taking gauges on planes

[JDog]

Hello , I wonder if somebody knows if by putting my dive gear in the cargo hold on a Commercial airliner ,will damage my HP gauge, or the pressure sensor on my Suunto Vyper. Or if I remove those two, and carry them as hand luggage , will the cabbin, pressurization screw with them..Just a thought?
Please advise if this is valid question.
Thanks, Peter

To answer your pressure question-----The aircraft pressurization is exactly the same in the cargo hold or cabin. Now temperature that will be a different story.

 

[truck1]

It is not the airline but the airport that is responsible for bagage handlers.


That is not always the case.In a lot of the major airlines like Delta,American,United,etc,that have a mini hub or several flights a day,generally have their own in house baggage handlers, that are part of the airline itself.Some of the smaller airlines,Korean Air out of kennedy airport for example, or an airline that only has 1 or 2 flights a day or in some cases 1 or 2 a week, generally rely on what is called a handling company.They are generally the low bidders and kind of independent contractors,that do everything an airline would do (pushback, ground services etc.) you can draw your inferences from that as to service and reliability.When I worked the Ramp at Kennedy Airport yeares ago,Virgin Atlantic was always fighting with their handling comp over lost/damaged or stolen items.(they only had 2 flights in and out a day)If you want to know if you think your gear is going to be safe in the belly of the plane,the easy way is to look at the name of the equipment and the names on the back of the people loading your plane.If it is the name of the airline or another major airline,than you are probably ok.If it is fly by night- be wary.

 

[jbichsel]

To answer your pressure question-----The aircraft pressurization is exactly the same in the cargo hold or cabin. Now temperature that will be a different story.

Exactly. Commercial aircraft are "pressurized" to a pressure equaling approximately 8,000' above sea level. The passenger and cargo compartments are NOT air tight isolated from each other. There can be some temperature variations, but remember, people often have pets in pet carriers in the cargo hold.

I carry my regulator and dive computer in carry on simply because I don't want them getting damaged of possibly growing legs.

I've not travelled since the latest round of security increases/measures. If I understand correctly, your point of origin and destination and airline have something to do with what is/is not acceptable for carry on currently.

 

[tzeyap]

We are now paying a lot of money in airport taxes for our baggage handling and the additional security measures neccessitated by the current 'war on terror' each time we fly. I have just purchased a ticket to the UK and the airport taxes amounted to $240 !!!

 

[victor]

That is not always the case.In a lot of the major airlines like Delta,American,United,etc,that have a mini hub or several flights a day,generally have their own in house baggage handlers, that are part of the airline itself.Some of the smaller airlines,Korean Air out of kennedy airport for example, or an airline that only has 1 or 2 flights a day or in some cases 1 or 2 a week, generally rely on what is called a handling company.They are generally the low bidders and kind of independent contractors,that do everything an airline would do (pushback, ground services etc.) you can draw your inferences from that as to service and reliability.When I worked the Ramp at Kennedy Airport yeares ago,Virgin Atlantic was always fighting with their handling comp over lost/damaged or stolen items.(they only had 2 flights in and out a day)If you want to know if you think your gear is going to be safe in the belly of the plane,the easy way is to look at the name of the equipment and the names on the back of the people loading your plane.If it is the name of the airline or another major airline,than you are probably ok.If it is fly by night- be wary.

Yes thats a difference between UK and European airports. US airlines tend to build their own terminals where most terminals in Europe are shared between multiple airlines.

Heathrow had a terrible reputation at one time, commonly known by frequent flyers as thiefrow. There was a case where bagage handlers, caught on vide cameras going through bags, claimed that theft was one of the perks and they should not have been fired.

It is a lot better these days. Various figures are being bandied about this morning on the number of lost bags, 5,000 to 20,000 reported in the papers. Now this mess is going to take some sorting out.

Hope to be flying with dive and camera gear in October, I hope this is all sorted out by then.

 

[cleung]

I carry my dive computer as carry on all the time but make sure that the buttons can't be accidentally pressed otherwise the unit will start beeping during the flight which will make others nervous. I have an article on travel and scuba gear in my website.

 

[HappyFunBoater]

I guess no one else is going to say it, and it just HAS to be said...

Enough is enough!! I've had it with these mf'ing gauges on the mf'ing plane!!

OK, got that out of my system...

Early auditions...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAJgFDCU3So

Someone tell Sam Jackson he's my bro...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdSUrtFdXUQ

 

[reefugee]

Just out of curiosity -with the new TSA ban on fluid, will they complain if I carry on my computer console - which as a liquid filled compass? Unfortunately - I cannot remove the compass from the console.

 

[Jcsgt]

Just out of curiosity -with the new TSA ban on fluid, will they complain if I carry on my computer console - which as a liquid filled compass? Unfortunately - I cannot remove the compass from the console.

I have an email in to the TSA regarding this. I'll post here as soon as I get an answer.