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Flying with race gear.

Discussion in 'General' started by Pitdad42, Mar 8, 2018.

  1. Pitdad42

    Pitdad42 Well-Known Member

    Going to do a little traveling by air, not my preferred method. We need to take our race gear with us but my son is reluctant to put his helmet in checked baggage for fear of damage. Dimension for a carry on is 9x14x22 and his helmet without a case is 11x12x16. He has a nice soft sided gear bag but I'm not sure if we would want to use it and get it tore up. Any suggestions? I think he should just wear the helmet onto the plane. Wonder if they would allow it?
     
  2. Dave K

    Dave K DaveK über alles!

    Why not get a nice helmet bag and carry the helmet as carry on? The rest can ride down in the guts of the plane (be careful about weight though so you don't get hit with oversized/ over weight fees).
     
    TurboBlew and beac83 like this.
  3. Pitdad42

    Pitdad42 Well-Known Member

    That is what we would like to do but the dimensions of what is allowed may be an issue.
     
  4. pfhenry

    pfhenry Well-Known Member

    I took my mx helmet to Wyoming to snowmobile... Kept it between my feet the whole flight.. I had a carry on too. Tell em it's your purse lol
     
    Phl218 and Pitdad42 like this.
  5. beac83

    beac83 "My safeword is bananna"

    I flew to a class a couple of years ago. Put suit and all the rest except helmet in a gear bag, which I checked. I carried on the helmet in a soft-sided helmet bag. It wasn't a problem on Southwest.

    YMMV, especially on some of the airlines.
     
    Pitdad42 likes this.
  6. Dave K

    Dave K DaveK über alles!

    Dude, I wouldn't sweat that a ton as long you use it as your only carry on. If you're also hauling a bunch of other stuff, they might get pissy.

    Also depends on the airline.
     
    Pitdad42 likes this.
  7. cha0s#242

    cha0s#242 Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand

    Last time I flew with a helmet, I put it in my gear bag, but surrounded it with padding and my race suit. Figured it would have to be a serious hit to damage it when protected like that.
     
    Pitdad42 likes this.
  8. bpro

    bpro Big Ugly Fat F*****

    My method was to ship it overnight to my destination. Pack it along with everything else I don't want to carry in a sturdy shipper. Most hotels will accept the package for you and you can grab it when you get there. In many cases the hotel arranged the return shipping as well.
     
    Yzasserina likes this.
  9. rk97

    rk97 Well-Known Member

    wear leathers. carry on helmet. pretend he's a famous European racing prodigy.

    Start practicing your accents.
     
  10. My backpack is a helluva lot bigger than my helmet is (even when inside the helmet bag).

    I plan on ordering a new Multistrada from Robby-Bobby, then flying down there and riding it back. I am going to bring my helmet on the plane with me. Im sure it will be fine.

    Ive probably flown 5,932,697 times and I have only seen them actually check the dimensions of someone's carry on bag maybe 5-6 times...and that was only when some asshat was trying to bring a rolling bag the size of a coffin on the plane.
     
  11. speedkelly

    speedkelly Well-Known Member

    I fly a lot, never had a problem taking a helmet on any flight. I use a Arai helmet bag, I think it came with a one of my old Arai race helmets. Has a carrying handle on top. Works great, soft lined, stuff my gloves inside.

    ccd475d5c8a2d419c8786dce90ddd5a1--arai-helmets-motorcycle-helmets.jpg
     
  12. Robin172

    Robin172 Well-Known Member

    Was that your butler with your visors?
     
  13. Pitdad42

    Pitdad42 Well-Known Member

    Thanks folks, I haven't flown since before 9-11 so I didn't know how picky they have gotten. Sounds like he will be fine with it in a carry bag.
     
    Gorilla George likes this.
  14. Just be prepared to keep it under the seat in front of you. It all depends on the plane, but if you use one of the little puddle jumpers (like the Delta flight I take from ATL to home), it might be too wide to fit in the overhead bin. I can smash and shove my packpack to force it to fit, but you obviously wont be able to do that with a helmet.
     
  15. TurboBlew

    TurboBlew Registers Abusers

    All my stuff fits in that rolling Ogio bag. Real nice. Some airlines wack ya $25 or $50 for oversized.
    Though I usually just give the baggage porters a $20 to take the bag with no issues. Just make sure your checked bag gets on the same
    plane as you! Also your helmet can be your personal item.
    I recently booked an basic economy ticket and United was adamant in reminding about their baggage
    policy and all the surcharges I would be paying if I didnt upgrade. Southwest and JetBlue seemed to be the best for
    no questions asked baggage.
     
  16. Dave K

    Dave K DaveK über alles!

    Look at the ticket and the airline. If you're on some budget airline and you're the lasts ones boarding over head is gonna be tough.

    I fly often and have almost never gotten checked on bag size.
     
  17. G 97

    G 97 Garth

    :stupid:
    I use to fly a lot. Had two helmets. I used this exact same helmet bag along with the Ogio 8900 and Alpinestars 747 bag. Never had any issues. This was befor they really started to crack down and extra fee you to death. A lot of time with an overweight bad, while checking it I would try and place the bag so it would overhang a little off of the scale and even put mu foot under it to take off some of the weight. Most of the time it worked. LOL. Flying in and out of races and events sure beats driving, even if the airports are over crowded.

    One other thing to consider is you can always leave your gear in the race hauler depending on schedule etc. I would do this when the schedules allowed.
     
  18. Helmets in a carrying case fit in the overhead, even on coach. If not, have him wear it :)
     
    Pitdad42 likes this.
  19. RGV 500

    RGV 500 OLD, but still FAST

    The few times I carried mine on a flight, it was always a carry on.
     

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