin,Tx. in September. I will be dropping off my lady with her family and picking him up before continuing to No. New Mexico. He is reluctant to ship me the new bow ahead of time, as his practice will be limited. He is flying So.West and will not be charged for a second bag. I have encourged him to ship me some gear (spare boots, pack frame, heavy or bulky items) in an effort to get all need gear in his only other bag. I will provide a cot,chair,cooking gear,zodi, towels & face cloth, and pretty much the whole base camp. My fear is a lost bag, damaged to gear, bow, or arrows could put a huge damper on our hunt. His primary weapon has been a takedown recurve and that will now be his back up weapon. The one piece bow is a PIA to travel with. I watched a video of baggage handlers the other day and cringed at the thought of his equipment being flailed around. A PVC tube has been sugested. This PVC cylinder is prone to roll off of a conveyer belt. Have any of you veterans come up with a better answer(s) to this travel situation. A 16 hr. drive will be required once I collect him and his gear. I think he will place an arrow box in side his duffel. This too could be a possible problem. Any insite would be appreciated.

LaGriz

 

[LostArra]

I've used a Plano fishing rod tube without any problems.
Arrows in a pvc tube in duffel, no problem.

 

[Kevin Dill]

To a man, every last guy I know who ever flew with a one-piece recurve (or longbow) has eventually said "never again" and now travels with a td bow. I know there will be exceptions but it is what it is. If I was flying with a one-piece bow of considerable value I would probably tube it and perhaps try to rig some square corners on the ends of the tube to prevent rolling. I'd be ready to pay oversize or additional bag fees, and I'd be unhappy when it was time to ante up.

 

[Ray]

Make a tube out of black water pipe (ADS?) with screw fittings on each end. Then buy a ski bag. Wrap the pipe with a fleece blanket or tarp and stuff it in the ski bag. Hard to loose that in a plane or Tarmac.

 

[colonel00]

I would carry it on. I've see people bring on poster tubes, fly rods and even saw a guy with just fishing rods fastened together. Usually there is a closet or room along the top of the overhead to fit an unstrung bow.

Doh! I guess you would run into the issue of it potentially being a weapon. Didn't think that far into it... Perhaps worth a call to the airline or TSA though.

Otherwise I agree with the other guys. A rod case or a tube would be fine. Just make it big enough to not get overlooked. Another option would be a hard shell golf club case if it fit. While these cases often exceed the allowable measurements, usually airlines make exceptions for sporting goods and such.

 

[Ben Nicholson]

I've used a Plano fishing rod tube without any problems.
Arrows in a pvc tube in duffel, no problem.

X2

I've used a Plano rod tube as well. I've had good luck so far.

-Ben

 

[Beto]

I recommend that you take a look at the bow cases from Far North archery http://www.farnortharchery.com

I own one for my take down bow and love it.

Super sturdy and well made. Take a look at their videos.

 

[smoke]

I've flown 4 or 5 times with a longbow in a PVC tube and have never had a problem.

 

[Beendare]

I think Kevin nailed it. With the airline restrictions now-a-days a guy really needs to hunt with a take down.

Back in the old days we would carry on rod cases and they had a compartment for that on board- no more

 

[mooster]

Why not slide the tube inside a golf travel bag? It wouldn’t roll about and then you could stuff additional travel gear around it. Airlines seem more friendly to golf luggage than other sports.

 

[Stoutstuff]

1st hand experience - Bows (and Arrows) are a No-Go carry on with TSA nowadays. I was told at the SW ticket counter that I could carry a classic Herters Utopian Recurve takedown in a hard case through TSA. I got a police escort back to the ticket counter to retrieve my bag and put in there to ship it. 2 weeks later, a letter informing me that my TSA KTN privileges had been temporarily revoked for attempting to carry a crossbow through the checkpoint...