Luggage please help need recommendations

[LEVI HILL]

I need some advice e on luggage. Been twice now and both times baggage handlers have broken into my luggage between USA and SA and going back. I need a good piece that's se ure but not too heavy

 

[Jeff505]

If your baggage has a double zipper use a TSA lock to secure. My Cabelas duffle had this. Since RSA now requires a hard bottom duffle, I bought one from Boyt Harness. This can also have the zipper locked with 2 TSA locks.

 

[Major Bonkers]

(1) get your luggage wrapped in polythene clingfilm. It seems to be a high price if you do it at the airport, but there is nothing to stop you buying a roll yourself.

(2) all expensive things, especially optics, go in hand luggage. (That’s why you have QD mounts.)

(3) do you need to travel with so much? It is quite possible to rely on three or four shirts, and the same amount of underwear, and have your clothes washed in the country, for a three week trip. Anything missed can be bought at Safari and Outdoor in Johannesburg.

(4) otherwise try sendmybag.com, who will air freight your luggage. Surprisingly reasonable.

(5) a hand-held electronic baggage scale (from Amazon) is very useful. Pack your rifle case with as much of your other luggage as you can, up to the flight weight limit.

 

[autofire]

If you buy zipperless locking luggage it will avoid the problem. If the luggage has a zipper it can be broken into using a pen see youtube. Samsonite makes zipperless luggage.

 

[Sourdough]

@LEVI HILL wow that's unfortunate. In all the traveling I've done only TSA has violated my stuff.

I generally travel with KIUI bags. They hold up well. I don't "lock" them as the zippers are a little tough to move, otherwise I'd secure them with Zip ties.

Are you traveling with high end looking luggage that makes you stand out as a target?

When we do travel with hard sided luggage they are covered with kids type stickers, things like unicorns and fairy's and the such. The idea being nothing worth stealing in this bag. Also makes it easier to identify on the carousel.

Expensive stuff always goes in carryon if it can.

Oh, and an Air Tag goes in every bag (and gun cases) so I know where they are at all times.

 

[wvfred]

I use a samsonite hard sided suitcase without a zipper but with latches.I have been through joburg twice with it.....no problems.

 

[JimP]

I use a rolling duffel with a hard side and zippers. Two trips over and back with zero problems, all that I carry in it is clothing and ammo if legal.

Even a hard side suitcase can be broken into. If they are going to take the time to pop open a zipper,they can pop open a latch lock.

 

[steve white]

I guess you could get the right size Pelican case and lock it up?

 

[DLSJR]

Get a Pelican 1615AIR case and you won’t have any problems. It’ll hold plenty of clothing and gear, is hard shell so no zippers. It has 2 steel reinforced locking points for your locks. It is what I use on all hunts now, along with a Tuffpak for my rifles.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

This is it for my luggage to Africa. Three changes of clothes is probably one too many. Extra boots take up a bit of space in the checked red bag. I travel in the other pair of boots. One change of clothes in carryon and one in the checked bag. The red bag has backpack shoulder straps that zip inside. I have been to Africa three times and no one has ever bothered my checked bag. It looks like something a scroungy old hippie would own. Probably full of dirty clothes and skidmarked underwear? Something camo for checked baggage would be just asking for trouble. There are times when it's best to avoid the I-am-a-rich-SOB style show.

Of course, gun case has all four locks when flying.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

This is it for my luggage to Africa. Three changes of clothes is probably one too many. Extra boots take up a bit of space in the checked red bag. I travel in the other pair of boots. One change of clothes in carryon and one in the checked bag. The red bag has backpack shoulder straps that zip inside. I have been to Africa three times and no one has ever bothered my checked bag. It looks like something a scroungy old hippie would own. Probably full of dirty clothes and skidmarked underwear? Something camo for checked baggage would be just asking for trouble. There are times when it's best to avoid the I-am-a-rich-SOB style show.
View attachment 536639
Of course, gun case has all four locks when flying.

Correct approach. I have been through ORT and South Amenican airports several hundred times, literally. I use pretty non descript luggage and have never locked it once. In all that time it has been broken into twice, once they took absolutely nothing, and once they took a pretty ordinary work hat.

