Climbing gear in hold luggage

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I've just got back home to find my suitcase has got a hole gouged in by Air Canada. Too early to tell what they will reimburse - it was an old, soft shell suitcase, but still! - but left me extremely grateful my rope and rack weren't in there. I don't yet know what of my belongings may have been damaged (I am praying my harness wasn't in line with the hole, but a bit nervous).

My question is - how do you travel safely with rope and rack etc in hold luggage? Obviously you could take a hard shell case but in the majority of times I'd actually have been using a large pack instead. What I'm most worried about is not knowing what damage may have been done to ropes or gear whilst travelling - both so you don't know if you can trust it after, and because it may be hard to get compensation. 

I've never had this happen before. Thankfully I have BMC insurance so I might ask them too.

Thoughts welcome. The flight was also late and messed up my meal, so I'm now rather less impressed with Air Canada than before - though ofc it could be Heathrow...

 nikoid 13 Aug 2022
In reply to Queen of the Traverse:

I think any damage that would threaten the safety of climbing equipment would be immediately obvious. It is difficult to see how the rough and tumble of baggage handling could cause hidden damage. By hidden damage I mean something that a visual inspection wouldn't pick up that later failed catastrophically. So I wouldn't worry. 

 midgen 13 Aug 2022
In reply to Queen of the Traverse:

I think you acknowledge that hold luggage is going to get beat up a bit, and use an appropriate bag and pack it with that in mind. Even if there's no visible damage, your bags probably been hurled around a lot. 

If your rope has been stuffed in a suitcase, pay extra attention when you flake it out to make sure it's not damaged. Ditto all your other gear, I mean, I give mine a once over as I'm racking it, and when I store it at the end of the day as a matter of course, so I'm not really worried about 'unknown' damage.

 wbo2 13 Aug 2022
In reply to Queen of the Traverse: I've picked up bags before and they've had the lock forced by US security at some point so I always assume the bag will be open some point.  When you buy a rope it might come in a plastic bag.  These can be handy.  Otherwise, visual inspection.  They're not going to open it and throw acid or whatever on it.

In reply to Queen of the Traverse:

Thanks all. It was more that my case was gouged open (not just scuffed) that it made me worry whatever did that could have gone through and pierced the contents too. Very grateful I didn't take my rope and rack on this trip! 

Post edited at 00:28
 Robert Durran 14 Aug 2022
In reply to wbo2:

> I've picked up bags before and they've had the lock forced by US security at some point so I always assume the bag will be open some point. 

Best not to lock bags.

For what it's worth, in case anyone else has had this issue - I've now found that Air Canada actually slashed a hole through the Osprey pack INSIDE my suitcase as well. I got it for £115, it now retails at £265, and they've changed the sizing so I don't even know if the replacement will fit (I'm between their new sizes).

If I've had climbing kit next to that part of the case it definitely would have cut through. 

BMC insurance have been honest so far at least in pointing out that the excess may or may not make a claim worth it - will see what they will cover now, or whether Osprey's (seemingly good) repairs service might save the day. 

These flights were £1400. When did airlines get to take so much money off us and then act with such careless abandon?! 

Nothing from Air Canada yet apart from an auto acknowledgement...

This is mostly a rant. But - beware airlines marauding round your kit with a knife...

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scotthldr 16 Aug 2022
In reply to Queen of the Traverse:

I hardly think anyone from Air Canada purposely attacked your case with a knife??

How do you know it was Air Canada that’s at fault and not the ground handling company at either end? You should also have gone through the damaged bag throughly and logged and reported everything that was damaged before you left the airport to further support any claim.

Post edited at 22:36
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 olddirtydoggy 16 Aug 2022
In reply to Queen of the Traverse:

I would have thought it was more like the baggage handling system rather than the direct fault of Air Canada. I had a mate at Dublin airport and the stories he told me of the way bags were treated didn't inspire confidence.

Yes definitely may have been ground staff, but they're not the ones I paid £1400 to for my flight. (I can only imagine what the staff have seen... family next to me appeared to have lost 12 (?!) suitcases..)

And after the flight was delayed and I was up for the better part of 34 hours, no, I didn't notice the damage on the inside that wasn't obvious until I'd unpacked properly. Turns out the staff member logged it inaccurately despite me pointing out the damage anyway. 

Not much else to add now - just a warning. 

Post edited at 07:56
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 Godwin 17 Aug 2022
In reply to olddirtydoggy:

I send parcels with Carriers on a regular basis, and pack goods in the expectation that they will be thrown around, and if over 20ish kilos, dragged then thrown, and from what I can see of the process of baggage handling is exactly the same as the carrier companies use.

To the OP, I find it interesting that you direct your ire at the Airline, yet the insurers who you paid to cover you when things go wrong, and have now discovered are not going to pay out, you think are marvellous.

Possibly the message of this thread is, pack your stuff as if the bag will be lobbed around, and read your insurance policy and understand it, when buying, not when trying to claim.

