Ship gear or fly with it?

[cocky84]

Going to alaska in September. Should i ship my hunting gear up there ahead of time? It will cost approximately $125 each way. Or do i fly with it? I am hoping to get all of my gear in a 20x20x28 tote , which is the largest usps will ship. I will have a carry on bag with my expensive gear no matter which i do.(optics,gps....)
What does everyone usually do? Obviously my first trip to Alaska.

 

[Stid2677]

I travel back and worth a lot as well as flying out to Kodiak and the villages,, this is what I do. I wear as much as possible to include my heavy hunting boots, hand carry all my expensive stuff. I check the rest, I use a sports tube made for snow boards to check my rifle and I stuff it with as much gear as I can to make sure I use the entire 50 pounds. On Alaska Airlines, fees are charged for bags over 50 pounds but they still have to be under 100, I make sure if I'm going to be over that I at least stay under that 100 pound limit. During hunting season every cheap skate and their mother is sending gear to Alaska parcel post to save money and it can take weeks to arrive. A small travel scale is priceless so you can make sure all your bags weight right and you don't have to repack at the ticket counter.

Make sure you don't try to or accidentally ship any fuel, and that your stoves are cleaned and purged.

I use military style flyers kit bags and place plastic totes inside, so that when I ship meat or hides back I can check the totes with the meat and then use the bags for my gear. I drill the tops and pack zip ties to make sure the lids stay on, works batter than tape, I will also tape a few extra to the lid so TSA can reseal if they have a look.

I make sure all my bags have my contact info not only on tags but also on a paper taped to the inside in case the tags or check barcode comes off.

Not uncommon for bags to get bumped on full flight and not arrive until the next flight so try to give yourself some time if possible, same with weather, very common during the fall for weather to cause bush flights to be late and the airline charges rebooking fees, when I go to Kodiak anymore I just wait to book my return flight once I get back to town.

Steve

 

[cocky84]

Man! Thats good info Steve. Thanks. It just scares the shit out of me that the airline loses my gear. I understand it's VERY possible for usps to lose it as well but i would know a little ahead of time.

We are flying up on Delta. If i take it all with me i will have 1 guncase (i like your idea on that too) i will keep under 50lb, one suitcase with camping gear i will keep under 50lb and a backpack to carry on.

I am not concerned about money at all. Not that i have a lot but not worth possibly ruining a trip over couple hundred bucks.

 

[Stid2677]

Only UPS or FedEX to Alaska is 2 day air and that is very expensive, USPS Priority mail is the best shipping option. Never lost a bag on the airlines, can't say the same for mail.

If you ship someone will have to receive and store it, so risk either way.

 

[bourbon]

Use a hardside lockable golf club case for your weapon, ammo and most of your clothes. I used to use a pelican case, but always thought it was dumb to burn a checked bag on a single use item. Plus everyone in the airport and or behind the scenes knows that a gun is in the pelican cases. With the golf club case....they think its a shitty set of clubs with no street value.

Oh yeah to answer your original question....i would trust the airlines much more than parcel post to Alaska. Ive sent lots of stuff home FROM Alaska parcel post but it is stuff i can live without for 2 months.

 

[cocky84]

Yes the usps priority is what i was referring to for $125 each way. You also have my wheels turning and ive been looking at the Tuffpak.

 

[cocky84]

Great advice guys. Thank you

 

[Stid2677]

I have a Tuffpak and like it but they cost 400.00

I also have a cheap golf hard case and don't care much for it as it is too flimsy and can come open

Bought a Sports Tube series 3 for my next trip home and like it better than the golf case but not as much as the Tuffpak, but it was only 200.00 bucks or so on Amazon.

 

[cocky84]

Great idea on golf case! Skb case for $75 on craigslist. Score

 

[charvey9]

Fly with it, and weigh the cost of baggage fees or just going first class. On many airlines your bags fly free in first class, which may be about equal to flying standard when you start adding up the overweight / oversize baggage fees.

 

[outdoorsman_3]

Cocky. I am shipping all of my gear two months ahead of when I am going to be there. Then when I come home it will come on the plane with me. I just can not risk loosing a day due to the airlines loosing luggage. Coming back I arrive out of the bush on Saturday. Good chance that the post office will not be open so I am just brining everything on the plane. Get the Alaska airlines credit card. First bag is free to check and got a free round trip!

 

[cocky84]

10-4 on the credit card. Did same thing. Free round trip. Thats pretty good idea. I like the idea of golf club case because my gear will be with my gun. I cannot ship gun no matter what so if they lose my gun they might as well lose my gear. Trip is screwed without a gun.

 

[kuhn4]

I shipped my gear from WI to AK last year via USPS priority mail. Cost was ~$105 for a 60 lb tote. Shipping took 3-4 days to a remote western village and with the tracking number you can confirm it arrived on-time and before you do. If it doesn't arrive, you then have time for a back-up plan. It also reduces the amount of gear you need to lug around an airport.

