Five Tips for Flying with Mountaineering, Backpacking, and Camping Gear
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I don’t particularly care for flying. Well, maybe I should say: I don’t care for commercial airline flying of the usual kind. I loved my flight onto the glacier of Denali prior to that climb. I loved going up in a little Cessna in rural Virginia. I don’t like airports and security lines and baggage policies that are always changing.
Add in fatherhood: kids and their stuff and their disregard for rules and managing their boredom. I have my twin boys, so you could say that I’ve doubled-down on my aversion to flying.
Now, imagine you are traveling with kids for an outdoor adventure. There are going to be enough unforeseen complexities from having the kids with me. I don’t need to add any others by mismanaging the adventure gear.
And that, in a nutshell, is really what this video is all about. The lessons I’ve learned about getting expedition gear to and from my personal climbs are still lessons I apply for each and every trip I take with my kids that may involve some adventure. I still think about: what of this stuff cannot easily be replaced? I still have to manage multiple bags and make sure each bag meets each and every bag policy from each and every airline I might be using. The point is that this stuff is more more controllable than my kids’ mood (or the like) on any particular day. If I can deal with this gear-related stuff ahead of time, and not have to worry about it on the travel days, I can keep my attention on my kids. This is better for them and better for me, too. It’s what I want the trip to be about, anyway: time with my family.
Think of it like playing to strengths instead of weaknesses. I’m not the strongest technical climber, serviceable but not gifted. So, part of what I do to make up for that is get really good at transitions. If I can rope manage and get in and out of systems at a quick clip, I can make up the time and allow myself a more purposeful (and potentially time consuming) experience of moving upwards on a wall. That’s where I want to have my attention and really breath in the experience, anyway, just like I want to have my attention on my kids when I travel with them.
I might struggle with the vagaries of kids and travel (I might not, but it is certainly possible on any given day). But I can excel at something that is easier to control: getting my packing and gear management right for travel.
An as I often do, here are some links to some of the specific gear that shows up in the video:
You can find the SwissGear combination luggage locks, here;
Osprey Packs Transporter 95 Liter Duffel Bag (fits cargo luggage size limits) can be purchased by following the link;
Osprey Packs Mutant 38 Liter Pack (I used as my carry-on, with top lid removed) can also be found for purchase.