Flying with a External frame pack

[Beararms]

Those of you that fly to your hunting destination with all your gear, do you load up your external frame pack at home and take it to the airport like that, or do you put the bag and frame in a duffel bag compressed and then put the other items that will go in it in the duffel for flying?

Those that use a duffel, what is a cheap option that will fit a Kifaru 44 mag and Tactical frame? I see Cabala's has a ripcord bag under $50. What size would you go with. I am flying Southwest so I am allowed 2 checked in bags. I can probably fit a good amount of clothes in my carry on.

Each bag has a maximum weight of 50 pounds and maximum size is 62 inches (length + width + height) per check piece of luggage.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Not cheap but I use a north face expedition duffle for this. Watch the weight as it is easy to overload it.

 

[md126]

I flew with my Exo 3500 as a carry on with no problem.

Depends on airline and employees

 

[N2TRKYS]

I fly with my Kifaru AMR as a carry on with no issues.

 

[RockChucker30]

I did two trips by air last year. First one I put loaded pack in a cheap duffle and had a carryon plus a personal item (small pack), plus a rifle case.

The duffle plus without wheels, two carry ons, plus a rifle case is a pain to navigate through airports.

The second trip I loaded all my backpacking gear in a hardsided oyster suitcase (with wheels) and used the compressed pack as a carryon. I took the extensions out and ran it as a 24" frame and the attendants never gave me a second look. This worked much better, rifle case with wheels, suitcase with wheels, plus a carryon pack.

 

[WTFJohn]

Osprey Airporter LZ Pack Duffel - Large | REI Co-op

Keep your pack intact while traveling by air or train. Simply drop it into the Osprey Airporter LZ Backpack Duffel, and zip it up. Your pack's webbing and buckles will be protected during transit.

www.rei.com

I used an Airporter to keep my pack alive and out of sight during a trip to Patagonia. Just pack the back as you would to hunt out of, stuff it in the Airporter, zip & lock it and you're good to go. There was additional room in the bag for extra shoes or a few loose items as well.

 

[deerkiller]

you could use a golf hard side travel case (with wheels) and put your rifle in it as well - has worked for me 1/2 dozen times with nobody messing with the rifle as a carefree bonus

 

[ofl0926]

you could use a golf hard side travel case (with wheels) and put your rifle in it as well - has worked for me 1/2 dozen times with nobody messing with the rifle as a carefree bonus

What case exactly are you using?


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[madkaw284]

Curious about this too. I’ll be flying out to Kansas in November and was planning on just stuffing a Kuiu 5200 with all my stuff and checking it and my bow case and having a carry on.
So has anyone just checked their frame pack and had any issues? Thanks


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[deerkiller]

What case exactly are you using?


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can't think of it right now but it's a lightweight carbon fiber case that zips shut - put a RedOx "cub" stuffed, rifle case and boots in it, has wheels and handles nicely - no one ever looks twice at "golf" stuff

 

[Beararms]

I have a Pelican rifle case we are putting our muzzleloader and pistols in.

 

[deerkiller]

I have a Pelican rifle case we are putting our muzzleloader and pistols in.

they are sort of heavy but absolutely bombproof

 

[colonel00]

If you check just your frame pack, I'd highly suggest putting it in heavy duty trash bags or get bags from the airline like they use for car seats and stuff. This will help keep straps and other stuff from getting snagged on the conveyor belts and so on.

However, when I've flown with packs, I go with the duffel option as I can still get other stuff in the duffel to get to 50lbs beyond what I have just in my pack. I usually leave the pack empty and pack stuff around it.

 

[A-bros archery]

I recently flew with my Kuiu icon pro 3200 as my carry on. First 2 planes no problem. Then on my way home they asked me to check the bag in at the gate. (Had nothing to do with the pack being too big, the plane was full and I was with the last folks boarding and they were making all of us check in our larger carry on's.) I mention this because as I was looking out the airport window before boarding I watched someone's suitcase miss the conveyer and fall all the way to the ground from 10 or 12 feet. I was glad that I had my optics in my small backpack that I was taking as a personal item. I don't want them being dropped by careless baggage handlers. Bottom line; either pack your glass with plenty of protection in your checkin or put it in a small bag as a personal item just in case you have to check in the carry on when the plane runs out of overhead space.

 

[deerkiller]

I recently flew with my Kuiu icon pro 3200 as my carry on. First 2 planes no problem. Then on my way home they asked me to check the bag in at the gate. (Had nothing to do with the pack being too big, the plane was full and I was with the last folks boarding and they were making all of us check in our larger carry on's.) I mention this because as I was looking out the airport window before boarding I watched someone's suitcase miss the conveyer and fall all the way to the ground from 10 or 12 feet. I was glad that I had my optics in my small backpack that I was taking as a personal item. I don't want them being dropped by careless baggage handlers. Bottom line; either pack your glass with plenty of protection in your checkin or put it in a small bag as a personal item just in case you have to check in the carry on when the plane runs out of overhead space.

my son flies a lot for work, I've literally lost cound of how many higher quality hard side suitcases I've seen in his garage awaiting discard from sloppy baggage handling, DO NOT "trust" your belongings to any of the goons working the tarmac, they are insensitive to peoples' property