Rebreather Travels

[Hodge Podge]

Traveling with a rebreather can be done, but it is difficult. I just returned from Belize and took my Dolphin with a 50cf tank and 14cf bail out. Took a 40lb jug of Divesorb in its sealed container with laminated MSDS attached and my name and cell phone number. Flew AA from Denver.

The Denver ticket agent had to make several phone calls to AA office in Miami that took over an hour. Planed for this and arrived an extra two hours early.

Put a baggage tag on it and was good to go. The tanks fit in my luggage just fine and were within the 50lb weight. Put plastic ¾ inch PVC caps in tanks with a small hole drilled so that they could see the tanks could not be pressurized. The caps had string tags attached with “EMPTY TANK”. Also attached TSA page from their web copied on bright florescent paper and laminated. They never questioned the tanks

Had the same problem with the remaining sorb on the return out of Belize. Took about an hour extra with the same phone calls to AA office in Miami. They also tapped the top since the seal was open. Leaving the luggage tag attached helped as they looked up the history and found they accepted it in Denver. I was asked if it was an oxidizer or liquid. I said it was powder and they asked if it was gun powder.

I returned with the remaining sorb to see what problems might arise and help others with rebreather travels.

Next time I will try to get written letter or contact from AA Miami office to eliminate the time factor.

When I arrived back in Denver all the luggage made it except for the sorb. AA delivered it the next day to my door step.

I hope this helps others.

 

[Gill Envy]

if you don't have to say anything to the airline about the sorb, it's probably best. we just put explanations of what it is taped to the cans inside the luggage. TSA seems to be able to figure it out just fine.

 

[Hodge Podge]

The trip I took was on the Nekton Pilot. This is a rebreather friendly operation and they were able to have O2 on board for mixing. Took my own whip.

 

[scubanimal]

I've taken my rebreather on a couple of trips.

Palau - Hunter 1 - rented tanks from fish&Fins, the liveaboard Hunter 1 could fill it on board,
- I shipped my sorb (granules) (very easy, reasonable cost since it Palau has US zip codes.) Note- sorb was very expensive if purchased locally ~$60 per fill- total shipping costs for sorb for 2 weeks was $50.
Palau - Using Day boat. - not as easy, I was able to rent tanks, but the fills were more problematic, because the boat picked us up from the hotel each morning. Thus requiring going into town to get the fills. Plus doing the day boat did not allow for the long bottom times I had on the liveaboard. Bottom line bringing the RB was not worth it when using day-boats ( for me).

Solomon Islands - Bilikiki Cruises. By pre-arranging to have a dedicated O2 cylinder on board, I then brought my own booster and all fittings. Worked great, average bottom time per day ... greater than 7hrs. - awesome. Travel to/from - shipping to costly, used EACs on this trip

In both cases I left my extra sorb (or EAC) with local outfit.

 

[ken chung ar]

Traveling with a rebreather can be done, but it is difficult. I just returned from Belize and took my Dolphin with a 50cf tank and 14cf bail out. Took a 40lb jug of Divesorb in its sealed container with laminated MSDS attached and my name and cell phone number. Flew AA from Denver.

Hi Hodge Podge,

I admire you. It must have been difficult to travel with not only your own rebreather but also sorb and tanks.

In 2005, I went to Palau from Japan with my Dolphin for liveaboards. Sorb and tanks were available on my boat, and I did not need to bring them with me. In addition, it was a direct charter flight from Tokyo that I used, and so I did not need to wander round in a big airport for changing planes.

In 2006, I went to Cocos Island from Japan with my Dolphin, again without tanks and sorb. This was not only a long but EXPENSIVE flight because I traveled with two pieces of baggage, each of which weighed about 40 lb, and thus I had to fly in business class (Continental). Then, I had to stay overnight and change planes in Houston. It was harsh. I had to move both in and out of the airport with those two pieces of baggage.

In 2007, I could not bring myself to that kind of travel because the trauma was big. Now, in the beginning of 2008, I am still wondering if it's worth it to suffer from that nightmare again.

KCA

 

[silent running]

Traveling with a rebreather can be done, but it is difficult. I just returned from Belize and took my Dolphin with a 50cf tank and 14cf bail out. Took a 40lb jug of Divesorb in its sealed container with laminated MSDS attached and my name and cell phone number. Flew AA from Denver.

The Denver ticket agent had to make several phone calls to AA office in Miami that took over an hour. Planed for this and arrived an extra two hours early.