Post edited at 08:26
 midgen 17 Aug 2022
In reply to Queen of the Traverse:

Hold luggage gets rolled around conveyors, slung on trolleys, into the hold, ad nauseum. It probably just got caught on something on part of that journey while it was in the care of the airport ground crew.

I don't know why you seem to think expensive long-haul flights entitles you to some kind of premium baggage service, it all goes through the same hands and gets treated the same way by the ground crew...in this case Heathrow, who have very well known serious staffing shortages at present. 

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 deepsoup 17 Aug 2022
In reply to Queen of the Traverse:

Sorry about the snark and the mansplaining there, scotthldr obviously reckons he's better than the rest of us but I don't think it takes much imagination at all to see why you wouldn't have unpacked and minutely examined everything that was in your suitcase right there at the airport having finally arrived.

(And you even said your post was mostly a rant - it's glaringly obvious you weren't literally saying Air Canada deliberately stabbed your case with a knife, though the end result was just the same as if they had.)

Best of luck with insurance, repairs etc.  I hope Osprey's service lives up to their reputation. 
(But if they don't, it might be worth giving Anna at shout at 'Mulch and the Broken Thing' here in Sheffield: https://www.mulchandthebrokenthing.com  That wouldn't be free, obvs, but not expensive either.)

YMMV, but personally if I could get a solid repair done on a bag that fits me I'd prefer that to a new one anyway, let alone one that might not fit as well as the old one.  It all adds character, as well as a (hopefully negligible) bit of weight.

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 deepsoup 17 Aug 2022
In reply to midgen:

> I don't know why you seem to think expensive long-haul flights entitles you to some kind of premium baggage service

Not having a hole gouged in your case is a "premium baggage service" now?  Crikey.

 midgen 17 Aug 2022
In reply to deepsoup:

I was referring to the "I've paid £1400 for these flights and look what's happened"....as if bags get treated differently because they're long haul. They're all handled by the same people.

scotthldr 17 Aug 2022
In reply to deepsoup:

I don’t think am better than anyone, but surely if your bag came off the reclaim carousel damaged   you would seek out the appropriate airport staff then go through the bag together logging everything that was damaged. What I find really strange is that the OP saw fit to post a rant on here before inspecting said contents for damage and it took over two days to discover that there was. Maybe I’m weird or in your words “ think I’m better than everyone else”, but when my hold baggage comes off the carousel I always inspect it for rips, tears, burst zips etc…. before proceeding(it takes less than a minute), funnily enough I’ve noticed most other passengers do the same, maybe they all think they’re better than everyone else as well.

 deepsoup 17 Aug 2022
In reply to scotthldr:

>  but surely if your bag came off the reclaim carousel damaged you would seek out the appropriate airport staff then go through the bag together logging everything that was damaged.

Jetlagged, sleep-deprived and generally knackered after a transatlantic flight with various delays - nah, in my case it's very unlikely.  You're clearly much more rufty-tufty than I am.  Unless the 'appropriate airport staff' has the time and is willing to put that kind of effort in there's no way I'd have the tenacity to force them to.

> What I find really strange is that the OP saw fit to post a rant on here before inspecting said contents for damage and it took over two days to discover that there was.

Just generally shootin' the shit is one of the things a forum is for.  People 'see fit' to post a rant about things that are bothering them all the time, sometimes they get a bit of pushback if people think they're being unreasonable.  Personally I don't think it's particularly unreasonable to be a little bit pissed off that you get your suitcase back after a transatlantic flight to find it's been stabbed.

> Maybe I’m weird..

Not weird, just a little bit more hostile than there's any call for.

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 deepsoup 17 Aug 2022
In reply to midgen:

> I was referring to the "I've paid £1400 for these flights and look what's happened"

Meh.  That kinda looks like a direct quote but you've changed the emphasis a bit there.

You know how if you buy something with a manufacturing fault it's the retailer you're supposed to deal with, because they're the ones you've paid money to and that's who you have a relationship with even though they're not the ones who actually manufactured the thing..  it's like that innit?

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scotthldr 17 Aug 2022
In reply to deepsoup:

Hostile??? You’re having a laugh, right🤣

Well this thread got weird. And in some places frustratingly mansplainy. I really do not understand the hostility and aggression though, and it really doesn't cover UKC in glory.

Yes, I looked at my luggage and the contents seemed to be OK from a quick, exhausted look (when my lift had already been waiting an extra hour) at the airport. Yes, I went to the baggage desk at the airport (who logged it incorrectly anyway). On closer inspection the contents weren't OK. I have been extremely sleep deprived and jetlagged since then, and only reached home late on Sunday night, since when I was working... but I don't know why I have to justify that-?! Of course I didn't literally think that airlines go round with knives. 

Yes, this was a rant borne out of frustration and exhaustion last night, but the original question of 'hey all, how do you protect your rack and rope when flying? Because this has just happened, and I've never actually known of luggage being cut through, as opposed to bashed about, in transit' was a genuine one. 

I don't think there's really anything helpful further to add to this now. If the admins can tell me how to close this thread, please do. 

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