How I Fly With Gear - Backpacking & Bikepacking 

Do you have any Tips or Tricks to flying with Backpacking or Bikepacking Gear??? 👇Let Us Know Down Below! 👇

So a tip for flying internationally with you gear it to make sure your gear is clean. Some places are very picky about that. When I flew to New Zealand, having a tent/hiking boots automatically triggers additional customs inspections. The inspector told us tents are normally sent to a special inspection station which may require you to come back the next day to get your items. We had taken our tent into the shower at the location we were prior to flying to New Zealand and thoroughly cleaned it so that it was spotless so he let it pass right away. We also made sure our boots were cleaned so there was no dirt on them either. Having clean gear helped getting through customs easily.

Get a large moving box from Home Depot ($3), fill it with all my gear / food, cut it to size, tape it up, wrap it with plenty of twine, and check it on board. Easy to dispose of / recycle the box at the airport. Buy fuel / bear spray locally. I've done this many times, and it protects your gear, is cheap and easy to dispose of the box.

Flew out to Calgary last month for a hike and climb through the Rockies. Checked my 75L pack with 50lbs of trad climbing gear, and camp gear. Washed out fuel bottles, and made sure "pokey" items were in the checked bag. Also put waist strap inside it, and tied up any loose straps. Had a 15L backpack I carried on which had chargers/cables, power banks, vape stuff, a jacket, and slip on shoes. I find its helpful to leave room in carry on for food/drinks you buy post security check. Got bear spray and white gas after I landed, and donated it to a hostel before flying home. The anxiety waiting around the luggage carousel for all your gear is real XD Happy Trails!🏞

I use an IKEA Frakta bag (the ones that look like they’re made of blue tarp material with yellow zippers). I put my pack and stabby things in it, keeping out my fanny pack with travel essentials for the flight. I check the IKEA bag and pick it up at my destination. It’s super durable, packs down small, costs $6, and only weighs 7ish oz. When I get where I’m going, I just fold it up small and put it at the very bottom of my pack. Then I repeat the process coming home.

Thanks for the great vid Darwin! When flying - We swap out metal tent stakes for plastic tent pegs for carry on. There are some strong light options available online. - Buy a small knife at your destination - Check what type of gas canister is available at your destination before you fly, and either bring an adapter to increase your options (especially in the Alps & Pyrenees), or buy gas and compatible stove, locally - And when times are really tough, you can quite often find gas canisters in the bins at camp sites with enough gas left for a few additional boils. Come and say hi if you see us rummaging through the trash! Have a great time on the TMB!

If all else fails with storing stuff at a hotel or in airports...I've used both NannyBag and Stasher services in several cities! Just any sort of business that has made their space available for storage for a small daily fee. One of the Stasher's was actually in a hotel. The other was in the office of a taxi service. Several apps available: Stasher, Bounce, Nannybag!

One tip for checking your pack on a flight is getting a large blue IKEA bag. Costs a few dollars, has a zipper and is perfect sized.

When I started college back in 2019ish I learned how to backpack from your videos. Since then, hiking and traveling with others has been the greatest source of joy in my life. Thank you for the content you created and continue to produce. I tell new backpackers to watch your videos and budget videos especially to learn what to look for. Huge thanks!

Hiked a section of The Long Trail in Vermont. The dilemma of getting jet boil gas (and/or bear spray etc.) to the trail head can be solved simply by placing your Amazon order and shipping directly to your trail head motel/hostel or Post Office in advance.

Dude!!!! Love this Ranger pack. Went out with it last week. Took it on the plane with no issues. Put everything inside the pack and put it in the overhead. No complaints from TSA at all. Included trekking poles, deuce of spades, umbrella etc. This pack and my Nashville cutaway are my two favourite packs. Was nice to see you at trail days. You look happy. Good luck with ESC. You'll do great. Cheers!

This was super helpful. Thanks Darwin, this was something I was worried about.

Yay! Glad you're putting out some more content again!

