Are lead weights legal in carry on luggage

[aquatic ape]

I will be going to Hawaii for business for a few days and I will be traveling carry on only. I am wondering if I can get away with bringing my weight belt. Last time I did not have a problem with my fins, but I checked my weight belt not wanting to get hassled. In that case I was carrying checked in luggage, so it was not a problem.

Thanks

 

[Alison]

Hi
Yes you can carry your weight belt but only in your suitcase, you wont be allowed to carry it as hand luggage unless it is under the allowed weight for a paticular airline (I wouldnt want that landing on my head if it fell out of a locker) nor will you be able to wear it for security reasons. Easiest way is to telephone the airline and get their view, they may or may not be able to help you

 

[samdive]

I've carried mine on board a few times. they usually ask to look at it as it shows up on the security screening but no one has ever stopped me with it - but mine's only about 2kg max

S

 

[Ricky Eiken]

Hi there :Wave

What I normally do is to bring just the rubber belt and then at the destination I find a local dive center and ask them if I can rent some lead, if you approach them in a nice manner and explain the situation they normally like to help and often don’t charge you as long you remember to return it.
Have a great time on the islands.

 

[octopus]

I carried 6kg weigth belt in hand luggage on one occasion. It was checked by airport security. I was warned that it should probably be kept under my feet, due to health and safety regulations (e.g. falling out of overhead locker). Although I have to say that probably half the people on the plane had heavier hand luggage than I did.

I do occassionally have problem with check-in staff regarding my monofin. Officially, I should check it in. I tend just to ignore them and take my monofin with me. I have never had problem with staff on the plane. They have always been most kind.

 

[Alison]

I have never had problem with staff on the plane. They have always been most kind.

:hmm I take it you didnt cross my path then

To be fair, if your straight with the check in staff and cabin crew they will go out of their way to help. Ricky Eiken has the safest idea for my money

 

[Huan]

I went to Greece last summer and brought 6kg of lead with me too , I wasn't sure if the Island would have lead.....Silly me
Any way I taped the leads together with duct tape and put it in a padded cloth bag.
I was not allowed to bring it onboard with me but instead was allowed to put it in the oversized baggage dept along with my speargun(both unweighed)
the staff informed me that the lead could be used quote" as an implement"
anyway in greece they didn't even bat an eyelid when I brought the gear in. I also left the leads in a shop down there.

 

[nickw]

Coming back into the US I had my bullet weights confiscated. I guess the security people were divers....

nick

 

[Spearingfish]

Yes but most airlines have a domestic 50pound limit, a new rule change different from 2 years ago 70 pounds limit for baggage.

eugene

 

[BennyB]

Does anyone have any experience with taking neckweights on flights? I assume that they would not be allowed as carry-on, but has anyone ever been hassled by security even with their neckweight in their checked-in luggage?

Cheers,
Ben

 

[jome]

Yeah...This did not happen to me, but a buddy.

Inspector: "Whoa whoa whoa, what's that?"
Diver: "It's a neck weight"
Inspector: "a what?"
Diver: "a weight used for diving, you see it keeps you balanced when you..."
Inspector: "so what's in it"
Diver: "leadshot"
Inspector: "leadshot..."
Diver: "you know, like bullets, used in shotguns"
Inspector: "Riight...No here's what we're going to do..."

Can you guess the ending? No, the neckweight did not make it to the hand luggage...

But in checked-in luggage I've never had any problems...

 

[Boomstick]

Going to the Carribean 18mths ago, no problems with my weights but did have airline staff use my long fins to chop up polysterine to see how much damage I could do:martial

On the way back Carribean Customs turfed out my case to see what it was on the scanner, then called me over for assistance?? Then on the transfer through the US, US customs smashed the lock off my case to have another looky

 

[BennyB]

Doesn't surprise me at all, i've heard some crazy stories about how overzealous the US are nowdays.

Just as a postscript, had no problems with my neckweight in with my checked-in luggage. Well that's one tick for BA.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[Veronika]

Does anyone have any experience with taking neckweights on flights?

Yes, I have :head . To make it short, just like Simo said, having them in your carry-on luggage is a big no-no. One time out of two I was lucky. The second time it cost me quite a significant amount of time and peruasion to make them let me take it with me. I was recommended by security staff to put it in the check in luggage next time. Did that, never had a problem again. As far as I got it, they are primarily afraid that the rubber might break and the little pieces of leadshot spilled in the airplane, rolling just anywhere... just an assumption, though.

Veronika

 

[trullalla]

hi,
i never had any bad experience with carrying my neck weight around. i carried it a couple of times in my hand luggage, they stopped me and asked what it was, but made no fuss about it.

linda

 

[cebaztian]

I travelled round with Stig Severinsen during the recording of "dream of depth" a two hour documentary for danish TV. We had fin, monofins, led, cameras, UVflashlights.
Venezuela, Hawaii, Egypt, Thailand, Italy. Planes planes planes... and all the time we tried to get onboard with all the led and the cameras and the carbonfins.

