How Climbers Pack for Fly-In Trips: Checked Bags, Carry-Ons, Bags and Weights

TL;DRShoes, harness and helmet in the cabin, rope in the hold: that is the most common split across 45 community examples. One person's nine-day sport kit came to about 16 kg checked; departures from Mexico City and Spanish airports are where quickdraws and ropes most often get sent back to check-in, while Asian low-cost carriers tend to trip you up first with a 7 kg carry-on limit.

#climbing #outdoor-climbing #travel #sport-climbing #trad-climbing #bouldering

Series: Climbing Travel Gear (4 / 8)

Flying with Climbing Gear: Security Rules, Checked Allowances, and Cabin Bag Weight Choosing a Checked Bag and Carry-On for a Climbing Trip: Duffels, Big Packs, Travel Packs and the 158 cm Limit

🌏 中文版

This post collects 45 packing setups that climbers shared publicly for fly-in climbing trips, dated September 2021 to October 2026. The sources are Mountain Project, the UKClimbing forums, Reddit, personal blogs (including Japanese climbers' trips to Long Dong in Taiwan), the Taiwan Outdoor Climbing Club (TOCC) and YouTube. Pick the one closest to your trip and adapt it into your own checked and carry-on lists.

One premise first: whether climbing gear gets on the plane is decided by the security officer on the day, and there are plenty of reports of the same airport passing gear outbound and refusing it on the return. Rules and airline limits are covered in Flying with Climbing Gear; this post looks only at how people actually packed.

At a glance: 31 representative examples

Example	Style	Rope	Draws / cams	Shoes, harness	Checked weight
Short European sport trips (2023)	Sport	Checked	Checked	Cabin	Not stated
Nine-day sport trip (2021)	Sport	Checked	Checked	Checked, shoes can go in cabin	About 16 kg
Kalymnos couple (2024)	Sport	Checked (two)	Checked	Cabin	About 20 kg per bag
A month in Cuenca, Spain (2025)	Sport	Checked	Checked	Checked	Not stated
UK to Phuket, Thailand (2026)	Sport	Not taken	A few in cabin	Cabin	No checked bag
UK to Kalymnos (2026)	Sport	Checked	Checked (trad gear dropped)	Shoes cabin, harness checked	One shared bag, just under 20 kg
Athens to Kos (2026)	Sport	Cabin	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated
Narita via Beijing to Kalymnos (2025)	Sport	Checked	Checked	Shoes checked; harness not stated	28 kg across two bags
Washington to Las Vegas (2025)	Sport	Cabin	Cabin	Not stated	No checked bag
New York to Salt Lake City (2025)	Trad	Checked	Cabin	Cabin	Not stated
Seattle to Las Vegas (2021)	Trad + sport	Checked	Checked	Checked	Not stated
A full trad kit in one bag (2023)	Trad	Checked	Checked	Checked	About 23 kg
Barcelona to Argentina (2022)	Trad	—	Cabin, then forced to check	Cabin	Not stated
A year in Europe (2021)	Trad + multipitch	Bought on arrival	Checked	Checked	Not stated
Brazil to El Potrero Chico (2025)	Sport	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated	All gear planned for the cabin; one backpack forced into the hold on the domestic leg
Portland to El Calafate (2026)	Alpine + ice	Not stated	Ice tools and crampons belong in the hold	Not stated	One overweight 120 L duffel
Narita to Hanoi, Huu Lung (2025)	Sport	Checked	Checked	Not stated	Over 20 kg, upgraded to 30 kg
Kuala Lumpur to Krabi (2025)	Sport	Partner checked it (inferred)	Partner checked them (inferred)	Cabin	No checked bag, 7 kg carry-on
Siem Reap, Cambodia via Kuala Lumpur to Bali (2025)	Climbing (long trip)	Cabin, then refused	Not stated	Not stated	One bag already checked
Tokyo to Long Dong, Taiwan (2025)	Sport	Checked	Draws checked; cams not stated	Shoes checked	Not stated
Haneda to Taipei Songshan (2025)	Sport	Checked (inferred)	Checked (inferred)	Shoes checked (inferred)	Not stated (23 kg allowance)
Taiwan to Yosemite, USA (2025)	Trad + multipitch	Not stated	Not stated, some supplied by friends	Not stated	30 kg across two bags outbound
LA to Europe bouldering (2025)	Bouldering	—	—	—	50 lb limit per pad
Flying to Rocklands (2024)	Bouldering	—	—	—	Pad 6.9 kg
Rocklands advice (2026)	Bouldering	—	—	Cabin	Not stated
US to Fontainebleau (2025)	Bouldering	—	—	—	Two pads wrapped as one bag
UK to Albarracín (2025)	Bouldering	—	—	—	Three pads wrapped as one bag
Pro climber to Italy (2022)	Sport (festival)	Not taken	Not taken	Cabin	No checked bag
Personal-item-only weekend (2024)	Sport	—	—	Personal item	No checked bag
Crag pack as personal item (2024)	Trad	—	Worn	Worn	No checked bag
Tours airport, France (2026)	Carry-on only	—	Carabiner in cabin, confiscated	Not stated	No checked bag

Every example uses the same fields: destination and year, airline (only when stated), checked, carry-on, which bag, total weight, and the problems hit. Brands and models are recorded as the source gave them, not as recommendations; for choosing bags, see Climbing Travel Luggage.

