Flying With Backpacking Gear: TSA, FAA PackSafe, and Airline Rules for Carry-On and Checked Bags

A few years ago, I called TSA and asked if Esbit was allowed in carry on luggage. TSA: What is Esbit? Me: it’s a solid stove fuel. TSA: it’s not allowed. I called a second time, different agent. TSA: What is Esbit? Me: it’s like a big sugar cube that you light like a candle to warm or heat things. TSA: that’s allowed. Seems like fuel is the toxic term. The FAA regs you cite make it clear, I guess, that solid fuels are not OK. But what about candles? I believe they are OK.
Rob Kelly aka QiWiz

That’s the problem with all this. The descriptions in the various channels are way to limited.

And then there is what the actual person checking decides to do.

Tjaard is exactly right: “That’s the problem with all this. The descriptions in the various channels are way to limited. And then there is what the actual person checking decides to do.”

When I flew to Spain to hike the Camino Primitivo with my daughter, I had no trouble taking my collapsed hiking poles in my carry-on backpack.  None at all.

Flying out of Santiago de Compostela, they were confiscated immediate at checkin by an agent who clearly had endless experience with hiking poles.

By the way, if you are hiking the Camino, there is a vast supply of used hiking poles in Santiago–no need to bring your own!

The key phrase is, “The final decision rests with the TSA officer on whether an item is allowed through the checkpoint.”

In the past TSA lists, solid fuel was addressed, I thought. Some have taken it carry on, but if they know more about what it is composed of or how it burns, probably not. As usual, TSA listing is lacking.

I wish they would allow for at least plastic tent stakes up to a certain length, like the tools category. Swiss army knives (58 mm) are probably harmless. The determined criminal could make a weapon out of alot of the allowed carry on items.

It is definitely complicated and somewhat inscrutable for our hobby – but I also sympathize with TSA rule makers. It is a big world of stuff out there, with new stuff invented every day. It must be pretty challenging to keep up with it and make the right calls. I remember years ago (way pre 9/11) going through security in Athens with a folding knife with maybe a 3 1/2 inch blade in my briefcase. The screener looked at it and waved me through. At the time, nobody imagined you could hijack airplanes and turn them into flying missiles with box cutters.

FWIW: There was an active thread started several days ago on this topic:   https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/flying-with-gear/

In my mind, the most important thing to keep in mind is that discretion of the TSA agent makes everything unpredictable. I have an acquaintance who has twice lost a “multi-tool” twice which was designed to be TSA approved https://www.swissknifeshop.com/products/swiss-army-jetsetter. Printing out the rules to make you case will typically just piss off the agents earning your additional scrutiny and delay.  After loosing his Jetsetter tool several times he gave up.

I love doing carry-on only (my rational at the beginning of https://verber.com/packing), but unless you are doing cold soak, whether you do carry-on or check through, you will have to ground ship, have a friend provide, or acquire at least your fuel. I think their are three basic approaches:

1) Do carry-on, leaving all questionable items behind by living without or finding “safe alternatives”.  This is the approach I use. Some notes I made about mixing front and back country travel https://verber.com/trek-packs/#mixed My personal favorite hack is carrying bamboo chopsticks rather than metal stakes.

2) If your pack is carry-on dimensions, take it carry-on so there is no chance for your items to be misplaced or damaged. Check through items that might be questionable.  For me, an extra large tube designed for shipping posters.

3) Check your bag which has been wrapped for protection – heavy plastic, duffel bag, etc.  Carry on anything which you can’t afford to replace which is carry-on legal.

Individual agent discretion is probably an unavoidable necessity. However, it is unfortunate that attempting to make your case “will typically just piss off the agents”. This shouldn’t be the case and speaks to poor training.

Thanks, Ryan, this is very helpful.

I’m not sure that agents look at the tips of your trekking poles. I’ve done 3 round trips SFO-Bishop on United. On all 3 trips my experience was the same as Paul’s in Spain: At SFO they let me carry on my pointy-tipped BD poles, and in Bishop (where every 2nd passenger has poles and a backpack) they made me put them in my checked bag. No one ever looked at the  tips.

Also, could you add small BIC lighters to your list?

Thanks again.