 

[Preston Lay]

I have flown a few times from Oklahoma to Alaska. I make arrangements with my float plane service to receive my gear and store mailed gear, ahead of time. I use the plastic totes and usually have one filled to 40ish lbs, tent, pad, cot , ect. Like Stid I drill small holes around the rim and use plastic zip ties to secure and remember to throw extras in for the return flight. I also sharpie my name ,address on the lid and tape the destination over it. I fly with bow,(take down) arrows, binos, camera and can get all that under 50lbs and then a utilize a carry on as well. Knock on wood....I have never had any trouble. I send the camp gear around the first week of July for a September hunt.

 

[BBalash3]

Ditto on the First Class ticket, the cost for excess baggage adds up quick. American/Alaskan airlines allows three free check bags when ticketed in first class. I used my stockpile of miles from work travel for this years trip and will be flying into/out of Anchorage for 50,000 miles & $5.60. As for the gun case, I have a SKB double gun. On past trips I have packed it full cloths & equipment right up to the weight limit.

 

[njdoxie]

I travel back and worth a lot as well as flying out to Kodiak and the villages,, this is what I do. I wear as much as possible to include my heavy hunting boots, hand carry all my expensive stuff. I check the rest, I use a sports tube made for snow boards to check my rifle and I stuff it with as much gear as I can to make sure I use the entire 50 pounds. On Alaska Airlines, fees are charged for bags over 50 pounds but they still have to be under 100, I make sure if I'm going to be over that I at least stay under that 100 pound limit. During hunting season every cheap skate and their mother is sending gear to Alaska parcel post to save money and it can take weeks to arrive. A small travel scale is priceless so you can make sure all your bags weight right and you don't have to repack at the ticket counter.

Make sure you don't try to or accidentally ship any fuel, and that your stoves are cleaned and purged.

I use military style flyers kit bags and place plastic totes inside, so that when I ship meat or hides back I can check the totes with the meat and then use the bags for my gear. I drill the tops and pack zip ties to make sure the lids stay on, works batter than tape, I will also tape a few extra to the lid so TSA can reseal if they have a look.

I make sure all my bags have my contact info not only on tags but also on a paper taped to the inside in case the tags or check barcode comes off.

Not uncommon for bags to get bumped on full flight and not arrive until the next flight so try to give yourself some time if possible, same with weather, very common during the fall for weather to cause bush flights to be late and the airline charges rebooking fees, when I go to Kodiak anymore I just wait to book my return flight once I get back to town.

Steve

Stid, is a sports tube airline approved for firearms? And how do you keep your gun strapped down inside the tube?

You got a link to the "military style flyers kit bags" you use? I've never heard of them.

For the platics totes, do you just use the ones from Walmart? They hold up?

I want to subscribe to this thread, but I don't see how....can someone enlighten me?
Thanks

 

[Stid2677]

Stid, is a sports tube airline approved for firearms? And how do you keep your gun strapped down inside the tube?

You got a link to the "military style flyers kit bags" you use? I've never heard of them.

For the platics totes, do you just use the ones from Walmart? They hold up?

I want to subscribe to this thread, but I don't see how....can someone enlighten me?
Thanks

I have not flown this case yet, but have flown several similar to it. "Hard sided lockable" is what they call for. I have used the hard sided golf cases and the Tuffpak and never had an issue. I plan on using it to fly 3 rifles in a couple months so I will post if I have any issues.

I keep my rifles in a softcase and slide that into the Sports case, use extra clothes to pack it tight. I like having a soft case since bush planes will most often only fly soft cases and ask you to leave the hard case at the office.

https://www.alaskaair.com/content/travel-info/baggage/baggage-firearms.aspx

This is a link to the military style kit bags.

http://www.militaryclothing.com/Air...S8FMn9ifWiDMVXXI2_0aAt_W8P8HAQ&ad=75080675429

Also have a couple of these.

http://www.duffelbags.com/store/products/DuffelGear_Mother_Of_All_Bags-1761-3.html

The totes are the largest I can fly which I think is the 31 gallon rubbermaid roughneck tote. You have to check the LxWxH measurement and make sure it meets airline spec and will fir into the bag you select.

http://www.rubbermaid.com/en-US/shop-products/storage-boxes/roughneck®/roughneck-storage-box

 

[njdoxie]

You're comfortable having the airline pull your gun out to verify it's unloaded and then pack it back correctly? It's easy for them to do this with a regular gun case, but not so easy in a stuffed golf bag....I'm never around when they're checking my gun, they bring it to a separate room.

 

[Yellowknife]

You're comfortable having the airline pull your gun out to verify it's unloaded and then pack it back correctly? It's easy for them to do this with a regular gun case, but not so easy in a stuffed golf bag....I'm never around when they're checking my gun, they bring it to a separate room.

Neither the airlines nor TSA checks your gun to verify that it's unloaded. In fact I don't believe they will even open a gun case without you being present. All they do is swipe a cloth on the outside and check for residue.

I've flown with various handguns in a variety of non-gun cases. No issue if it's locked and hard sided.

Yk

 

[colonel00]

YK is correct. The gun case should be locked with a non-TSA lock and they should never access the case without you present.