Thanks for coming back to give us some stuff!

Thank you for the content. I enjoyed trail days & it was a trip ta see you in person 👍😎👍

Great to see you posting content again!

What a great surprise! Thanks for the video.

Great to see you again!

Welcome back Dawin! Looking forward to the content!

Excellent advice and tips. Love this type of videos. Very informative buddy. 👍🏼

Good to see you back

Finally a GEAR video from Darwin. Just what Gear junkies need 🙌🙌🙌😘

Glad to see you again! Welcome back! =)

This was great! Thanks, Darwin!!!!

Good to see ya Darwin, looking forward to more vids soon.

Good to see another video. I look forward to more content. Thanks for not just pushing out videos for the sake of making videos. Cheers!

Hey Darwin! Great to see you again! Yes, for the Alaskan Arctic in 2011 I did exactly what you are talking about--I bought a really big duffel bag and into that went my backpack, boots, trekking poles, water bottles, tent, etc. and then a daypack to carry on. No issue going up to Alaska but coming home I came in just a pound under the weight limit (a little too heavy souvenir?) and would have had to pay extra.

Great video as always! I usually try to avoid flying so when I travel to/from hikes within europe (where I live) I'll often bring a laptop to get some work done on longer train rides. That usually leads to some of the same problems that you described, which can usually also be solved in the same way, i.e. storing my work stuff in hotels or shipping them back home.

Great insights! The separate bag for travel clothes is a great idea. Personally, I do this with a large packing cube, which can go under the seat during the flight and fits in or on the top of the backpack at the destination. I’m also thinking that there should be enough overlap now in outdoor specific clothing and performance fabric travel wear that it wouldn’t be too hard to find pieces that fit both categories. The Evolved jacket looks like it could work as a nice travel + backpacking piece. Western Rise, Outlier and Bluffworks also come to mind. I’ve hiked in some of their pieces. Fun fact: Glen Van Peski is an investor of Bluffworks.

Just wanted to add that in 2022 for the PCT I flew from Australia to Vancouver and San Diego and also domestically to Alaska and back with full thru hiking kit, complete with brs stove LT5 hiking poles and Ti pegs, ALL as carry on, with NO issues 😁. The only thing that ever drew attention was my TI 550ml pot, but was never an issue once they saw it. So I think things are relaxing a lot more maybe specifically with camping gear? 👍

Good to see Darwin again, although I haven't seen you in a long time. I stay in my own location. I don't even drive. I bike, hike, and paddle. I live in a remote enough location to find isolation nearby without having to deal with crowds. Thanks for your video.

Always enjoy your content 😁👍

Perfect timing on the video!Preparing to fly out and hike the TMB late August.

Thanks for the advice…. Something you never thought about till your ready to FLY …Great Video

Great tips Darwin. I've had plenty taken away at airports before I worked it all out ... Fibromyalgia is slowing me down; hoping to get this worked out too. Have fun. I'm looking forward to more videos

So glad you did this video im going on a hike this falls and i have to take to plane to go to portland oregon.. Thank you !! Love from Québec!

👍Hi from France Darwin and thanks for your videos , always nice to see you and your good tips !!! Good TMB 🙂

With regards to flying with bikes and packing them in a bike box you can do the same flying home. When I land I always call a bike shop near to where I’ll be flying home from and ask them if they would save a box for me on my return date. Of course I offer to pay for it but they never charge. Literally every time I’ve done this, the bike shop has offered me a stand and their tools to make it easier disassemble and pack my bikes (not needed but super nice) as we chat about our common love of biking. People are awesome :)

The REI Big Haul duffel has been awesome for me. It folds up to the size of a football and carried a massive amount of gear… if you’re ok checking a back. I also recently upgraded to their roller back 34 liter and it’s super easy to walk long distances with in cobblestone or any surface.

Thanks for saying my video is great! ;)

What a perfectly timed video! I have my first trip coming up requiring flying to my adventure and have been debating the logistics and what is worth checking vs shipping vs carry on. Normally I drive so I’ve been spoiled in that regard.