Strategy number one was just to walk onboard without asking or mentioning anything - even not checking it in (its illegal dont do it) - I had my 2 kg neckweight as a necklace under my "sleave" - Stig didnt even want to part with his plastic Cressi fins and I certainly had no plans of leving my UW video in the checked in luggage (did it once and lost the camera) I HATE COPA AIRLINES!

What we experienced was a total difference in approach from EVERY airport security. Some saw nothing (not even the knife I forgot to take out of handluggage once) others saw a threat in anything.

Well, what I wanted to share was one of all discussions we had with security. One of them picked up my UWlamp (a heavy kowalski) she held the handle and wielded it like a weapon but decided that it was not a good weapon and not realy reason enough to take it from me (she really wanted to make life complicated for me, I could feel that).
I explained it was very responsible of me having it in the hand luggage since I could keep an eye on it so that i wouldnt be turned on accidently, heat up and cause a fire. This day I hadnt been able to emtpy the battery totally so she swithched it on and then she said it was too dangerous - I COULD BLIND SOMEONE WITH IT!

For a second I saw myself charging forward towards the captainscabin with my lightsabre BLINDING everyone to right and left

My next vision was in an imaginary security officers meeting (one week after 9/11) where someone from topmanagement on a visit instructed the officers to use THEIR IMAGINATION (because thats what the terrorists do). ANYTHING that can remotly be used as a weapon shall not get onboard.

And this woman in front of me just loved doing her job properly and I had to run down to checkin in and beg them on my knees to check the lamp in and load it on the already loaded plane.

Sebastian
Sweden
http://www.fridykning.se/nordicdeep

"lets rock and roll"
Quote from the passenger that organized a counter attack on the terrorists onboard the forth plane. I have often wondered how he armed himself. When flying I sometimes find myself looking around for objects to use to defend myself and the plane. The monofin makes agood shield and the neckweight a good wielding weapon, I guess.

 

[foxfish]

I have never even considered traveling with my weight belt. 8kg would be at least a third of your baggage allowance on most flights. 5kg being the norm on hand luggage. However I have had experience of traveling with lead fishing weights in my hand luggage. My advice on this is Don't do it!! While traveling to Sri Lanker from London via Dubai, I had an experience not to be forgotten! The ten 3oz weights I had in my hand luggage went through London security without so much as a second glance! Dubai was a different matter. Real serious s..t I was pinned against a wall with a gun pointing at me!! Understanable I guess considering the lead was mistaken for ammunition. Turned out alright though as the weights continued there journey in the holed.

 

[Flattie basher]

I have taken my weight belt several times by plane to Jersey from the UK (Gatwick.) Never had any problems, got some grief on one occassion when leaving Jersey but stood my ground and said that it had not been a problem on the way out.

 

[poacher]

Rule No.1
Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the blind obeidience of bloody fools.
I had no problems going to Fiji from Aus with my weights in a laptop bag -Guess they thought it was computer batteries.
but my mate who has a shaved head and a long beard got hassled at both ends.
in Sydney we talked our way through saying why is it a prob to carry a dive weight its no more of a weapon than a lap top batterry which half the passngers are carrying. In fiji we had to race back and put it through check in quick trip to the first class counter and flash frequent flyers card and we had it checked in at no charge even though check in bags already slightly over limit they didn't weigh the small pakage on return just before departure time- this is a good way to get through with excess baggage because if you don't get to flight on time they will have to delay flight to get your bags off so this makes them more lenient and less prone to stuff around for a few bucks in excess baggage,
This helps guys like me who spend every available dollar and a bit more on holidays retuning home with an empty wallet and maxed out credit card.
I also had the same problem returning from Poland with some excess baggage I offloaded a heap of tools into a case with some laser alignment gear in it and did not check it but went to carry it on at the last minute They had been going to charge me US $500 excess baggage but after trnsferring stuff to carry on got through for free. on problem was a couple of big Polish Policemen pointing sub machine guns at me when my bag went through the xray they thought the tubes for the laser wre gun barrells and were trying to sus out other metal objects when I spoke to them n a bit of broken polish and said spanners for work they looked had a laugh then told me it has to be checked in they took it straight to the cargo hold themselves, no probs and I was us$500 better off almost Au$1000 at the time and I had about$10 on me I spent the rest buying some Piwo (beer) at Warsaw airport.

 

[salibandy]

Bump for this thread.

I have been on four flights with neckweights, one I built myself and the other which is an ankle weight made up of chicklets which I used as a neckweight. they were carried as hand luggage, as the thread asks.

Everytime they went through the x-ray machine, they'd stick out like sore thumbs and of course they were checked. On the first 3 flights, they just looked at it and let me pass. However on the fourth flight, the lady was bent on making life difficult for me. I made it clear before it even went throught the machine that I had neckweights. She took the neckweight (the one I built out of tyres), buckled it in a loop, and proceeded to wield it like brass knuckles. She went, 'for fighting?' to which I said no, neckweight. You wear them around your neck. However she kept insisting that I used them for fighting, but had to let me on the plane because her superior saw no harm in doing so. She looked really pissed though.

Do neckweights go 'beep' when you walk through that detector thing? If not, maybe you could wear them on you somewhere and transfer them into you bag once you're though. Just a thought.