Air Travel with Strobes in Europe

I am just wondering if any of our European members can give me some feedback on any security issues when checking in with strobes in either carry on or hold baggage.

I think that the problem lies mostly with strobes with fixed rechargeable batteries (Subtronic, Isotecnic etc.). In fact I believe that Subtronic supply some standard paperwork to present with their strobes if you are challenged.

I have a client who had a lot of trouble in Milan - it seems there may be a new European directive which some airports are interpreting in a draconian fashion (although it doesn't seem to apply to other elitrical goods with fixed batteries??).

I have had no trouble in the UK and have recently travelled through German airports without comment. I will be travelling through Paris CDG later this year - anyone had any problems there?

Thanks very much!

Mark Webster

www.photec.co.uk

D100, LMI Titan, too many strobes.

Ive not had any trouble sofar. Mostly flying out of Amsterdam and London Heathrow. We put all our gear in checked luggage. Never had a single remark. We travel with 6 strobes.

Cor

Hi Mark,

What I find frustrating is that the rules seem so variable. Over the years, I have been told on some flights to take my strobes out of the hold and I have to hand carry them. Then on other flights that I have to check them into the hold. And recently when I was having all the batteries removed from my hold luggage by staff at one airport - when they got to my subtronics and I told them that I could remove the batteries they said to leave them in!

I suspect that some airports and possibly only some of the security guards at them are inforcing rules. It makes it very difficult to prepare your luggage.

Alex

Hi!

There's the Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) published by IATA, which specifies how to handle these things in section 3.2.2.3. The EC made up their own rules recently. As expected, there are some contradictions between these two gudelines so you never can tell what'll apply.

IATA says that torches and strobes have to be secured against being switched on (either by removing the lamp, batteries or by a mechanical device) and against leaking chemicals or getting hot.

IATA requests that you carry such devices as hand luggage. Its more convenient to extinguish a small fire in the overhead compartment than big one in the luggage stores :-)

What I do is the following: I try to get a written statement from the airline how they want me to transport my lights. Usually, they are very helpful (even some are pretty helpless on this topic).

On my last trip I got an arrangement which allower me to get my checked luggage back (to safely stow in my lamps) in case I wasn't allowed to take the torches as carry-on. The more you travel (non-stop) to a populat dive destination, the les you'll experience troubles.

If you prefer the less "touristic" airports or have to change somwhere in the middle (far away of any diveable water) you may experience strange procedures regarding (unknown) dive equipment. Even a dive computer may cause a delay and troubles in such a situation :-(

In theory there's a site officer who should be able to read and understand the DGR at every international airport but try to find one at 11pm in Mexico City ;-)

Helge ;-)=)

What happend to me: At the checkin they told me I had to remove the batterypack AND the lightbulb from the torch, even though I have Hartenbergers wich have a mechanical device to block the switch, and carry the lights in handluggage. Comming at the customs, I had to reassemble the whole thing again, because they wanted me to show the thing works.

I have my Strobs in the Carry On allways. No Problems so far (flying out of Frankfurt most of the time)

Simon

Hi!

Comming at the customs, I had to reassemble the whole thing again, because they wanted me to show the thing works.

This is the usual stupidity that happens. Therefore it's wise to carry all tools and the lamp with you so you can proof it works. Never pack the batteries or lamps in the checked luggage. Try to keep the needed tools as well, if possible. This is the difficult part since 911.

In case you need tools that are classified as dangerous you should think of buying another torch/strobe.

I even heard of situations where the security guys wanted the batteries to be discharged and the customs guys wanted to see the device operating ;-) That's a tricky one.

Helge ;-)=)

I managed to (temp) blind a few idiots at JFK before they understood what the SB-104 was.