Need to take my flight bag on a spam can

Shepherd

Shepherd

Final Approach
Joined
Nov 24, 2012
Messages
5,569
Location
Hopewell Jct, NY
Display Name
Shepherd
Home Airfield
KPOU
I haven't been in a spam can since before 9-11.
In a week or so I may need to fly to the Midwest to ferry a plane back to NY.
What can I carry in my flight backpack, and what is going to get me strip searched at the gate?

I'm assuming my over-under survival rifle is no longer allowed......
 
I would say knives, boom sticks and more than 4 ounces of shampoo are no-no’s.
 
My wife and our mechanic flew out not long after 9/11 to ferry the Navion back from Nebraska. They had last minute one-way tickets with their bags full of things like aviation charts, hand held GPSs, portable intercom, nav/com, etc... Nobody batted an eye.

I've likewise flew home from ferries and nobody seemed to care about my headset and stuff in the bag (though by now, I just had an IPAD and Sentry GPS unit).
 
I flew with my flight bag as a carry-on. It contained my I-pad and a hand held VHF radio. No eyebrows were raised. Just make sure you don't have anything with a blade in the bag, of course. Just prior to leaving for the airport I realized I had a small pocketknife in my bag that had been long forgotten about... and it was a pricey gift from my wife that would have raised her ire if it was confiscated.
 
I was returning home from a caribou hunt in the far north two weeks after '9/11'. We had our rifles/ammunition and 10 days worth of gear and were in line in Canadian customs (or immigration? I don't recall). We were put in a separate area due to the nature of our group size and belongings. A pair of NWA pilots were also clearing through and one was your typical WASP looking fellow while the other was obviously of middle eastern/western asian descent. Our group cleared quicker than the second NWA pilot and the 'WASP' pilot was giving him a great ribbing while the agents swore up and down it was a random selection thing. We all had a good laugh, both pilots as well as the agents.
 
Shepherd said:
I haven't been in a spam can since before 9-11.
In a week or so I may need to fly to the Midwest to ferry a plane back to NY.
What can I carry in my flight backpack, and what is going to get me strip searched at the gate?

I'm assuming my over-under survival rifle is no longer allowed......
Click to expand...
Why couldn't you take whatever you want? TSA has no power over what you carry in your spam can. If you're concerned about a one-way airline flight, put your rifle in checked luggage, just like before 9/11.

Spam Can?
 
I've gotten a few strange looks carrying on an ELT and a parachute (separate events) but no issues getting aboard with them.

The only time I was delayed and briefly questioned was when I went through security on crutches loaned by a foreign emergency room a few days prior. Security took the crutches and my passport and disappeared while I cooled my (injured) heels with another agent. Turns out whoever had used the crutches before me had gotten one of the legs jammed up with mud which had hardened into a fairly substantial plug. Eventually the agents decided it was "just dirt" and let me pass (with the crutches, still full of dried mud) but told me I wouldn't be allowed back in their lovely country with them. I unclogged the offending crutch during a 24 hr layover in HI...I tried to be neat about it but I'm sure housekeeping figured I'd had a mud wrestling match in the bathroom.

Nauga,
who is not as funny as a crutch
 
nauga said:
I think most of us figured out he meant whistling death tube.

Nauga,
unplugged
Click to expand...
I just figured that I had been wrong about the meaning of a "spam can" all my life. It wouldn't be the first (or last) time.
 
I have flown a couple of times with my flight bag. As the aviators above mentioned, don’t forget to remove your multitool/fuel tester/RPG and you’ll be fine. I almost lost my multitool, but was able to hand it to a family member who was fortunately still near security. TSA didn’t CARE per se, but I wasn’t allowed to keep it either.

At the end of the day, it goes back to the wonderful advice my HS soccer coach gave me:
“Don’t be dumb.”
 
eman1200 said:
more than 4 ounces of shampoo are no-no’s.
Click to expand...
Looking at his picture, I would say any amount of shampoo will not be a problem...


Going through security in S. Korea they took away my 1.5 ounce bottle of saline nasal spray. I like to have it in case my sinuses dry out in flight.

I had 2 more bottles, identical to the confiscated one, in my carry on and no one said a thing about those...
 
BTW, I refer to airliners as “sardine cans”. The way we’re wedged in I always feel like when we get to the destination they’re going to have to roll back the top of the fuselage and pull us out with forks.
 
Shepherd said:
I haven't been in a spam can since before 9-11…
Click to expand...
Showoff!
Shepherd said:
I'm assuming my over-under survival rifle is no longer allowed......
Click to expand...
If you have ever carried a firearm and/or ammunition in your flight backpack, completely empty it and check every nook, cranny, and crevice—twice—to make absolutely certain that no little surprises are hiding in there, waiting for the chance to ambush you at the TSA screening station.

Or use a different bag.
 
Last edited:
Some great, and funny, advice.
My plan: I'm only taking my flight bag, without my survival kit weapons. That will leave room for a couple days change of clothes. It's only a 3.5 hr flight (Ha! In what universe) so I don't need much else.
Oddly, the flight out at 550ish kts, is 2+ hours longer than the flight back at 100ish kts.
Which is why I never fly in anything I have to pay for a seat, and almost never fly west of the Mississippi.
No plan survives contact with the enemy, but by flying myself everywhere, more often than not, I end up ahead of the game.
 
I haven't flown much commercial since 9/11, either, it's just not as much fun. One suggestion, take an empty water bottle through security. Then after you're on the other side you can fill it up from a drinking fountain. Wait times on the ground can be long, and staying hydrated is a good thing.
 
Albany Tom said:
,,.One suggestion, take an empty water bottle through security. Then after you're on the other side you can fill it up from a drinking fountain...
Click to expand...
I’ve yet to come across a public water fountain that doesn’t taste like pool water. Airport fountains are no exception.
 
TCABM said:
I’ve yet to come across a public water fountain that doesn’t taste like pool water. Airport fountains are no exception.
Click to expand...
I do limit the water fountain thing to the US and Canada. Most of the water I drink day to day is municipal well water, chlorinated. I don't notice the taste. At work, the water has a metallic taste so I avoid it. The only other drinkable water that really bugged me was well water with a high sulfur content. Oh, that and one of the imported bottled waters, Evian maybe, that to me tastes like it has kerosene in it.
 
Shepherd said:
What can I carry in my flight backpack, and what is going to get me strip searched at the gate?
Click to expand...
Being your "flight backpack" really has no bearing. You can take what's allowed as Carry On or you can check it.

Do your own research on the TSA Website, but here's some obvious items to think about if you have in your pack:

Do not take First Aid Kit that contains knives, needles, scalpels. No to any kind of Bear Spray (can't even check it). Obviously no knives, survival saws, etc.

You can take Headsets, GPS, hand held radio, flashlights, iPads, batteries, etc. (Don't turn your hand held on while on the plane... Even if you are just listening, it is a Transmitter and a No-No for passengers)
 
Before the iPad, I'd get very strange looks from flight attendants and other passengers when I pulled out a VFR chart, opened it up on the little tray to follow along with the flight. But now I just go to sleep immediately after the safety briefing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top