Flying with Bogu

[emitbrownne]

Hi,
I was wondering if there are any suggestions as to the best way to transport bogu on flights.
I've heard too many horror stories of luggage going missing or being damaged, so I am reluctant to go that way...
Does anyone transport thier armour in the hand luggage?
Is the size impractical?
I'm not a frequent flyer so please excuse my ignorance..

Thanks
Paul

[Neil Gendzwill]

Both the bogu and shinai bags have to go into checked baggage. My only advice is to take all the small stuff out of any external pockets and put it into the main compartment of your bag, and lock the bag. Airline employees can't easily steal a whole bag, but if they open an outside pocket they may take a cool souvenir in the form of one of your tsuba or tenugui.

If you're real nervous you could wrap a towel around the outside of your doh to protect it from any scrapes. I've never had any damage, although I have had my stuff temporarily misplaced.

[Hiryu]

Both the bogu and shinai bags have to go into checked baggage. My only advice is to take all the small stuff out of any external pockets and put it into the main compartment of your bag, and lock the bag. Airline employees can't easily steal a whole bag, but if they open an outside pocket they may take a cool souvenir in the form of one of your tsuba or tenugui.

If you're real nervous you could wrap a towel around the outside of your doh to protect it from any scrapes. I've never had any damage, although I have had my stuff temporarily misplaced.


If your flying from the U.S, You have to leave everything unlocked, even in checked baggage. They will cut the lock off and look through it now, they, the (NTSB ?)...Security inspectors Cant remember what agency..we have too many.

My only problem with checking my bogu, is that once my Do got smushed and the take is now not as tight as it used to be. I have thought about placing a board inside between the sides so it can't get compressed, or spread due to things piling on top of it.

Before 9-11 I carried shinai and bokken onto planes all the time, not checked luggage. I once forgt I had an Iaito in the bujin shinai bag, and I carried it on. I was very surprised when I arrived at my destination and opened my bag at practice.... I dont even try to carry shinai on now.

[Sanjuro]

emitbrownne-

I recently had the same concerns when I went to the US for Uni, and this is how I transported my bogu. I had two suitcases and only one of me, so it was impossible to carry both a third bogu bag and a shinai bag. I took my bogu and tied the men flaps snugly with the tenegui and kote inside the men...put it in suitcase 1, which was a hard shell. The doh/tare went into a soft suitcase (suitcase 2), the kind with two wheels and a handle to drag along. I was lucky becuase the doh fit snugly when put at the bottom. I packed my clothes tightly inside the doh so that it would not get compressed. The bogu bag was flattened and packed inside the hardshell. When I got my luggage back, my bogu was in the same condition it was as before. Hope this helps.

[sminki]

I believe Samsonite also makes a hard suitcase for bogu. It might be worth the investment.

[olaf]

Folks,

The Samsonite case is definitely a decent choice. The strange thing is, you won't find it listed in any Samsonite catalogs... Eguchi USA used to sell it, and I believe they still do, even though it's not listed on their web site.

You can also go with the padded ballistics-nylon bogu bag from Bujin Design.