Dear Nick, My friend, Marjy Fiddler, and I have traveled nationally and internationally with our hurdy gurdies as checked luggage with great success and no worries. Here's what we did (which was mostly Marjy's idea, so I want to give her credit.) We both purchased large, plastic chest beer coolers with wheels and handles. Then, we took these coolers and our hurdy gurdies (in their soft, gig bags) to the Custom Foam Guy, who created a foam nest inside each cooler, along with a cushion of foam in the (hinged) top. Next, we glued in straps with velcro to keep the instruments in place. When you're ready to travel, stick a bunch of FRAGILE signs on it (though we tossed our around with no ill effects) and close the whole thing up with packing tape. The TSA people will undo the tape, check around, and re-tape the whole thing for you.
Yes, you need to take packing tape with you on your trip. AND, you need to take the crank off and put all your tools in a separate, checked bag. We noticed that these cooler-gurdy-mobiles were really good fun. You can use them to sit on while you're playing and they have handy little cup-sized holes on the lid for your beer as you play. You can wheel them through airports, on subways, and up and down streets. They have handles on the non-walking handle end, so a friend can help you up flights of stairs. When they're being loaded in an English speaking country, you always get jokes about taking your beer along with you. AND they're light. We traveled with our hurdy gurdies on Ryan Air and paid NOTHING in extra weight. Our hurdy gurdies are Boudet lutebacks, so they are not small. When you're going through any kind of x-ray, it's helpful to have a photograph of your gurdy handy (it's nicest when it's of YOU playing your instrument) to show the people who are trying to make sense of the x-ray. This stance seems to bring up interest and avoid conflict. Yes, I think you should take your instrument. This method is relatively cheap (far cheaper and lighter than a Pelican case) and extremely effective. No worries!!!! Write me off line if you have more questions or would like a photo of what I'm describing here. -Chris Wright On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:01 AM, Jeeves <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm toying with the idea of taking my HG with me when I travel from > New York City to the UK for the August Bank Holiday weekend. (I shall > be at the Sealed Knot event at Loseley Park, and thought the dulcid > tones of the HG would add an air of tone and refinement to the Living > History area.) > > Has anyone got any recent experience of taking an HG on international > flights? > > My main concerns are whether it's OK as a carry on (wouldn't even > think of checking it, and don't want to buy an extra ticket) and > whether there are problems with security either here in the US or > coming back from the UK. > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "hurdygurdy" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy > > The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at > http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from > new subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from new subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster.
