Empty single piece of brass in backpack South Africa

[JimP]

What it comes down to is too check what you plan on taking onto a aircraft.

This past May I grabbed my lightweight jacket that was go with me attached to my backpack carry on. At the hotel that I stayed at I was attaching it to my pack only to feel a empty case in a pocket. I had already checked my pack a dozen times for anything.

But people need to remember, outside of the TSA here in the states you will be dealing with a foreign government and their agenceys. And you really need to tipple check just what you have in your luggage and carryon.

But one thing with my carryon when I was returning from my first safari 7 years ago was that I was stopped in Joberg security and they asked me what I had that was round in my backpack? I told them that I had no idea and that I had cameras and optics in it as I started to unpack it. Then the lady just wove me through.

Well, once I got home here to Colorado I unpacked everything and found a nice round rock about the size of a handball. I had picked it up for my sister's rock garden. I still don't remember packing it in my carryon instead of my checked bag.

 

[Odinsraven]

Been down on maybe 10 trips to RSA I always check everything before the airport a few clients have got stopped but nothing compares to the drama of a client at Dallas flying back to Europe....Everything but the rubber gloves .......

 

[sestoppelman]

Biggest hassles I have had were both upon return to the states. Once because we had not filled out the gift and cash paperwork for our rifles that we owned when we left. CBP was all kind of upset about that!

May be been the same trip, we had dirty boots and a few little chunks of SA thistles, terra firma or something or other in the bottom of my checked bag.
Got the two penny lecture on that too.

My brother upon return from his one and only safari to Namibia some years ago, got held up by the po po at customs because come to find out he had a restraining order to his name from his ex that he was not even aware of!
Took a good half hour with them to get going again. Took some doing and costs to get that removed.
His ex was a real piece of....work.

 

[fourfive8]

I'll second the recommendation about politeness and patience when in such a situation with authorities that carry the big stick either here or in foreign countries. I do use my carry-on as my primary day pack while hunting. Why wouldn't or shouldn't I ? The secret is to take the regulations and known customs seriously no matter if they make sense or not. Otherwise just stay home. And of course the 10 or 20 dollar bill used as the better part of valor will forever be. Again, if you absolutely can't stand being involved with such widespread and "normal", customary soft bribery... again, just stay home.

Cartridges, cases, primers, knives, sharp pointy metal objects, sprays or aerosol this that or the other and liquids/gels exceeding maximums, etc. should be commonly known no-nos in carry on. I think it's been that way since 9-11-2001. That should have been enough time to "learn the ropes" of travel... primarily air travel. The biggest uh oh I've ever witnessed was several years ago in the "fish bowl" firearms inspection cage in Atlanta for returning hunters. A man-wife? team returning from JNB caused quite a stir in the fish bowl when the TSA agent opened the lady's gun case and found the rifle was loaded! Okiedokie! My habit is to COMPLETELY empty my carry-on day pack before departing on any origination air leg. And the same for ANY carry-on. Then only add items to carry-on or pockets that aren't restricted. Simple.

About 7 or 8 years ago I had a Mozambique "TSA" inspector flag my checked bag in Tete as I was in process of checking in for JNB. He kept pointing to my binocs in the x-ray. I was polite and sympathetic to his concerns but I didn't understand his concerns. I just kept asking in English why the binocs? Of curse he was speaking in Portuguese so the exact communication left something to be desired. He kept smiling and pointing to the x-ray image. I was running out of ideas and could only think of pulling some more IDs out of my wallet. I opened my wallet and he eagerly pointed at a 10 dollar bill. I gave it to him with a smile, knowing he would have a pleasant beer night. He really was a friendly little fellow and likely extremely poor. Many may indeed think that level of bribery is acceptable and customary. If that is the worst I have to worry about in international travel, I will count my blessings. If that is so unacceptable to me to the point of risking an altercation and arrest, then maybe I should also just stay home... where I can get "legally" fleeced everyday by our own govment.

