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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[sterles]

My team is going to be traveling for a race that is more than a car ride away, for a change. I know that I can't carry my CF paddle on board, but do you think it is OK to check it? I have a Typhoon (single paddle) bag for it. Is that enough or would you recommend packing it together with other teammates paddles in something else? If so, what would you recommend so that we don't have to sign a damage waiver and/or don't have to pay an extra fee to check it. Most of us will be flying Alaska/Horizon if the rules differ airline to airline.

[glowing_ice]

it sucks that you can't carry on your paddle.  isn't it sad that a paddle can be considered a weapon... haha... 

here's my two cents:  if it's not a padded paddle bag the airlines will not take responsibilty for it.  as a matter of fact even if it is padded they won't take responsibility for it (cheap skates).  they will make you sign that waiver regardless.  there is no extra fees that i know of to check in sports equipment.

the only bag i know that is travel friendly is the really expensive Typhoon 8 full length multi-paddle bag that fits 3 paddles. 



i have a pretty cheap paddle bag which i used for my CF.  what i did was wrap my CF blade and the shaft with bubble wrap before putting it in the paddle bag.  make sure they put the bright orangy red FRAGILE sticker on your paddle bag before checking it in and tag it with an address tag.  hope that helps.

[Backward Rowing]

i saw a hardcase that can store 1 outrigger canoe paddle or 6 dragon boat paddles.  Has cushioning on the inside. something to consider.  i have never used it before.

http://www.burnwater.com/prodcase.htm

[sterles]

I guess I should clarify that I would rather not spend a bunch of money on another case. We are also looking at packing the paddles together in ski or snowboard bags, possibly even surfboard bags that don't exceed the airline's linear inch rules. Has anyone had experience doing that (good or bad)?

[glowing_ice]

I guess I should clarify that I would rather not spend a bunch of money on another case. We are also looking at packing the paddles together in ski or snowboard bags, possibly even surfboard bags that don't exceed the airline's linear inch rules. Has anyone had experience doing that (good or bad)?

i have heard some people have used the hockey bag method.  bubble wrap each paddle if that's the case.  they will still get thrown around by the luggage workers.  also don't overstuff the bag with paddles... a heavy bag of paddles being chucked around will guarantee damage somewhere.

[Bird]

I travel with my golf bag quite regularly on Alaska, haven't had a problem yet...make sure you use lots of bubble wrap and make sure you ask for LOTS of those red fragile stickers...just keep in mind, there's no insurance against damage

good luck,

[James Cole]

Buy a chunk of sonotube (used for forms for pouring concrete pilings) cut at around 53".
You can then either make or find caps for it (heavy reinforced cardboard works well when reinforced with duct tape). Epoxy one cap on one end.
Wrap the paddles, insert in the tube.
Duct tape the other cap on.
Attach label.

For super-style points, you can drill pairs of holes in the side near each end and slide knotted nylon webbing (from any climbing store) through to create handles.

Diameter of the sonotube determines how many paddles you can carry.
It's usually a good idea to not go too large - requires a lot of padding and if full can result in excess weight charges - it's better to instead make two such containers.

[tjl]

If the airline is really strict about linear dimensions, your case cannot be too much larger than the paddle.  However, I have not seen an airline be that strict.

Some ideas:

1.  Bubble wrap the paddle all around.  (If you work some place that gets a lot of stuff shipped to it, just salvage all the bubble wrap you want from the shipping / receiving area.)
2.  Wrap the paddle in cardboard.
3.  Use a typical paddle bag.
4.  Bundle the paddles and put in a big bag, on the theory that a bundle of paddles is stronger than just one.  (Our team did it once with about a dozen paddles, but one of the paddles still got broken.)
5.  Use a cheap rifle case, clearly marked as containing paddles (to reduce the attention that thieves and airport security will give it).
6.  I was once given a big bag and eight paddles to check.  I wrapped them in two bundles of four each with bubble wrap and put the bundles in the big bag.  Each bundle was just barely under the linear dimension limit (but the big bag with both bundles was not), so if the airline wanted to charge oversized baggage fee, I would check the bundles separately and give the empty bag to another person to check in.  Airline didn't care, no damage, but US TSA left a note saying that they looked inside.

[dogpaddle]

When we went to Arizona, we packed five paddles in a hockey bag and packed our PFDs around them. It worked out great!