Ship or check tools?

[Roger Bell]

I am going to be travelling by commercial airline to a turning class. Naturally, I am concerned about the welfare of my tools in transit. Am I better off shipping them UPS and trusting them not to lose or damage them......or am I better off placing them in checked baggage and trusting the airline handlers and the security checkers not to lose or damage them? I am leaning towards shipping. I am expecially apprehensive that the airline security checkers freak out when they see them on x-ray and will unpack them and fail to repack them properly.

I can't be the first person that has had to make this decision. What do you guys recommend?

[Jim Becker]

If time allows...shipping isn't a horrible idea...and you can get a tracking number. I personally don't like checking anything when I fly...and travel light as a result.

[Mark Singer]

I would make pockets in your shoes and hide them inside....another great idea is to tape them to your body as in Midnight Express....we will come visit you:rolleyes:

[Don Baer]

I would make pockets in your shoes and hide them inside....another great idea is to tape them to your body as in Midnight Express....we will come visit you:rolleyes:

Great Idea Mark....lol

I would ship em but I'd use FedEx I personaly think there more reliable.

[Frank Chaffee]

I personally don't like checking anything when I fly...and travel light as a result.
This has become my MO as well. It is not always convenient to ship tools home from an engagement elsewhere however, and I too wonder what procedures are used in domestic (US) airports, post 9-11. I know that checked baggage can be presented for a face to face inspection with the inspector, but then are the checked bags also x-rayed? Are they x-rayed at each plane change?
I know that UPS et al lose fewer parcels than the airline checked baggage system.
Shortly after scud missiles stopped landing (?), in Israel I had to fly there carrying tools for a job. Fortunately for me, the persons who controlled the boarding of the plane were highly trained professionals, and after an interview that lasted less than a couple hours (just joking, btw), I was on my way. I do not have the same confidence in the training of subcontracted employees I have encountered in domestic airports lately though.
Frank

[Jim Becker]

Checked luggage is supposed to be X-Rayed, Frank...

What you could do as a compromise relative to travel for a turning event is to ship out and carry as checked baggage on the way home. That way, you more or less insure your tools will be there for your event. If they get delayed on the way home, you will probably be ok in most cases. (Assuming you don't have an immediate engagement or don't have additional tools to work with.

[Roger Bell]

Thanks guys....I shipped them out this afternoon (except for maybe a bowl gouge or two that I thought I might strap to my leg.....but wait a minute.....the last time I flew I learned that there is a terrorist....or perhaps someone who didn't pay his taxes......of the same name as me......or was it that the Security lady just wanted my phone number?).:)

I like the idea of checking them into regular baggage for the return trip.

[Glenn Hodges]

Smart move Roger, I heard they lost about 30 gazillion bags last year, and the time they lost mine it seemed the people responsible for it could care less if I ever got it back.

[Frank Chaffee]

......or was it that the Security lady just wanted my phone number?).:) .
Roger,
Give me her phone number and I will check this out for you.

Checked luggage is supposed to be X-Rayed, Frank...
Jim,
What I had hoped to learn from someone is whether bags that have been screened at the time of checking in the presence of the passenger, are considered clean until they reach their final destination, or if they are subject to violation through successive stages of their transport, not in the presence of their owners.
Frank

[Jeff Horton]

Hey if they loose them, 95% of the lost luggage ends up at Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro, AL. Just let me know so I go look for them. I could use a bargin on some tools. :)

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Roger,

I think I would ship them both ways. Easier to insure and less likely to get lost. There are those store you can drop ship stuff almost everywhere these days. If you are going to a school of any size you can probably have them shipped from right there.

So where are you going?

[Roger Bell]

I am going to Marc Adams for a course with Alan Lacer. My wife is giving it to me as a gift. Suppose it is a good thing that the security lady didn't call me.....:)

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Roger, I fly almost every week and I've got to tell you I wouldn't chance anything that could be perceived as a weapon in my luggage for any reason. My advice...Ship it!

[David Fried]

Just remember,

"FedEx Ground liability with regard to any package is limited to the sum of $100 unless a higher value is declared at time of tender and a greater charge paid as provided in the FedEx Service Guide or FedEx Retail Counter Rates Book."

Others have similar policies.


Dave Fried

[Andy Hoyt]

Yeah but the fee isn't that much.

I just shipped a 65 pound crate via UPS Ground and stated it's value at $700. The upcharge was maybe $4.

[David Fried]

Yeah but the fee isn't that much.

I just shipped a 65 crate via UPS Ground and stated it's value at $700. The upcharge was maybe $4.

You're right! I just know folks who didn't declare the real value or buy insurance and lived to regret it.


Dave Fried

[Martin Shupe]

Great Idea Mark....lol

I would ship em but I'd use FedEx I personaly think there more reliable.

Don, I really like your line of thinking...;)

[Martin Shupe]

I am going to Marc Adams for a course with Alan Lacer. My wife is giving it to me as a gift. Suppose it is a good thing that the security lady didn't call me.....:)

Roger,

I took Alan's "Taming the Skew" weekend class a couple years ago. Your time will be well spent.

Enjoy, and be sure to post some pics when you get back.