Always try your luck. Go 15 minutes earlier. Try taking everything as carry on. If they object – then check it in. That’s what I do. Sometimes I will take a cardboard tube that can hold my hiking poles (most USPS locations sell these thin rectangular boxes – almost like made for hiking poles) and if they allow me, I will throw the box away. If not, I will go back and check it in using the box.

Europe is much stricter than US.

If it can be interpreted as a no, I assume it’s a no.  Then have a backup plan for everything. Vacation time is too precious to risk.  Lots can and will go wrong. This usually means leaving one day buffer near the trail beforehand with somewhere to shop.

Last year the Calgary auto rental gave me a car with a blown wheel bearing.  The day buffer let me switch in Banff and get to my first stage,  Then the hostel in Golden lost my mailed resupply box but I had another extra day and re-equipped and didn’t have to miss the next stage.

But I spent a lot of years program managing big projects so have been conditioned to plan for contingencies

Mark Verber, that sux the jetsetter swiss army wasn’t allowed. It makes the case for separate items (scissors, screwdriver/phillips as needed, nail file/clippers). For some items remember to check with airline to see if they allow same items as TSA (ex. hiking poles). For trekking pole sharp tip issue, think about carbon fiber staff with blunt end (Zpacks) or take one of your poles, remove tip and cover with one of the plastic covers if they fit. A single pole shelter could be used in that case if taking just one pole. People have mentioned the tent stake issue of using knitting needles. There’s a market for some that can double as tent stakes?…lol.

Thanks for this — I’ve been separating out stuff for both backpacking and trail running and this is a great resource.

Two things that aren’t on the list:  disposable lighters (Bic) which I believe TSA allows up to two in your carry-on but not checked luggage, and my “blister kit” which contains a scalpel (which I always put in my checked luggage).

Lighters – thank you and good catch for that omission. The table and source list have now been updated to include lighters.

Yes, Bic and Mini-Bic lighters are allowed in carry-on, maximum of 2, but I strongly suspect 2 in each of two pieces of baggage would sail right through.  Not allowed in checked bags, but I’ve never had one noticed there.

“Turbo” or “pipe” lighters with a pre-mixed flame that is much hotter aren’t allowed in carry-on.  There once was a special approved box to check them, but the box (kind of like a mini-Pelican box) was about $50.  Sometimes it’s just easier to plan a Home Depot or Walmart stop at your destination.

Or ask here on BPL.  Numerous times, I’ve left butane, bear spray, or something sharp at someone’s first night’s lodging in Anchorage or at the base of the Milepost 100 sign along their route to the trailhead.  And others have offered me such services out of California, Vegas and Phoenix.

The current info I read on disposable lighters from TSA (2024 update), FAA (2024 update) and CFR exemptions (2026 update) is just one disposable lighter allowed on carry-on (FAA, CFR). Any lighter in the carry-on must be removed from the bag and kept with the passenger in the aircraft cabin (FAA). Checked bag allowance of two fueled lighters in DOT approved case or lighters without fuel is only seen on the TSA site. Correct me if wrong.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/lighters-disposable-and-zippo

https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/lighters

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-175/subpart-A/section-175.10

I stand corrected.  ONE lighter in your carry-on.  Looks like that’s been for a few years now.  They don’t check closely for that, because I’ve certainly had two with me a number of times recently.

Circa 2010-2019, I’d often fly with a Victorinox Classic knowing they’d seize it if they noticed it, but also that they only noticed it 1/5 of the time.  Since I’d buy them in lots of 5 or 10 TSA-seized ones off of eBay, it cost an average of $1 a trip to bring one with me.

I’ll also stash stuff around North America that I can’t or don’t want to fly with.  That can be a high-carb drink in an aluminum can and other no-smell items jammed into a culvert under a trail bridge in the middle of some death march I’ll be doing the next week to avoid carrying it the first 20 miles that day.

Or the aforementioned “Milepost 100” sign or other highway sign, just under the sod at one base of the sign.  Or, say, the middle of those 3 pine trees 100 feet from the entrance to the Castro Valley BART station I board to get to SGO/OAK/SJC for my flight home?  Dig a little hole, and bury your Little Vickie, Bic, and 4-ounce butane there in a ziplock bag.  Take photos and measurements and gmail those to yourself with lots of keywords in the email title for easy searching in a few years.