Put a baggage tag on it and was good to go. The tanks fit in my luggage just fine and were within the 50lb weight. Put plastic ¾ inch PVC caps in tanks with a small hole drilled so that they could see the tanks could not be pressurized. The caps had string tags attached with “EMPTY TANK”. Also attached TSA page from their web copied on bright florescent paper and laminated. They never questioned the tanks

Had the same problem with the remaining sorb on the return out of Belize. Took about an hour extra with the same phone calls to AA office in Miami. They also tapped the top since the seal was open. Leaving the luggage tag attached helped as they looked up the history and found they accepted it in Denver. I was asked if it was an oxidizer or liquid. I said it was powder and they asked if it was gun powder.

I returned with the remaining sorb to see what problems might arise and help others with rebreather travels.

Next time I will try to get written letter or contact from AA Miami office to eliminate the time factor.

When I arrived back in Denver all the luggage made it except for the sorb. AA delivered it the next day to my door step.

I hope this helps others.

Hello HP, I do 90% of my CCR diving far away from my home and I have never had anywhere near the kind of trouble as you describe. My most recent trip was to Cozumel, but I have been to Belize, Baja, TCI, Caymans, Puerto Rico, Hondouras, PNG, Indo, and the Philippines.

Rule number 1: You must be able to fit your CCR-w/o tanks and cowling-in your carry on. Otherwise, the unit will be damaged sooner rather than later and you will be unable to bring a container of sorb in your checked bags due to the weight limits.

Rule number 2: Put you CCR in a standard rolling carry on tote if at all possible. I have never seen one weighed, even on domestic turbo prop flights in Indo. As long as it's within regulation size, you will not attract any extra attention and should sail right through. When the xray guy starts talking to his buddy, just say 'scuba equipment" and you will get the smile and a nod.

Rule number 3: Never volunteer any information to anybody about what kind of diving you're going to do or what materials you are carrying. You're a scuba diver, not CCR diver and the absorbent is part of your gear, end of story. They are not curious about you or your vacation, they are only curious about whatever new way they can impress their boss with how strict they can be in applying the rules. This syndrome is most accute in smaller places with bored officials trying to justify their nepotisticly aquired jobs.

Rule number 4: Don't bother trying to bring back unused sorb, it's not worth it. I was once stopped returning from TCI with the remainder of my Sodasorb. I showed the guy the MSDS sheet and I showed his boss too. They couldn't get past the fact that it was mildly corrosive and said so on the keg label-much thanks to those oh so thorough, practical EU officials. The plane was actually held for a few minutes while I spoke to these guys as nicely and as plainly as I could. They didn't even want to allow me to leave it at the airport, that's how overzealous they were. That is until the pilot got involved, who was an ex USN guy who knew what it was and ended the whole thing by telling the TCI guys that he was going to take the damn keg onto the plane himself, in the cockpit, whether they liked it or not. You could hear his brass balls clanking as we walked up the steps.

So far I have never been turned away and only once had to pay an overwight charge of $25 US because, guess what, I spent too much talking to a gate agent before bording a domestic Indo flight. -Andy

 

[jkaterenchuk]

Rule number 2: Put you CCR in a standard rolling carry on tote if at all possible. I have never seen one weighed, even on domestic turbo prop flights in Indo. As long as it's within regulation size, you will not attract any extra attention and should sail right through. When the xray guy starts talking to his buddy, just say 'scuba equipment" and you will get the smile and a nod.

Andy, I agree with all your comments but be aware to never take Air China out of JFK. They do weight carry-on and I got socked with a $125 extra bag charge on my trip to Thailand last month. They have a 5kg allowance for carry-on. My first stages weigh that amount! There were several other issues with this airline that were service related but I will not go into them here.

John

 

[silent running]

Andy, I agree with all your comments but be aware to never take Air China out of JFK. They do weight carry-on and I got socked with a $125 extra bag charge on my trip to Thailand last month. They have a 5kg allowance for carry-on. My first stages weigh that amount! There were several other issues with this airline that were service related but I will not go into them here.

John

Thanks for the tip John, I will avoid AC. 5kg? I have a leather coat that weighs more than that. What are they thinking? I guess it's only going to get worse as jet fuel costs go up.

I don't mind paying small overages for heavy bags-$25 here and there-but these kinds of limits are so restrictive that they put those of us who are traveling far to spend money in an out of the way place in the same situation as people who are traveling far to save money by bring in lots of consumer goods in their luggage for family or profit to these far away places. Not a fair policy at all, unless for some reason you want to discourage those trail blazing travelers who make the reputation of off the beaten path destinations. I know Bangkok doesn't fit that description, but you understand what I mean...I hope... -Andy