Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board They confiscated my backpacking stove!

Hi

not directly Whitney related: but I used that stove on Whitney last year. I flew back from Maui yesterday. We had done some camping there, and I took my backpacking stove (It's the Brunton multi-fuel one, a gift form my girlfriend). Of course I emptied the fuel bottle and let it vent overnight. On the way there no problem. On the way back, there was no X-ray machine and there was a manual scan. They asked whether there was any camping stoves in our backpacks, and if we could take them out. So we gave them the stove and the bottle (empty, disconnected and vented overnight of course). They then told us we couldn't take them on the plane. I asked how it was possible that we got them to Maui in the first place, but no satisfying answer to that. Then I explained I vented the fuel bottle and I suggested they fill it up with water. No chance. Then I suggested that they keep the fuel bottle and pump (bad enough) and let me keep the stove. That was impossible too, because the stove was used. The guard told me that "a few molecules of gas with a spark can cause an explosion on the plane". Since I have a Ph.D. in chemistry, I started to doubt the qualifications of this man to judge the safety of a disconnected stove, also because there was a sign that you could declare unloaded firearms (what about gunpowder traces) and it's fine to bring a liter of perfume that can really set off an explosion (an that's in a glass bottle). If a few molecules of gas are dangerous according to this airline, would they let a mechanic board the plane? He has been impregnated with fuel his entire life and must contain thousands of 'gas molecules'. Lighters are no problem either, which contain fuel and spark at the same time (probalbly sponsered by the tobacco lobby). I then asked for a supervisor, which was a nasty woman that took a no-argue stance right away, so I asked for her supervisor. There was no way they would let me take it now, because they told me it was dangerous and the line behind us heard that so didn't want us to bring it either. The supervisor's supervisor suggested shipping it with fedex, but he said it was the same problem, because fedex had to put it on a plane then. In the end I made him promise to donate it to the local boy scouts, which I hope he did. I understand that there is no time to argue with every passenger, and that there are morons that try to bring gas cannisters on board, but confiscate a disconnected backpacking stove? It's part of the fake feeling of security the government of this country wants to impose. Never fly North American Airlines again. Hope this story is useful for anybody traveling to Whitney by plane and wants to bring a backpacking stove. For me it was nice to write off some anger

Were you trying to carry it on the plane, or was this a manual inspection of checked baggage?

I don't know how many times I've forgotten that I had gas canisters (full and empty) in my luggage. There hasn't been a single time that I've been called on it.

Maybe this is part of a crack-down due to the bad publicity that the TSA has been receiving lately. Rand (or one of the other think tanks) recently published a report stating the LAX needs to increase the TSA staff to make things safer, but the management of the airport cries "we don't have the money."

Tobias,

What an unfortunate event! There are so many more ways a person can wreak havoc. I don't fly as much as I did two years ago, but the replacement of dull metal eating knives with plastic didn't make much sense since the prongs on a metal fork can be used just as effectivley as a knife not to mention pens and pencils. I heard in the past couple of weeks they are going to start excluding lighters (mentioned in your post) from bneing carried on board.

It's going to get to the point where they will elimiante carry on baggage altogether. Not a bad idea but those luggage lines are the pits.

I'll keep your story in mind if I ever need to fly for a hike.

It wasn't even carry-on luggage: it was for check in...

And indeed, many things are more dangerous to transport in the cabin. I recently took my bass guitar with me in the plane: Ideal for hitting people with or strangle them with the strings....For some reason these security measures make you come up with these kind of thoughts.

Best d-a-m story so far. Ever time I fly back from Michigan to OC, a swarm of personal over assist the departure process. If I am sweating, it is because Iam afraid of buba's cavity search. I think the key word here is impregnate. If fewer of these fokes were breading, maybe better thought processing might occur. All the same, sorry to here of your situation, but on the up side a new stove might be cool.

I will be heading to Whitney this summer. I have a permit, but still do not know the dates. Should I UPS or FedEX my gear out to Vegas first, I will be traveling from Michigan? I am going to see friends in Vegas before the trip. I use a MSR pocket rocket stove. I figured I would need to buy fuel out there, but I will be bummed if I am unable to bring my stove.

Here's what it says on the Transportation Security Administration web site:

<a href="http://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp/editorial/editorial_1187.xml">Transporting Camping Equipment</a>

"Camp Stoves - Can travel as carry-on or checked luggage only if empty of all fuel and cleaned such that vapors and residue are absent. Simply emptying the fuel container is insufficient as flammable vapors remain. TSA recommends you ship these ahead of time as they are frequently confiscated due to fuel vapors.

You can also check out the PDF "bible" on what's allowed / not allowed at link:

<a href="http://www.tsa.gov/public/interweb/assetlibrary/Permitted_Prohibited_8_23_2004.pdf">http://www.tsa.gov/public/interweb/assetlibrary/Permitted_Prohibited_8_23_2004.pdf</a>

And, if you'd like to read about an alternate approach to airline security (and other public venues) that could actually work, instead of the "fake" and intrusive security that's being foisted off on us, check out this link:

<a href="http://www.skirsch.com/politics/plane/ultimate.htm">Identifying terrorists before they strike by using computerized knowledge assessment (CKA)</a>

Excerpt: "... In less than 90 days from a government request, we can prove the concept is effective at identifying any al Qaeda terrorist with over 90% certainty for less than $50K (99.999% confidence would take more than 90 days). A system using the approach described here could be put in place at all airports in the US in less than 4 years at a total one-time capital equipment cost of under $1B. Annual operating costs to run an airport are not significantly impacted. The cost to run this system for 100 years is probably less than the cost of this one single incident."

Of course, the fact that this system COULD work is precisely the reason that our politicians are not interested in it. (end soapbox)

p.s. Since I can't apparently edit my post above, I'd better say this:

It's not my intent to start a debate or flame war about politics or politicians of either party. Frankly I have little respect or regard for any of them, of either party.

Basically, this is an extremely interesting TECHNICAL solution to a pressing problem, and it should (at least) be seriously considered by those who are entrusted with protecting our transportation systems.

And, since we were on the subject, just thought I'd share the link.

So how does one "ship" a stove to a distant destination? What of climbing trips outside of the U.S. say in South America or Nepal? Anyone have experience with this that they could share with the rest of us.

Not that I've ever flown with a fuel bottle, but someone told me you should fill with water and tell airport security is a water bottle. I can't believe those lemmings would ever call you on that.