As usual.... great videos and content. Thank you! :-)

Good info. My sons and I will see you on the TMB. We are also going early and visiting some friends in Germany. We will be checking at least one bag, but we have other family going with us that won't be hiking. Definitely picked up some good tips in this video. Thanks again and see you soon!

Spoke to you at AT trail days and that was my highlight as you helped me learn to backpack over the years. Coming from the Sierra in Ca., was my 1st time ever attempting to fly with backpacking/camping/motel gear. Bought a big cheap duffle and stuffed carefully everything from pack to little chair, ice mule for ice chest, stakes and more…all keeping within weight limits. Carry on and personal were heavier items allowed and I wore a bunch of layered clothing, though a bit painful leaving from the Sacramento airport at 95 degrees. Managed all fairly well with a lot of thought about how I may improve. If I were to just be backpacking my thought was what would I do with the dang duffle? The cardboard wrap and/or shipping over 1st seems like the answer. As always, thanks for your videos. I was so elated to be able to tell you in person how much your content helped me, that I forgot to even take a photo. Anyway, AT days might be an annual trek for me. Sooo many nice and wonderful people.

Great video! On the bike front, I've found many European airports actually have cardboard bike boxes for sale, and even a few US airports have them. Flying home from Frankfurt Germany a couple of years back, I asked at the counter and they pointed me to the left luggage office, 10 euros later and I was packing my bike into a nice oversized box with the help of the girl at the left luggage office

I'm off to the UK tomorrow, great advice. I fly through Dublin as a stop over so have to manage international and domestic restrictions. All carry on, i pick up pegs, poles and fuel there. Its doable.

I can recommend a friend at the destination! I've both been the friend and had a friend at the destination. Makes a lot of things easier. Also used some of the other suggestions like buy when you get there and mailing stuff to myself. For travel though with no other option I've just checked my backpack with everything I can replace fairly easily at the destination and used a smallish bag with essential stuff like camera, electronics etc as my carry on.

Welcome back to RU-vid! I was hoping to see some footage of your Lejog bike trip -- if any footage was taken.

Recently flew from UK to Geneva to hike TMB. In the end I decided it was easiest to pack all my gear, hiking clothes and a change of clothes for after the hike to travel home in and packed it a duffle bag and checked it. We stayed at the same hotel in Chamonix at the start/finish of our hike and they were happy to keep our duffle bags for us whilst we were out on the trail and it was really nice to get back and have fresh clothes to travel home in the next day.

Have a nice stay in switzerland Darwin! Germany is not far - it is worth a visit as well 😊

excellent.....per usual

Wheeeee a new video 🥲

The only weapons I take on a plane are my fists of steel justice.

Greyhound is a great option for shipping a bicycle. The bike box can be bought at the counter. fairly cheap shipping charges that don't require you to ride the bus.

Add a camping stove to the things you can’t carryon. I was surprised that you didn’t mention it, but then I remembered you cold soak! Mine got caught in security on the way to hike the PCT. I had to run back to check it and then go back through security for my flight.

I hiked in the Uk in April and May. Both me and my buddy used one ikea blue bag for trekking poles, little knife and tent pegs. Dumped the bag in the trash after arriving at the air port

Some campsites will let you leave your gear in their basement while off on a trek if you are going back to their campsite. I did this in Chamonix while doing the Tour Du Mont Blanc.

