Hi. I'd like to take some quickload with me on a trip. I wonder what is the best way to bring them on the airplane. If I put them in my pockets, will they set off the metal detector? What will the guards do in this case, if I ask for a hand check? Thanks.

-- tao (twu@math.nwu.edu), June 06, 2001

Answers

hand check works fine - they usually want to open the box if it is not sealed, but that doesnt hurt anything. i had to hand carry 23 boxes of readyloads the last time i went on an out of state job - no problem. however, i have also run plenty of readyloads through the check in Xray machine and have had no problem with that either. i just dont worry about it.

-- jnorman (jnorman@teleport.com), June 06, 2001.

I'd carry them on and ask for a hand check. If the security people won't do that, just run them through the carry-on x-ray machine... they are fairly lower power and it would take quite a few zaps to damage the film significantly. I've found that even in international airports (Sydney, Australia) they'll hand check your film if you ask nicely.

No matter what you do, _don't_ send the film in your luggage. The machines that x-ray luggage are extremely powerfull and will ruin your film with one zap.

Nathaniel

-- Nathaniel Paust (npaust@nmsu.edu), June 07, 2001.

At airports in the US, security personnel ARE REQUIRED to provide a hand check of photographic equipment and materials upon request by Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 108.

-- steve (s.swinehart@worldnet.att.net), June 07, 2001.

My approach has always been to carry a discard packet so I can open it to show the security people what's inside. That way, if they want to, they can feel individual packets and know what should be there, avoiding any requests to open *them* up.

-- Sal Santamaura (bc_hill@qwestinternet.net), June 07, 2001.

All good suggestions above. However, if for some strange reason you do check your film with luggage, it is not necessarily a death sentence. As an experiement, I kept a roll of 400 speed film in my checked luggage during a month long trip in Asia last fall. The roll was x-rayed at least 10 times. It showed no ill affects when compared to one that I sent through the carry on machine and one that was left home.

-- Paul Mongillo (pmongillo@thurston.com), June 07, 2001.