 

[flatwater bill]

Unfortunately, there are no laws in Tambo airport. They make them up on the spot. The women employed there love their power. South America, Central America, Asia, The Orient.....been to 100 airports......will take any of them.....but will not go back to OR Tambo......it is a Shxxhole.....FWB

 

[Hunt anything]

On my first hunt in Mozambique I took three 20-round boxes of ammo for my rifle. When I went through customs they told me that I was only allowed to have 40 cartridges, and they would keep one of my cartridge boxes in their safe until I went home. It only took about a half hour to fill out the paperwork and have the correct customs officer take the paperwork and ammo to the safe in the adjacent room.

At the end of my hunt, I went directly to customs and 20 minutes later I walked out of the customs office and airport building with all of my ammo and spent cases.

I put all 60 cartridges and empty cases in my locked box in my checked luggage and proceeded to check my bags for my flight home. Ten minutes later my name was called over the loudspeaker and told to go to baggage check-in. They took me in back where my checked bag, on the conveyor taking it to be loaded on the plane back to the US, had been ex-rayed and they could see three 20-round boxes of ammo in it.

There were two Mozambique police officers there, and I explained to them that I had just got one of the ammo boxes from the Customs office and showed them that paperwork. All of that was above their comprehension, so the two officers walked me back out of the terminal building and back to the customs office.

Another 15-20 minutes discussion between the police and the customs officers, and I was finally allowed to go home with all of my ammo and spent cases.

Did they give you an explanation on why you could not have 60 rounds of ammo? I‘ve been through Beira a couple of times with 80 rounds and all they did was count the rounds and I was on my way.

 

[JimT]

Same thing happened to me in South Africa. In Qatar I had the spent casings in my checked baggage and ended up in the bowels of the airport being interrogated as the ransacked my luggage breaking numerous souvenirs in the process.

 

[PeteG]

I will try lighten the mood of this thread somewhat with a funny experience i had at Lusaka Airport in Zambia.

I had flown to Lusaka for meetings from Ndola where I live and work.
While i was there, and owing to the lack of gunshops in ndola (being none precisely), i decided to buy some ammo and take it home. I had a few boxes of 12ga shotgun ammo, some pistol ammo and possibly some rifle ammo.

I had all my licence book and receipts and i kinda knew the process that i needed to go to the police and they would take it to the plane and give it to the pilot who would hold it in the cockpit then i would retrive it from the police when i land.
The hitch was, i didnt know if i needed to declare it before check in or after.

I decided to go through check in and then go on to the police or ask at the security scanner at the domestic departure gate.
Seemed the most logical to me at the time...

Well, i went to the scanner, with a plastic carrier bag of ammunition and my laptop. The two items i was travelling with for the day.
The lady scanned the plastic bag, then my laptop and i walked through the metal detector and picked up both items. I then had a little think and wondered if i should just keep quiet, carry on and save the Police hassle on landing or if i should inform the lady of her error.

Didnt take long for me to decide that it was probably wiser to advise her of the ammunition and ask for proper handling. She just about had a heart attack and started performing like a stuffed pig. Being a citizen, i quite quickly put her back in her place with few choice words relating to her incompetence and lack of education...
Then went back through the metal detector and to the police, declared it all, and walked straight back to the gate where they asked me to please give the packet to the departure gate attendant before boarding...

The joys of africa... sometimes it can be a laugh, other times it can be a pain in the ass.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

We always do a complete shake down and repack the day before a flight. This avoids any real or imagined contraband issues as well as not forgetting anything. By far my worst experiences with incompetence, arrogance and ignorance of government security has always been in the USA.

Safe travels and Happy Christmas

 

[Mekaniks]

I am in the separate back pack camp with Phillip Glass.
I started using separate backpacks several years ago. One for carry on and one for hunting. I did this for several reasons.
First because I have "donated" several knives to TSA over the years.....
Secondly I travel a lot for work and my carry on pack has many pockets, is well organized for me, I and do not want to pack / unpack it for hunting.
Also, because my hunting pack is waterproof and mostly one bag with only one interior pocket. It can ride in back of the pickup or ATV rack, in the bottom of a duck blind in the rain, or on the deck of the boat all day with no problem.
When traveling on a plane I empty it out and roll it up and put it inside my checked luggage. If I am driving to hunt I just put all my daily hunting gear in it so that hunting gear kept separate from my regular back pack.
Yes it adds a few pounds to my overall travel weight, but for me its worth it. And to help keep my hunting gear separate to avoid many of the issues mentioned in this thread. And I haven't lost a knife to TSA since I started doing this.

