Kitesurfing Gear on a plane?? Any horror stories?

I've only taken my kiting gear away with me once, and it's a pain in the ass carrying everything. You don't realize how much crap there is to haul around until you've got to carry it a few km's every time you arrive at a new airport.

I've traveled a lot though with surfboards though and only had one instance where a board had a few punctures in it, I'm guessing from other gear being thrown on top of it (only last week I looked out of the terminal window in Jakarta to see one of the baggage handlers standing on my board and it still arrived home in one piece).

If you can get other people to move the gear around for you I'd go for it. If you know you're going to be doing a lot of moving on your own I'd advise against it purely because it's is a huge pita to get it all from point A to point B.

If you decide to go ahead with it, I'd just make sure to get a good travel bag that you can store your harness etc in too and make sure that it has wheels. You don't want to lug your kit around only to get to your destination needing 3 days off because you can't move your arms...

Happy travelling!!!

One time my old mans windsurfer got melted... Like a huge hole through it and the board bag and everything... It looked like acid or something had dropped on it. They said they had no idea what happened and they only pay you $1000 max compensation. Pretty sh!t.

Thanks all for your responses. You're too kind.

When oh when will they invent the telescopic twin tip?

Here ya go.... www.mit.edu/people/robot/zp/zeroprestige.html

Just scroll down to the 'travel board'

I've traveled multiple times with my board (twin tip) in no board bag- no worries!.

Not a horror story but have had my kites inflate slightly and push out of the bag at altitude so when I came to pick them up they were half out of the bag.

Have travelled domestically and internationally many times with a golf bag, kites & board - never an issue.

I have however, prior to leaving for a trip, had my girlfriend RUN OVER my golf bag fully packed with kites and board. Luckily it only damaged the bag wheels. NEVER underestimate a woman behind the wheel. Keep your gear well away from parked vehicles!!!

A good idea is to wrap your wetsuits/towels over your kites, just incase there is a breach of your bag and your kite gets shredded by something sharp.

Taking your fins off is a good idea. Its a pain in the arse dragging the gear around, as the guy above said. But its worth it.

cheers

Invest in a good travel bag - you will reap the cost back many times over.

I have a Naish Golf bag which has copped a beating (especially on discount airlines - I'm looking at you RyanAir) and the gear is still good inside. It's also saved me excess baggage charges. Staff have looked at it, looked at me, said "checking in your golf clubs sir?" To which I have always replied, "Yes thank you!"

Pointers:

1. Remove the fins - I didn't the first time and they made cuts in my bag.

2. Put your wetsuit and towel down first.

3. Place harness on top of board, then bar. I don't use the outside pocket - I came into Perth Airport with my bar hanging out (and nobody needs to see that )

4. Lay your kites in the top section, out of their bags. Just roll them in wingtip to centre. Make sure you leave all the valves open.

5. Don't pack a pump unless you are going to uncharted kite lands - you can always borrow (And in some places like Mauritius, my room came with a pump!)

6. Take your clothes carry on. You won't need many clothes because you'll be kiting all day right? Just take one set of clothes for going out, because who cares if you wear the same thing every night.

I flew Virgin Atlantic to the UK about a month ago and they gave me 23kg luggage and 23kg sporting, I even told them it was kitesurfing gear for insurance purposes and they were absolutely fine with it. I use a giant cabrhina 'golf' bag for all my gear with no problems.

I recently flew with Thompson Airlines to Sharm El Sheik in Egypt and they were absolutely fine with my kite bag as long as it was under 20kg.

I've also flown with Tiger, Virgin, Qantas and Easyjet domestically in Australia with my kitebag with no problems as long as I keep within the baggage allowance and buy the extra bag for 'x' amount when I book the ticket..

Jess

Another option, send your gear ahead of time by fast ways or courier for domestic. Costs little to post 3 kites and bars from one side of Australia to the other.

Another good tip, put "TOP LOAD ONLY" on your stuff, ( your stuff gets put on top of the other stuff ) they will not put the gear on the bottom of all the other crap.

Another international story, someone had there twin tips cut in half by customs in Thailand or some country like that, to see if there where any drugs inside, the kiters only noticed when they got to the beach, they went back to customs and customs said how do we know you didn't cut your boards in half yourself?

as a ps:
I have flown all over the world with up to 5 surfboards and never had an issue. This was my first "Hosing" experience after more than 30 years of surfing the globe, so I guess I could call myself lucky. (with the exception of me arriving in the Cook islands only to watch them drop my boards from the plane and having to do repairs before I could surf while watching the waves go off!)

I've flown quite a bit with my kite gear and although I've generally had no issues, I have had one twin tip board cracked slightly.

Here's my tips on travelling with your gear:
> Wheels on your kite bag are great, but try and buy a bag that is light weight. When you are paying big $$$ per extra kilogram this matters.
> Check the airline baggage policy closely for sporting equipment. Some have rules that help such as 'golf equipment is free' (which is good if you have a 'golf' bag), and 'X' amount of kilos of sporting equipment is free etc, but there are also so many 'gotcha's' out there, in particular with the low cost carriers. (Once I pre-paid my 'luggage' which was virtually all kite gear, and when I got to the airport was told that sporting equipment is not considered regular baggage, and cannot be pre-paid. Eventually, I didn't pay any additional costs, but it was close.) Some airlines such as Cathay pacific are now charging a handling fee on sports equipment, even if you are under your weight limit. There are also some dimensional limitations that may need to be considered.
> Check the aircraft types that you will fly on before booking the ticket. If you are flying on a regional jet or turboprop on any of the legs, you will probably have issues.
> Dry your gear out before flying, otherwise the weight of gear will increase significantly.
> Besides the low cost carriers around the world, I find our own Aussie airlines to be some of the most strict with excess baggage. It can be very hit and miss whether or not you get charged, and a lot seems to depend on where in the world you are checking in.
> If you are going to check in with more baggage weight than your allowance, be prepared to pay the excess. If you pre-pay the excess it is cheaper, but if you decide to try and check in at the airport over your weight limit and the airline charges you, the excess charges charges can really add up.

Burls

Juddy,

Qantas will charge you for every gram over the bagagge limit, enjoy.
Not sure about the other two.

I just returned to Broome yesterday after spending 2 weeks in Melbourne where I bought a 2013 North nugget which I got to have a quick run on at St kilda the day after the AFL grand final. The wind was up when I landed so headed to the beach and when I pulled the nugget from the bag, where it was wrapped in cardboard for extra protection, found the rail just behind the nose with a 5 inch crack in it and heavy creases on the right hand side. I flew with Qantas and the bag was labeled "fragile" and "top load only" which obviously means stuffall to the baggage handlers!

I also did a trip to the gorge this year and had my Ion spilt wheelie bad wrecked on the return trip. Qantas paid for the bag which ironically was the reason I was at the kiteshop when I was in Melbourne. I've contacted Qantas and have been told to email a receipt and a quote to have the board repaired. I'm hoping that they'll pay up like last time as I've already shown the boared to our local repairer and have been told it will cost about $300 to fix.

Dont forget if you're hard up for luggage weight / space most airlines let you take on a suit carrier in addition to your hand luggage.

Surprising how many clothes, wetsuits etc etc you can get in a suit carrier :)