And then there’s the option of chartering a private aircraft! 😊😊😊 Seriously though, great info. 👍🏻

I just spent 15 months in Europe and surrounding regions with my backpacking kit. The less expensive airlines will charge over 100 euros for a checked bag. I carried a superlight 20 liter nylon daypack that can double as a stuff sack to transfer stuff from my backpack and make it small enough to be a carry on and the smaller daypack the allowed 2nd bag can go under the seat. In scotland, I did simply carry some extra well chosen travel clothes. The first time ever carrying camp sandals for example. Another option is to to hire a luggage transfer service. Some can be really inexpensive, as low as 5 to 10 eurors per day and your backpack is delivered to the next campground or accomodation. This is possible on hikes throughout the UK and Ireland as well as Camino trails in France, Spain and Portugal. Then i just use that little 20 liter backpack to carry lunch and jacket or whatever. Decathlon stores are everywhere in europe and have inexpensive gear like hiking poles as low as 12 euros for a pair. Maybe okay for the short term in terms of quality. There's always a few good sticks! Ive considered sewing nylon tubes in my bagpack to house collapsed trekking poles to appear as integrated backpack stays or a frame. I have shoved my tent stakes into my pack to be perceived as part of the pack and it did work, fortunately bc my ti stakes are pricey! My superlight little backpack came from decathon. Highly recommend the Lycian Way in Turkey in winter and Scotland isle of Skye to beat the heat in summer. To add, gas canisters are also available at decathlon stores.

You're back? I thought you'd retired this channel! Welcome back!

DAWRIN'S BACK, WOOOOOOOOOOO! \o/

Checked bags are free for a lot of international travel. I just use a duffle bag that then doubles as my hostel stash bag. I'll also share this bag with my wife for domestic flights so it counts as just one checked bag. I got a used airport ninja for my bike and it paid for itself in one trip with avoided bike fees.

Note for hikers in Europe: mailing gear that's not allowed as carry-on luggage is very well possible within the EU-countries, where there is a free movement of goods. When sending a package from a EU country to a non-EU country (like Switzerland, U.K., Norway) you will be charged a hefty fee for customs tax when you pick up your package at the post office or the hotel! Last year I sent my trekking poles and stakes to Switzerland from the Netherlands to avoid paying a €50 charge for check-in luggage, but I had to pay about €45 tax once I got my package at my BnB, making it more expensive (including €12 for sending the package). On my way home from Geneva Airport I just put my poles and stakes in my carry-on luggage - without problems but maybe I was lucky.

Air tag when i fly with my bikepacking setup

Good travel advice. Love the bike packing bike box tip. Personal tip. Never put vitamins or smelly stuff in a soft duffle :( Had my luggage get run over in Iceland and it spent the whole trip back marinating in gelcap vitamin juices.

Thanks for the tips, great video! What brand is your green folding knife?

Hey Darwin, thanks for the video. Josh here from TN near the smoky mountains/AT. I would like to add something I have recently learned from a friend who works at the airline service and he said that you can also use the airline you are flying with to ship your gear. They offer freight shipment and they offer better insurance coverage just in case it gets lost and it sounded pretty reasonable. The airline holds your freight until you pick it up at the airport. Check in bags if lost you only have a $200 insurance coverage. He said that him and others have used this option multiple times and no issues yet. Any thoughts on this ? Happy Trails Brotha!!

For anyone wondering about personal items sizes on airplanes, I’m to fit my southwest 3400 under the seat in front of me. Also great to see a new video from you again Darwin!

In the military you could have 30 people all with green bags. A trick I learned was to put some colored duct tape on the end of the bag. It can be easily stripped off latter. As there is nothing more annoying then a flashlight that came on in you bag and is now dead. I take out one battery and turn it the wrong way.

Damn that Filson Duffle is nice

I used a large cardboard box from Walmart for my AT hike. I put everything in there, taped the hell out of it, and it flew on the plane with me without any issues.

I’ve only done it twice so far (both times without issue), but I take my trekking poles appart and fit them inside my bag and carry it on. In the next month I’m going to try putting them in a tent pole bag I have and strap it to the side, wish me luck!

I cannot emphasize enough the value of dispersed friendship.

I just flat rate everyting I can. Have my electronics on my "laptop bag" and all my backpacking stuff like cloth stuff as my carryon.

