Spearo way of life headache!

It looks like you're planning on hitting some BIG fish and losing a gun or two? Good luck !!

That's some SERIOUS firepower!
I'm sure the people at the airport find it scary too!

Looking forward to the reports from your trips. I believe United has a great deal on oversize luggage if its for fishing gear.

Most people use the Sportube without a problem.

You got some serious power there. I bet the police at the airports will have some questions to say the least...

I like to trave simple; one speargun, two shafts and maybe one set of extra bands. Some mono to change the terminal shooting line and ready to go. Whatever doesn't come close enough my speargun range, stays alive in the water. But that's me.

Quote from virgili

Flight traveling with spearfishing gear is gonna be a real (stressful) challenge!
Not to mention so many different rules at the customs in foreign visited countries and how worst it could be if not any rule apply about the gear: if there is doubt on the custom side, you have to try to clear it up...
Africa is definitively for me the worst place: I did diving there in about ten different countries and except South Africa, I could observed how you have to deal with many problems including corruption:(, unless you have a reliable connection in the local custom middle.

So I recently tested the gunbag ( Riffe) weigh for my 3 next different trips in fall: Guadeloupe, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.
The gun bag is about 65lbs (70lb allowed for oversize). Ok!:rolleyes1:
oversize and/ or overweight means you have to pay about 400 to 500 $ for each round trip. (about 50% price ticket!)..
and the diving gear?..
Fortunately some companies accept a free second luggage as a sport diving bag... but less and less.
you have to take if possible (but most of the time you cannot ) a direct flight in order to reduce the missing luggage risk
and if a no direct flight if possible to take the same company...but nothing is guaranteed

a pic of the gear:
T Botha, S Alexander and Riffe guns/ shafts
not to mention bands, spearpoints, grips
I must resized the T Botha board so that the all dimension is under the oversize limit 62"
impossible to add the bungees in this bag
I have to dismantle the guns so that all the suff fit in the gun bag…
but the grips scanned at the checkpoint may makes problem...
In February and before leaving Canada to Mexico, the police stepped in!!
believing I stashed weapons:nono:
1 hour debating the situation!!

Finally you get relieved only at the time gear i the whole gear in the hands you take the lift outside the arrival airport, no?;)
and you?

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I have an article on my blog on traveling with gear, it may interest you. As mentioned in my blog I use a sportube and I am satisfied with it, but I never got it on the flight for free, there are ways to get around that using another bag type. Good luck!

Personally I would not put my spearguns in a soft bag to air travel... If you do however choose to do so I would put the extra spears in a PVC tube to prevent bending and piercing the bag (in case the tip protection comes off). I would also remove the reel and put it in the suitcase and then put the barrel s in PVC tubes too. I am not convinced this weighs less than a sportube... In mine (size 2) I was able to put 2x75cm, an 85cm, a 110cm, 2x40cm spearguns, 2 pairs of fins and other misc items and still have it taken onboard as extra luggage weighing less than 20kg.

Only one gun had wood though (wood and carbon to be exact)

The Caribbean island of Guadeloupe next to my island of Antigua?

Quote from grossetti

Only one gun had wood though (wood and carbon to be exact)

We don't travel with ''guns'' only fishing equipment.

Cheers, Don

I can usually manage to get all my gear into two 23 kg bags. The gun bag usually carries 3 timber guns & at least 8 spears & I usually get one of two of the Riffe floats in there as well. The big bag has 3 fins, two masks, wetsuits, bungees, rig ropes, the other float & all the hardware & spares. Clothes & personal items dont take up very much weight. I always find that there is am extra kilo on the return, from moisture & wetsuits I guess, so I factor this in because the airlines are usually unforgiving. If I have to leave something, one of the bungees are the first to be left out, as they are heavy & not as important as everything else. On my last trip It was obvious that security had opened & inspected every single item down to the last screw (I suspect they were looking for powerheads?). Everything was still there when I arrived although arranged in a very different manner than I had packed. Also the airlines have started to crack down on bungees in carry on recently, apparently "they could be used to restrain people", & flashers too, make sure you check these in.