Traveling by Plane with a helmet
How do people carry their helmets on planes? I'm trying to pack it in my hard-side suitcase, and it fits ok, but I'm a bit worried that somewhere on the three flights I have to take, the suitcase will take a solid blow to the lid, which is soft, and that will crush the helmet, but I would never notice.
Also, I packed a bunch of hard, but fragile stuff inside the helmet. I can't decide if that is a bad idea or not. If the helmet doesn't get crushed, it won't really matter, and if it does get crushed, the stuff inside will be the least of the problems.
I would take it as a carry on, but I have a huge backpack that weights a ton, and I have to take three flights to get to Beijing, so its going to be a bit of hassle.
So, what are other people's experiences? I'm going to be doing this trip 4-5 times this year (so 10 packings), so packing the helmet securely will be important.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Re: Traveling by Plane with a helmet
Wear it :lol8:.
You can find a nice semi-hard shell case in China for about ¥65. My wife and I always use these when transporting our helmets and nobody has ever treated them as an extra carry on.
I don't feel comfortable with keeping mine in the suitcase and it takes up a huge amount of room.
Cheers!
ChinaV
Re: Traveling by Plane with a helmet
I always have my helmets as carry on and it was never any problem with security check or airline carry on luggage restrictions. I normally take off the visor to my other hand carry bag / backpack or suitcase and take the helmet with it's carry bag.
I brought at least a dozen helmets over and my helmet with me on various flights inside China.
I don't think a suitcase is secure enough to transport a helmet.
If you are going to do that trip 4-5 times, leave your helmet back home, buy one over here and store it here as you travel back home. There is plenty of choice in Beijing.
Re: Traveling by Plane with a helmet
Carry-on it is! I'll give that a shot and see how it goes.
I was worried about buying a helmet in China, I didn't think they would be very good quality, or at least, it would be hard to tell a good one from a bad one. Right now we've only got electric scooters, so we didn't try a motorcycle shop, but the places we did look had some pretty crappy helmets.
Re: Traveling by Plane with a helmet
CantDecide,
I was going to suggest that you just buy some helmets in China and not carry them back and forth.
I think all my helmets are made in China. I seem to have a AFX head. The Chinese helmets in the USA and Europe have to pass the same standards as the ones made in those countries.
Re: Traveling by Plane with a helmet
I vote for carry-on also. Before my last trip to China I bought a nice fleece-lined and padded helmet bag at the local shop. I stuffed the helmet and a nice warm jacket into it to use on the flight along with a couple of snack items and it was no problem taking it through security. I don't think I'd ever trust sending it through in checked baggage.
Cheers,
Dan K.
Re: Traveling by Plane with a helmet
Josh, it's too late for your trip this weekend, but there are bags designed for carrying helmets available.
Presumably all made in China....
cheers
Re: Traveling by Plane with a helmet
Quote:
Originally Posted by
euphonius
...bags designed for carrying helmets...
cheers
Local sportswear shops had some "??? ball" bags also quite OK for helmet
Re: Traveling by Plane with a helmet
Re: Traveling by Plane with a helmet
Yep, they look good, especially if big enough to wrap helmet in rain gear/winter gear. My gearbag is big enough for all that stuff plus first aid kit, and it has wheels too but definitely wouldn't fit through the carry on slot! Don't they still have them at airports or do you all travel Business class and up?