 

[SikaMDhunter]

Has anyone ever had their locks cut off their rifle/bow cause?

 

[Justbryan]

I carry on my clothes, slip-on shoes, medications, scopes, binoculars, and other essentials. I buy anything else I need in Africa. I leave a lot more in Africa than I take. I never put a lock on anything unless required by TSA. I wear my clean hunting boots on the plane. I pack super light and it keeps getting smaller/lighter on every successive trip to Africa. I don't pack any clothes or shoes that cannot be wore sightseeing and hunting.

I check a locked Tuffpak for rifles and a very small Pelican Air with hunting equipment/ammo.

I am not carrying a rifle on my trip in August because I am hunting at night only. So, my wife and I are only taking carry-on luggage for our next trip.

I love my Tuffpak and my Pelican Air. They are tough and have never been broken or damaged. I don't wrap either case. I have seen a lot of duffels destroyed by the airport handling systems.

 

[Justbryan]

Has anyone ever had their locks cut off their rifle/bow cause?

Yes, I have had them all cut-off several times. I always carry two extra sets of locks on all hunting trips with extra keys in my carry-on and travel vest. I buy matching lock sets so I only need one master key.

 

[jpr9954]

Not to hijack this but I've wondered about how people secure their locked ammo case. Do you put it in your duffle or suitcase loose? Or do you have a wire cable that locks the box to your suit case?

I do the later when traveling with a locked pistol case in my suitcase. The pistol case is locked and then it is locked to the suitcase.

 

[Philip Glass]

I need some advice e on luggage. Been twice now and both times baggage handlers have broken into my luggage between USA and SA and going back. I need a good piece that's se ure but not too heavy

The only solution in my mind is to go with the Pelican Air suitcase like many of us have done. It can take two locks and is quite secure. I am very happy with my Pelican Air. I have been on 4 Safaris, 1 mission trip to Guatemala, and have 3 safaris this year With this case. They are expensive but I believe that is the only downside.
So sorry to hear of your troubles.

 

[shootist~]

@Philip Glass

Are the Snapsafe TSA locks the way to go for the Pelican Air case?

Just realized I have the Pelican Air, but never bought locks for it.

Thanks.

 

[Tanks]

I'll second or third the Pelican air case for luggage. Even my girlfriend uses one for her excursions when going paddleboarding around the world. We both have used them on more trips than we could count.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

A $500 piece of luggage is worth ripping off even if it is empty. Again, luggage that looks +top shelf looks like it must have +top shelf contents. Top shelf goods usually do better at the pawn shop than some old hippy's jockey shorts. I don't travel to Africa with any items in my checked luggage that aren't expendable. The entire contents of my checked duffle aren't worth a hundred bucks, including the boots. I go to Africa to hunt, not put on a top shelf style show.

That tip above about putting kiddie stickers on luggage is a real winner! One fella who hunts Africa told me to put a Yamaha decal on my gun case to disguise it as something for an electric piano. Unfortunately, the airlines always attach red tags to the case identifying contents as guns. But I guess the decal can only help.

It's like the Yeti cooler craze. Why would I pay hundreds of dollars for a cooler I have to worry about leaving unattended in the truck while I answer nature inside a gas station? Or have to haul into my motel room every night? I can leave my beat up old garage sale Coleman on the hitch rack through a frosty night in Montana while I sleep in my motel bed without a worry in the world. Is someone gonna steal that old cooler with duct tape over the drain spout? Pffft. It could be stuffed full of hundred dollar bills and still be safe as any Brinks truck. Yeah, it looks like crap but the meat inside tastes just as good when I get home as it would have if it rode thirty hours in a Cadillac Yeti.

 

[Red Leg]

Has anyone ever had their locks cut off their rifle/bow cause?

Never. And that is a lots and lots of international flying with and without firearms. Never had a bag broken into. Have had the TSA rummage about, but never anything taken or broken. Only things that go in my checked bag are clothes related or a gift for friends. Valuables are in the carry on. I put the goofy little TSA locks on the zippers, but that is mainly to insure it isn't accidently opened in handling.