While loading, freeze frame you mouth o shape, funny😂😂 oh you’re Jim right😂😂😂 While anyhow no pointy sticks haha, did you need a cookie??? Mouth frozen open like that Whell anyhow peace🎉🎉😂😂😂❤❤❤❤

Nice....Safe Travels 😅

My biggest concern with flying with my gear has always been for my camera gear. Every airline has different rules when it comes to how many batteries you can carry on and how big they are allowed to be, but security is where they would go through all that and thats before you even get to the line for your airline in most cases. I was told to tape all of the conduction points on my batteries and and keep everything separate in my carry on bag(which makes sense). I was the most nervous when i flew to Iceland with 3 camera batteries, 3 drone batteries, and 2 large external power banks. Obviously they looked through the bag, but they let me through. Im sure you fly a ton with all sorts of camera gear when you work on projects, do you have any tips for flying with camera gear and batteries? Or should i not be as worried as i am?😅 Thanks so much for the video! Definitely helps me out as i plan to do my next trips! Btw, i am always shocked as to how simple it is to get a bike box! There has only been one time where my brother had to use bubble wrap instead of a box, and it actually worked out!

I've had luck with wrapping my stuff in a compactor bag with duct tape and asking if i need to check the gear at check in. Since I frame it as a TSA issue they haven't charged me for it! If not it's still cheaper to check it than to ship in my experience.

Use Saran wrap to surround your pack. Therefore you don’t need a duffle bag and the Saran wrap is recycled

❤

Shipping stuff to yourself is also great if you end up with a bunch of things on vacation - I usually budget an extra $100 to do this and I find it worthwhile to not have to carry on more than 1 bag. Just remember that if you are shipping things internationally to yourself you may need to also fill out a an invoice of everything in the box and declare what the values are for any applicable taxes

Hey Darwin. I'd caution against buying like, literally anything in Switzerland, as even a sandwich and coffee at the airport will be eye wateringly expensive for what it is. Can't imagine what a trekking pole will end up costing you!

So just to be clear, we cannot bring tent steaks or trekking poles on a plane?

i took a bus. so avoided the airport security. of course, that only applies to stateside travel. bus has its own adventure issues. 😂

do you have videos of your UK bike trip?

If you plan to fly with your bike more than once or twice in a lifetime, the fancy expensive cases are worth it, particularly if you have invested much in your bike. On most quality bicycles, just the wheel sets alone are worth as much or more than even the most expensive case would cost, and the wheels are probably the most likely thing to be destroyed in a flight if not protected really well. Maybe not worth it if you ride an inexpensive bike or only think you may fly with it once or twice in your life. But if you think you may fly even three or four times in your lifetime, it's worth it. That's $100-200 or so per flight, and often the damage that can be done in any substandard packing will cost several hundred to fix, especially if you are not an avid bike mechanic and need professional help.

What is the brand/model of this little green knife?

So after throwing away the bike box in England, did you just repeat this entire process, including sourcing another box on the return trip home?

Curious. Since you threw away your bike box when you arrived in the UK, how did you send your bike back to states? Are bike boxes given away also in the UK?

I don't get the hesitation of checking in stuff, I do it all the time when I need more gear than the carry-on allows. Never had any problem

i’ve never had a problem having tent stakes or trevking poles with me as a carry on

What about if somewhere where you could not find gas can

👍👍👍👍👍

Do items with rechargeable batteries (power banks, headlamps, cell phones, Go Pros, etc.) require any special packaging/storage? Are the airlines concerned about the lithium batteries they may contain?

But how did you get the bike back home?…. From UK to USA?

Whatever you do, don't pause at 0:00

Far,,, I would love to hire your service as technical gear advisor For my tribe,, Lakota souix eagle butte South Dakota

I don’t trust the US postal system, you are lucky your package has been lost. Only ship UPS a little more but you get a tracking number that works and includes up to $100 insurance, you can add more insurance for about $1 ……

I had a pair of brand new Black Diamond Carbon Z trekking poles confiscated from me at the airport security once 😑

This will be funny when shipping will cost more than equipment