Flying with Busse Collection: Check or Ship?

TrailWolf

TrailWolf

Joined
Apr 13, 2009
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2,809
Hey guys - hoping to get some advice - flying out of NYC for good on Tuesday and have a good deal of my Busses still here with me (no way was I trusting the movers!)... normally if I fly I'm only taking one or two, but never flown with so many before.

So, for you HOGs who fly to/from shows with a bunch or have been in this situation before, do you just not worry and check them or do you ship them to your destination? I cant zip-tie this many to my suitcase frame :)

Know this has been discussed before, but could only find threads on flying with one or two Busses and not a high-valued collection...

Thanks for the help!!!
-Harry
 
Ship it with plenty of insurance. It would be worth it for me to have the piece of mind knowing that even if they are stolen or whatever you can get your money back.
 
I'd definitely ship it. No chance I'd leave my Busse collection in the hands of the brain trust at TSA.
 
Good question. I've once taken about 10 Busses from Germany to KSA. Didn't face any problems. Another time I was flying with 5 Busses the other direction. Again no problem. As long as you don't have your knives ready to hand you are at least not considered a security risk - so the biggest problem isn't actually a problem. However, I am always worried about two things:

1. Customs - might not be relevant as long as you stay within the US
2. Baggage gets lost - there is an insurance limit on lost baggage. Check with your airline. I don't know if you can increase it or if shipping separately is the only way to have the full value covered in case of loss.

Wish you a safe flight and a jolly re-union with your Busses at your point of destination!
 
Hey Harry, if you are flying domestic...I would definitely check them; IMHO of course. I just went up to Cape Cod to visit a good friend and I have ZERO dramas with US Air, who are usually notoriously unreliable with baggage. Just make sure you put an ID tag on your bag :p
 
Seems to me that shipping would give me more peace of mind. It might cost more, but peace of mind is hard to beat.
 
Thrill said:
Seems to me that shipping would give me more peace of mind. It might cost more, but peace of mind is hard to beat.
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+1 Bro!!! Shipping is for me, don't trust any of those light fingered buggers at the airports...
 
That't what the talon hole is really for! Or at least it works for me - I run a cable lock through it and attach it to a secure point inside my checked luggage - they may fondle my knife, but they're not going far with it!
 
I always ship my knives from Blade show via UPS; I know they will get home quickly. It helps that they are only about a mile from the show as well.;):thumbup:
 
With shipping you can buy insurance and tracking, with checking them, you trust your airline employees......Ship them with insurance:)

I believe registered mail with the USPS may be the best, because they are always with someone, and when they are not, they are in a safe at the PO. That is how they ship diamonds. Also tracking is not allowed this way( but they will be tracked internally at the PO), so they cannot be hijacked.
Al
 
Another vote for shipping with insurance -- preferably UPS or FedEx rather than USPS. That's what most custom makers who are traveling to shows with more than a couple of knives do, if that tells you anything. :)
 
If you can't carry it on, many airports seem to have sticky fingers. Ship it.
 
I moved 2400 miles back in July. I had 60+ Busses and all my guns moved by moving co. and then stored for a month and a half in a medium sized gunsafe along with everything else I own. Everything worked out fine, but the not knowing was brutal. I would have shipped them but then they would have been in my temporary apartment for a month or more with no safe. Even with all of my worst thoughts of safe thieves, safe crackers etc. everything was fine.

Check with your airline to see if they can be checked in a locked toolbox or such like checking firearms so that the baggage guys never get a chance at them. They seem to keep up with guns pretty well.

Good luck. I feel your pain.
 
+1 on what azwelke wrote. Registered Mail is your best bet for expensive stuff; slow but the most secure option.
 
Guys - thank you for the multitude of responses and advice - knew I could count on it!

Just checked the pricing and its a no-brainer - $45 for usps priority registered mail will be worth the peace of mind :) Probably cheaper than the overweight baggage fee I'd have to pay the airline anyway if all that INFI was in there :D :D

Thanks again :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
TrailWolf said:
Guys - thank you for the multitude of responses and advice - knew I could count on it!

Just checked the pricing and its a no-brainer - $45 for usps priority registered mail will be worth the peace of mind :) Probably cheaper than the overweight baggage fee I'd have to pay the airline anyway if all that INFI was in there :D :D

Thanks again :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
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An excellent choice........

Last June after Blade in Atlanta I flew United to Boston. We had to hub through Dulles. When I finally got to Boston after a 6 hour delay my suitcase was gone.

I had 8 hours of biting my fingernails and nausea until it re-appeared with everything intact. Amongst many others were 3 Custom Shop knives........One an AK.

Don't take the chance if you don't need to!
 
I see that you have chosen mail but wanted to offer one other option: Pack the knives with a handgun in your checked luggage. While knives appear to be fair game, firearms seem to reach their destinations much more reliably. Something about how they aren't allowed to have access to the container....
 
rbmcmjr said:
I see that you have chosen mail but wanted to offer one other option: Pack the knives with a handgun in your checked luggage. While knives appear to be fair game, firearms seem to reach their destinations much more reliably. Something about how they aren't allowed to have access to the container....
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+1 on that, I had shipped my blades to Blade every year but 3 years ago, a friend of mine who had bought a ton of INFI, told me he bout a rifle case at a sporting goods store and just checked them as a firearm. He put his own locks on the case and it was in the special room where the lost luggage goes.

I have done it for 3 years now and the 25.00 I pay for an extra bag and the fact they are right there when I get off the plane is pretty nice.
 
Alfaholic said:
An excellent choice........

Last June after Blade in Atlanta I flew United to Boston. We had to hub through Dulles. When I finally got to Boston after a 6 hour delay my suitcase was gone.

I had 8 hours of biting my fingernails and nausea until it re-appeared with everything intact. Amongst many others were 3 Custom Shop knives........One an AK.

Don't take the chance if you don't need to!
Click to expand...

Wow I would have needed a stiff drink afte that - that's must have been brutal!

@ rbm: you know I thought about doing that, but I wound up shipping my rifles as well bc I could not get a clear answer regarding the law on bringing my rifles into NYC a few days before my flight... the last thing I would want was to get pulled over in the city w my guns... If I didn't live or fly out of NYC that would have been my choice.

Well, knives are shipped via Priority registered mail with plenty of insurance!! Sitting at the airport bar enjoying the last $11 pint I'm sure I'll have for a while - cant wait for cheap beer!

On an aside - I'm still worried about one of my checked bags - I wound up having to check some ammo and it was 3 pounds over the allowable limit I could check - the Southwest lady actually said that I should take my chances so I did... Hope my bag is waiting for me... We shall see :D

Next stop Arizona :)
 
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