Travelling with DIY gear by air

[Lagrange]

Hello!

Have you guys encountered any problems in taking DIY equipment with you when you travel with an aeroplane? In March this year my CMoy headphone amplifier was confiscated at Heathrow security, because they thought it "looked too much like a bomb".  I was very annoyed by the situation, but it shouldn't have come as any kind of surprise as the times are what they are.

Probably the standards are different with carry-on luggage and the luggage in the cargo hold. At the security they said I should have put it in the cargo instead, but I was concerned that the metal candy box that I had built the amp in could have suffered damage there.

 

[rock soderstrom]

Hi, I found three EF37 on a flea market. It was really funny to have them in my carry-on baggage at the security control at the airport. 

 

[JohnRoberts]

Before 9-11 I would routinely carry a box cutter in my pocket when flying to trade shows where opening up cardboard boxes was the proper use for that tool.

JR

 

[PRR]

A set of tubular wind-chimes in carry-on looks on X-ray like a 9-barrel shotgun.

 

[benb]

I think the best solution is ship it separately. I and others took a business trip in 1999 (obviously before 9/11, but carrying this stuff through security and trying to explain it absolutely crossed our minds), we had an oscilloscope and various electronic things we needed to do our jobs, and they were all shipped to the hotel in a big box.

 

[kambo]

4-5 years ago i was travelling from east to west coast with matched pair shotgun mics with,
mic mounts on...
all the sudden, i had some serious security around me! (on the X-ray check point)
i was kind a scared... WTF is going on !
" when u c 10-15 guys 10 times bigger then u, u dnt feel comfortable at all !. and i am only 150 pounds ))) "
any how, they soon figured out they were mics...
i was advised to keep the mic holders separated from the mics, as they looked like guns!
when i looked the X-ray machine, yes they looked like matched pair guns!

i was scared my self too... 








 

 

[rob_gould]

Hello!

Have you guys encountered any problems in taking DIY equipment with you when you travel with an aeroplane? In March this year my CMoy headphone amplifier was confiscated at Heathrow security, because they thought it "looked too much like a bomb".  I was very annoyed by the situation, but it shouldn't have come as any kind of surprise as the times are what they are.

Probably the standards are different with carry-on luggage and the luggage in the cargo hold. At the security they said I should have put it in the cargo instead, but I was concerned that the metal candy box that I had built the amp in could have suffered damage there.

I don't have any advice personally except I know that a lot of modular synth people have had problems getting their stuff through security to go and play gigs abroad cos when they turn up with something like this, there are a few questions about what it does :

It goes without saying that this situation is ludicrous, but that's the way it is.  It's a show and you have no choice but to be a participant, so I think just be polite, don't get stressed, try to be enthusiastic about the fact it's musical equipment, take business cards if you run a studio or whatever, photos of you using or performing with the equipment?

As an aside, I travelled back from Cairo following a job 6 or 7 years ago, to be called over to the Xray machine by a burly and angry looking security bloke, pointing at the xray of my carry on bag which looked like it had a box of bullets at the bottom of it. 

After a few seconds of panicking, wondering who'd framed me and what the inside of an Egyptian jail looked like as I turned my bag out for him, I was extremely relieved to find this at the bottom :

Needless to say, from that point onwards I was more careful about making sure tools went into hold luggage

 

[sahib]

I promise this is not a joke. I still can't believe it but it did happen.

I was flying to Istanbul by KLM through Amsterdam stop-off. When we were boarding from Amsterdam to Istanbul I had two bottles of whisky (for my friends) , bought at duty free, in a completely sealed but transparent plastic carry bag as it is normally the case. They x-rayed the bottles twice, and then took a sample from the outer bag with a cotton bud and checked for explosive trace. I was utterly stunned but that was nothing. While I was packing the rest of my shoulder case they opened the bag of the guy behind me. He had a surgical knife with blade already fitted, a couple of marking implements with sharp ends  like compass and a metal fork (probably carrying his own cutlery). They put them back in his case and let him board the plane. When I asked the security he told me to mind my own business.

 

[mattamatta]

Needless to say, from that point onwards I was more careful about making sure tools went into hold luggage

Ha, that tool set is a pretty funny.  My dad used to travel for work a lot and had a similar story.  Whenever he went through they always opened up his bag and when he finally asked them about what it was that was getting their attention, the guy had him come take a look at the XRAY and showed him how a coin purse he always had in there looked exactly like the dummy hand grenades that they used for training.