[Greg Ellis]

For those of you that fly with your gear...

Do you fly your pedal board as checked luggage, in a hard case?

Or use a soft-case that's small enough to meet the carry-on limits?

Or some other solution?

Air Canada lists the limits for carry-on as 17" long x 13" wide x 6" thick.

From what I can see, only the Pedaltrain Nano is going to fit inside that spec.

PT Classic Jr is about an inch too big on L and W.

I'm interested to know how you deal with this.

 

[mhammer]

I posted an e-mail exchange I had with someone at CATSA some years back, concerning transporting pedals on flights, and their recommendations for trouble-free flights. Best not to bring them as carry-on, but send them as baggage. There are no guarantees that whoever runs yur pedalboard under the X-ray knows anything about stompboxes.

Not unless you are talking about an unpopulated pedalboard, that is simply a frame inside a zip-bag....

 

[Greg Ellis]

Not unless you are talking about an unpopulated pedalboard, that is simply a frame inside a zip-bag....

LOL, no. I meant a full populated board. It did occur to me that it might look like something frightening.

 

[DaddyDog]

Contact Mike Vegas at Nice Rack Canada. He knows exactly what the requirements are because he builds custom boards for many travelling artists.

 

[mhammer]

LOL, no. I meant a full populated board. It did occur to me that it might look like something frightening.

When I originally contacted CATSA ( Canadian Air Transport Security Authority ), it was with reference to my buddies on the DIY Stompbox forum, who might be bringing homebrew pedals across a border or on a flight to show a friend, or maybe even an investor. As pre-production models, they would naturally look amateurish and elicit some suspicion. Hell, if a see-through >75ml container of shampoo does, then a closed aluminum box with knobs, switches and an LED is absolutely bound to. If the baggage screener has seen enough such things, then they might probably know that patch cables, "Boss", "Strymon", etc., are known quantities and harmless. But you're banking on them knowing, and that's a crapshoot. I suppose if you were flying out of Nashville it wouldn't be as much of a crapshoot, but that's more the exception.

Another consideration might be the risk of the pedalboard slipping out of the overhead and onto someone's head. No, I think checking it in as baggage is the smarter move. CATSA suggested either that, or else having it shipped separately to your destination.

 

[cboutilier]

Just buy Boss pedals. You could drag behind the plane down the runway, and then use them for wheel chocks when they park.

 

[Budda]

Ya i dont see why you would check a board.

 

[Granny Gremlin]

I posted an e-mail exchange I had with someone at CATSA some years back, concerning transporting pedals on flights, and their recommendations for trouble-free flights. Best not to bring them as carry-on, but send them as baggage. There are no guarantees that whoever runs yur pedalboard under the X-ray knows anything about stompboxes.

Not unless you are talking about an unpopulated pedalboard, that is simply a frame inside a zip-bag....

LOL had that issue with the S Asian geriatric xray operator at the airport when I was travelling with a case full of cymbals. Sir there's enough metal in there for multiple grenades. Do they look like grenades?

Anyway, pedals in a board/case are not anywhere near as fragile as a guitar etc. Just check em and if soft case throw some extra foam and or cardboard in there on the top side to be safe.

A pedalboard that small is not big enough for most of us anyway.

 

[mhammer]

Just buy Boss pedals. You could drag behind the plane down the runway, and then use them for wheel chocks when they park.

 

[Dazza]

Choosing between a guitar or pedalboard I take my guitar as carry-on every time. Way more valuable (personally and monetarily) and fragile. The 2015 US ruling that airlines allow any instrument that fits in the overhead as a carry-on means I've never had an issue. Even when the flight is full and they ask passengers to volunteer gate checking bags.

The best approach is to arrive early and board as early as possible. Waiting to the end of the line when the overheads are already packed won't put you in a good situation.

Air Canada goes one step further in allowing early boarding for those carrying instruments as policy. I fly several times a year as I gig on cruise ships and carry a Custom Shop LP in a Reunion Blues case. It's durable enough that if I had to I would gate check it without much concern. My pedalboard is in a soft Pedaltrain case inside a hard suitcase as checked baggage. My cases get screened and opened pretty well every time so I pack them in a way that provides easy access for the screener.

Daz

 

[troyhead]

It looks like the Temple Audio DUO 17 would qualify as carry-on, and the soft carrying case I'm sure would fit within the limits.