Flying with a Tramping Pack

When I took my pack to Europe a few years back I just did all the buckles up and wrapped the excess straps around them selves before tying them off, and did up the hip belt. You don't want dangly bits getting caught in baggage conveyors, etc. so Glad-Wrap should work great.

My problem is I have a small pack and when doing other things I can not fit it all in the pack, now that you are allowed to have only 1 item of 23kg. I have a canvas bag, (an old navy style stuff bag) that I put everything in. It has nothing to catch just the draw cord at the top.

I bought one of these for my upcoming Europe trip. It's my sacrificial cover so my expensive 60lt pack (hopefully) doesn't get wrecked. http://www.torpedo7.co.nz/products/DJBGEN4AI/title/osprey-airporter-lz-pack-travel-cover---large I think I only paid $35 during one of their recent sales.

Domestic and between NZ and Australia, I just tie down all the straps as much as possible so there's not much dangling around, and they usually don't seem to mind. I've normally found tramping packs to be very durable. In NZ and Australia they normally have trays you can place them into before they go onto the conveyor belt when checking in, to reduce chances of stuff getting caught. If you're thinking of cling film, remember that customs people often like to be able to see what's inside, so don't stop that from happening. It's less important for domestic, of course. As recently as yesterday I've just thrown out one of those Osprey Airporters. I bought back in 2007 for a South America trip but just found in storage. It was really too big for the pack which made it awkward to carry given the lack of a proper harness being on the outside, and by the time I'd arrived at accommodation in Santiago, there was a hole torn in it somehow. The whole point had been to more easily lock up a pack that had so many points of entry and so reduce the chances of anyone sliding anything in or out, but the tear defeated the purpose, so I just stopped using it and relied on a fairly inconvenient chain and padlock instead. Their more recent models might be more reliable. Or maybe I just had a dud.

I brought a bag very similar to that Torpedo 7 one for a trip to the States, left it with relations and then used it to get back to NZ. It was stuffed by then so I chucked it out, but at least it protected my gear long enough to get it there and back. Air travel is really rough on bags! Don't wrap your bag with cling film, especially if going to the US. The customs people will go nuts about it. You will probably get "the probe" because they will think you are a terrorist or drug smuggler.

I went to the US on a diplomatic passport once (long story and a weird experience that was more stressful than I'd care to repeat). That was because I had to carry some diplomatic safe-hand luggage for obscure reasons, which was entirely carry-on and nothing else of mine was protected by whichever treaties are in place. But from all the US airports I went through, they opened the rest of my luggage, and left a note to say they'd been through it, every single time. :)

Knowing there are full grown gorillas patrolling the luggage area at airports (AirNZ no exception) we use the "Totem" bag made by Macpac. You chuck your pack in there and zip it up… very tidy. The conveyor belts used to chew up any stray straps etc but I think they are not quite as tough on packs now… Looks like Macpac stopped making the Totem which is a shame because it's a very good bag and can be used as a rain cover or general storage bag. But a canvas duffel bag would work just as well too. Those same gorillas are capable of destroying a Samsonite suitcase in one season. It seems dropping suitcases from a height is the preferred method of breaking them...

my pack was dumped towards the edge of the conveyor so it hit the edge of teh cargo door when it got to the aircraft door. it then fell onto the ground, it was an a320 sits reasonably high off the ground... the handlers grabbed my pack by the bungie cord on the front of the pack so hard they snapping it once. brand new pack... if you get the chance, watch the baggage handlers at work throwing bags onto conveyor belts with the "rugby ball pass" why do you think you're advised not to put laptops in your main luggage, guaranteed if they are stacking luggage they are just throwing the luggage on top of other luggage, they are under tight time constraints to get the planes loaded in a short amount of time, theres not enough public complaints doing anything about changing what they are doing so its not going to improve, got anything you really dont want broken? put it in a hard case, maybe like a pelican case? pack hte items likely to be broken in the middle of your pack surrounded by soft items for some shock absorbing ability...

I made rectangular sacks with a drawstring top for our packs using ripstop nylon fabric. Works really well, and not bulky or heavy if you need to take them with you. Have also used black plastic rubbish sacks in the past.