 

[DLSJR]

I had an ‘interesting’ experience with ammo and airport security, at Landon’s Heathrow Airport. It was June of 1989, so much easier travel back then. I was returning from a long safari in Botswana and had a long layover, and had checked my bags to London, then re-checked them to San Francisco. Unfortunately, I switched 2 bags and now Had a bag with some loaded rounds in my carry-on. I realized it just before going through the X-ray scanner, so stepped out of line and called a security person over to explain my dilemma. He politely asked me to wait there while he figured out a solution. I was suddenly surrounded by 4 airport security guards who weren’t very friendly. I was escorted into a windowless room and interrogated like I was some kind of terrorist. In the room with me was an airport security official, someone from British customs, another from the London police and a British Airways security officer.

Finally, after quite a long, animated and finally me getting angry conversation, they released me into the airport with a London Bobby as my escort. They kept all my bags in their possession. The Bobby was a rather pretty lady in her mid-20’s. She went everywhere with me, politely answering any questions I had but she wouldn’t engage in conversation beyond that. The only place she didn’t go with me was the mens bathroom. I invited her to join me but she said she’d wait outside. Finally, about 8 hours later, she received a message and escorted me to my departure gate.

We proceeded to my gate, where the original interrogator was waiting. He handed me a boarding pass, advised me that all of my bags had been personally re-checked by him and wished me a nice flight. I’ll never forget his final words “…please don’t return anytime soon.”

 

[JimP]

I have often wondered just how profitable it would be to set up a location just before security in a number of airports and offer a service of shipping banned items to the persons home or to a designated pick up point where they could retrieve their items.

 

[Tbitty]

I have often wondered just how profitable it would be to set up a location just before security in a number of airports and offer a service of shipping banned items to the persons home or to a designated pick up point where they could retrieve their items.

I think there is such a place in at least one of the terminals at DFW Airport. ... this is a bit generic, but I know I saw one of these somewhere in my travels. At the time, I thought it a great idea, and also thought there should be a locker rental or service to hold items for you (overweight/oversize luggage, banned items, etc.).

 

[yarettlopez]

I flew from South Africa through Turkey, USA and Mexico with a .308 brass that traveled in my bag by mistake but I didn't have a single problem at any airport, I only realized it when my wife found it in the washing machine

 

[JimP]

I flew from South Africa through Turkey, USA and Mexico with a .308 brass that traveled in my bag by mistake but I didn't have a single problem at any airport, I only realized it when my wife found it in the washing machine

Washing machines manufacture things from the socks that they eat

 

[fourfive8]

An Oops shipping service located just before entering the security snake line might work. I’m afraid the local authorities might tax and regulate such a service out of business. The only time I’ve had anything confiscated from a carry on was a couple of still sealed small bottles of water purchased In the airport, but not behind security.

Also I once left my fixed blade knife in my day pack after a hunt east of Bethel AK. I emptied my day pack carry on before entering security but had already checked my large bag . Oops! Gave it to a friend who had dropped me off at the airport. He put it in a USPS flat rate and I received it about a week later.

 

[Northwest9]

yep, had the same at George Airport in July

had a spent 30.06 case in my carry on bag, they scanned my bag about 6 times trying to find it. checked my torches etc, until they eventually found it. It was in my bino harness. I put it there after I shot my Sable, and forgot to transfer it to my checked luggage. I couldnt work out what they were looking for, as they were talking in a language other than english or afrikaans, but once they found it, i remembered putting it there.

I just told them to chuck it out. They werent too worried, though, it might have been more of a problem at OR Tambo

Ive had it happen in NZ as well, same deal, binned it and moved on