Since you can only get there on a 737, the amount of butane, alcohol, stoves, ammunition, FD food, and sharp pointy things I keep on Adak island is impressive.  Some in dormitory room number XXX (talk to me if you need to know)

in the old Cold-War-era Recreation Center and some more under the floor boards of a WWII-era ammo dump near one of the trailheads.

are you saying that you buy 5 knives from TSA that they seized, for $25?

Jerry: I’m saying almost that.  You can buy 5 knives that TSA seized from resellers on eBay for $25.  Who, I assume, buy 100 pounds or three pallets of seized knives or just seized stuff in general from a government auction and then sort it into sellable quantities.

Those are the ones I give away at GGGs:

Sometimes they’re a little more than $5 each.  Sometimes less on larger lots (I’ve never bought more than 20 at a time – they get used as stocking stuffers and prizes for getting the right answer in middle-school math competitions (you can give students lethal things in Alaska) or if you’re the only one bidding at that time of night.  Sometimes they have a company name (e.g. everyone at Freedom Realty got one at the Xmas party) or someone’s name.  Sometimes the main blade has been sharpened a lot over the years (rare) or it is kind of sticky in the pivot.  But 80% are very good or better, all blades can be resharpened, and a not great one might end up being buried outside a BART station.

In the 40-knife lot above, they’re currently $3.58 each, but there’s 28 hours left to go in the auction.  If you want a sure thing, select “Buy it now” to skip the auction rigamarole.

The 5-knife example shown above would be fabulous for someone named John Hannah who met his GF Maggie in 2016.  I’ve never knowingly bought one I had seized (only a handful of them) and statistically that is exceedingly unlikely, but if an Internet sleuth tracked down Mr. Hannah, he could have the almost unique experience of recovering his seized item.

With the names on them, those 5 at $6.68 each are overpriced and probably won’t sell in this round.  Some sellers go high and keep re-listing at 10% less each cycle until it sells.

Our local airport would donate seized knives to our local Boy Scouts chapter who would then sell them as a fundraiser.  Bought my squirt 15 yrs ago that way.  Holds a mean edge, it’s what I severed my tendon with last summer!

I’ve now reached out to Dr. John D. Hannah through someone with a website who clearly knows him, so no one else need to.  Unless you want to go further down that rabbit hole than I did and find direct contact info for him.

Can you tell I’m retired?  And that it’s not a great day in Alaska to walk the dogs on the beach?

DavidD: Speaking of Boy Scouts and TSA, some airport 20 years ago let their local Scouts set up a stand outside TSA with self-service, stamped envelopes so you could mail your sharps, etc, to yourself (or your destination) rather than surrender it.  With the pax making a donation to Troop 123 of something more than the postage and envelope. -DavidT

(An actual helpful, actionable tip coming up): If there’s something you fear they might refuse, bring your own mailing envelope/box and arrive a little bit early.  And/or have the first person go through with all dodgy things while person #2 is still outside security with a checked bag yet to be checked.  Maybe you hoped to avoid the $30 fee or possible damage* or having to wait at Bag Claim, but if you haven’t checked your last bag, you’ll have that option.

* avoid damage to your UL pack by buying an old duffle bag at Goodwill for $5 and putting the pack in that duffle bag.  And then stash the duffle in a culvert, behind a guardrail, etc near the airport or near the trailhead for your return trip.

that’s pretty funny

I know Maggie 2016

kind of a weird last name

(just kidding)

DavidT sounds like your local scouts had a great leader.

Canada post has this nice inexpensive service where they have 3 sizes of fixed price (each) shipping boxes to choose from with pretty generous weight limits and will hold them for 10 days at the destination post office.  I don’t know if usps has the same but I found it handy.

Ikea sells a $5 duffel that just fits within checked baggage size guidelines, is durable and has that iconic Ikea blue colour that stands out on the carousel. It fits my full backpack, poles, footwear and 5 days of food.

Cities big enough for an airport might have baggage storage services or rentable lockers to keep the duffel in for the return trip, if not renting a car.  I know Calgary, our gateway to the Rockies, does.