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.
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