travelling with bows

[archerymad1991]

heya,

im travelling with the irish team to egypt this jun-jul to wadi delga- has anyone been abroad with there bow- whats the best way to carry the bow, is there any customs problems taking arrows in and out of the country, oh , and anyone whos trained in egypt- and tips/hints??

[clickerati]

Lots of threads on this already. Try doing a search and you should find some good info.

[Munsterman]

Greetings fellow Corkonian. Pack your kit as best you can. I think that the kit has to be in a lockable case if it is accepted on an airline. Avoid the idiots at a certain Irish airline with a liking for a blue livery on their planes ( they do not fly to Egypt anyway)

[Russ]

I've travelled between Europe and North America several times with the Shibuya "Double Recurve" bow case, and it's held up quite well. Lots of room for kit (two full recurve setups & 24 arrows), but it's still as compact as a hard-shell recurve case can be (more compact than most), and the wheels are a big help. You can get them at Alternative, I think.

I should mention that some folks (who are wiser & respected and should know) have pointed out that the Shibuya case was NOT designed for air travel. It just happens to be very good quality, so if the baggage handlers are well-behaved it will probably hold up very well. As I said, mine has survived a few trips, and I have friends on the Danish national team who fly all over with theirs, and they've had no trouble.

If you want a really sturdy case designed for air travel, try SKB; only down side is that they are a lot heavier & a lot more expensive. And by the way, it's the durable plastic (HDPE) that you want, not aluminium (which will only survive airline travel by pure luck).

You might check with the competition organisers about customs; if they can't help, then maybe try phoning the embassy/consulate in Dublin? You might be able to fill out some kind of paperwork beforehand to make your dealings with customs a bit easier. But even the best-laid plans can go awry where customs are concerned, in any country: for example, I seem to remember hearing that the police withheld a contestant's compound bows at the World Cup in Dubai last year?

[Perks]

It is probably a good idea to talk to your own customs people as well for the appropriate form to say you are taking an expensive item out of the country with you for a few days so you don't get charged duty on the way back in.

[MATTeL]

Taking the original or copies of the receipts is good enough for customs.

Even the Hoyt website has advice on this topic.

1. Check airline will carry bow
2. Get a really strong but compact case - that locks
3. Pray when giving it the baggage handlers

[grimsby archer]

If you have 2 bows, put one of them in someone else's luggage. (Caviat on checkin question "did you pack your own bags and are you carrying anything for anyone else?")

That way even if one of your bows goes astray, you still have the other

So if you have a double bowcase and one of your team mates has a double bowcase, swap a bow with them, but dont stuff the long rod with drugs

<edit>oh and egypt will be very hot in jun-july. probably high 30s low 40s</edit>

[not dead yet]

Originally Posted by Munsterman

Greetings fellow Corkonian. Pack your kit as best you can. I think that the kit has to be in a lockable case if it is accepted on an airline. Avoid the idiots at a certain Irish airline with a liking for a blue livery on their planes ( they do not fly to Egypt anyway)

dont lock your case, strap it up with a belt. they will smash the locks if they decide to look inside.


hard case, needed really. dont try and take any equipment on as hand luggage.

pete

kieth hanlon will give you the lowdown

[clickerati]

Make sure you get the airport security approved locks and straps and they won't smash them. They can get into them without destroying anything.

[Cimbian]

Originally Posted by clickerati

Make sure you get the airport security approved locks and straps and they won't smash them. They can get into them without destroying anything.

Good advice.

These locks can generally be bought at most airports amongst the sleep goggles and tacky inflatable pillows etc. and are designed so that the officials can use a master-key to open them... Worked for me for the last few years.