Gas cannister on airplane?

Knowing my luck the explosion would be fully contained within my backpack, shredding everything contained therein :-)

knowing your expensive gear that you mortgaged your house for, sacrificed itself for a worthy cause and saved the lives of many ;)

"I've done it with no issues - this is departing Napier though, no scans / security checks whatsoever." Whether or not security checks exist, this is an utterly stupid and thoughtless act. Any failure of the canister will invariably lead to a catastrophic, airborne fire. As somebody who flies for a living, and operates regularly to Napier, can I ask that you show some consideration for the safety of others.

No really - don't do this. While the probability of a new, unopened canister rupturing due to the lowered pressure is pretty low - the big risk is around canisters which have already been pierced and are relying on their seal with the cooker to keep the contents in. While this may seem perfectly ok at ground level there is a very real risk of the seal failing at altitude. Then you are set up for either the toxic gas overcoming the crew (this has happened before) or an actual explosion ripping the aircraft open. Either way you WILL make headlines. And from the POV of the ground staff inspecting your luggage - they aren't going to distinguish between a new unopened canister and one that isn't. These things are a dangerous good and it's their job to keep them off the plane. And what jimmy says above.

OK, I consider myself told. Won't be doing that again.... :-(

@hutchk Any time you want a list of my fuckups - just ask. But be warned - it's long, tedious and prime Darwin Award material:-)

@PhilipW if we ever meet up in a hut somewhere I'll definitely take you up on that!

The other side of the coin is that it's easy to pick up canisters from backpackers because they can't take them with them on flights. Plenty left in these places on Stewart Island for example.

I find smaller town outdoor shops (Auckland might be a bit more of a struggle) are pretty flexible if you're nice. I came out of Whirinaki Forest about 6pm Saturday last month and wanted to drive straight to Auckland and asked the guy from Rotorua Outdoorsman if they had an afterhours drop box I could return the PLB to and he just gave me his home address and I just gave it to his partner who was home. Pretty good of him ! If I needed a gas cannister I'd take a shot at calling the shop, paying for it online and seeing if there's somewhere around back they could just leave it out so you can collect on your way through outside open hours.

Embarrasingly I've donated a fair few gas cannisters to Hamilton airport in the last few years. Do not know why I show up to the airport with them, but, I keep doing it. I then stand in line waiting to check in staring at the list of hazardous things you can't take on the plane thinking "what kind of moron tries to bring this stuff on a plane anyway?". I get to gas cannister, swear, then start dragging the contents out of my pack...