Sport-climbing holidays: rope and draws mostly go in the hold

Short European sport trips (2023): rolling duffel with the crag pack inside

Checked: a Patagonia Black Hole 70L rolling duffel holding a Black Diamond Creek 50 crag pack, a stick clip and all the clothes
Carry-on: a Black Diamond Transit 35L with a laptop, one set of street clothes, one set of climbing clothes, harness and shoes
Why: a crag pack checked on its own gets its straps mangled by ground handlers, which happened to a friend's Creek 50. With shoes and harness in the cabin, a lost bag still leaves him able to climb on a friend's rope
Problems he has heard of: several people he knows had a rope or draws refused in carry-on
Source: Mountain Project thread, 2023-01-24

Nine-day sport trip (2021): everything checked, about 16 kg for one person

Checked: a 70 m rope, a set of draws, harness, three pairs of shoes and everything else for nine days, "about 16kg"
Carry-on: others in the thread recommend at least the climbing shoes in the cabin; another always carries the helmet on to avoid crush damage
Weight tips: the rope is the heaviest single item, and draws can be split with a partner. Dry the rope before the return flight, because a wet rope eats into the allowance
Source: UKClimbing thread, 2021-10-25

Kalymnos couple (2024): two ropes checked, about 20 kg per bag

Route: Helsinki to Kos, Greece, then bus and ferry to Kalymnos
Allowance: 15 kg checked and 5 kg carry-on; both bought an extra 5 kg of checked allowance
Checked: one 80 m and one 60 m rope; each bag was "just under 20 kg" on departure. On the way home they emptied their backpacks into the suitcases, about 21 kg each
Carry-on: backpacks with harnesses, one pair of shoes, a belay device and cameras
Problems: none. The author notes that shoes and gear can be bought on the island if luggage goes missing
Source: the author's personal blog, 2024-12-02

A month in Cuenca, Spain (2025): all gear checked, daily essentials in the cabin

Checked: a NEMO 55L Haul Duffel with a 70 m 9.5 mm dry rope, 12 quickdraws, two GriGris and an ATC, a personal anchor, helmet and crack gloves
Carry-on and personal item: an REI Traverse 60L pack (the lid detaches as a daypack) with camera gear, passport, wallet and two go-to outfits
Why: climber Delaney Michels reasons she can always find people to climb with if the gear is lost; what she needs day to day stays with her
Source: Delaney Michels' blog, 2025-10-09

UK to Phuket, Thailand (2026): hoping to carry it all on

Route: London Heathrow via New Delhi or Mumbai to Phuket, for the Krabi and Railay area
Planned carry-on: harness, chalk bag, shoes, a couple of draws, a personal anchor and a Beta clip stick; she wanted to avoid checking a bag to save time and avoid losing it
Replies: one person nearly had a GriGri, lockers and a sling confiscated in Mumbai. Another was told more than once in Tenerife to check quickdraws and rope. Someone else has seen travelers carry a rope bag into the cabin from Singapore to Krabi
Source: Reddit r/climbergirls, 2026-02-17

A related post from the same month: a couple who had flown to Spain before with rope and draws in carry-on were stopped in Madrid this time, told the rope and draws were not allowed, and had to run back to check them (Reddit, 2026-02-21).

UK to Kalymnos (2026): one shared checked bag, under 20 kg once the trad gear came out

Allowance: easyJet, one 23 kg checked bag shared between two
Original checked list: an 80 m rope, 25 quickdraws, slings, belay devices, prusiks and spare carabiners, plus a set of nuts and a few cams. That made it hard to get under 23 kg
What came out: replies said Kalymnos does not need trad gear, and his final list no longer had the nuts and cams; 4 draws came out (leaving 21), and a pair of shorts and a pair of trousers stayed home. The bag ended up just under 20 kg
Carry-on: climbing shoes and rain jackets in the cabin backpack; harnesses and helmets stayed in the checked bag
Advice from the thread: around 20 draws is plenty; wear your one pair of approach shoes and your down jacket on the plane so they do not count. Another poster flying to Costa Blanca shared one roughly 30 kg suitcase between two, topped up to 33 kg in the easyJet app the night before, and still paid less than for two bags
Source: UKClimbing thread, 2026-04-08

Athens to Kos (2026): rope in carry-on, no trouble at Athens security

Route: Sky Express from Athens to Kos, then a ferry to Kalymnos
Carry-on: he had asked on the forum beforehand because carrying a rope on international flights had given him "mixed results". He later reported that the rope in his carry-on got through Athens security, and his Black Diamond 35 L pack was tagged as cabin baggage and waved through
Airline notes: Sky Express was relaxed about cabin-bag weight and size. Another poster warned that the return from Kos on Sky Express had cost them an overweight fee, because its checked limit is lower than on long-haul flights
Source: Mountain Project thread, 2026-03-24

Narita via Beijing to Kalymnos (2025): 28 kg across two checked bags, and a suitcase that arrived broken in Athens

Route: departing April 2025, Air China via Beijing to Athens, then Sky Express via Kos to Kalymnos: four flights in all, with a night in Athens on the way
Checked bag one: a RIMOWA Salsa 87 L suitcase at 21 kg (23 kg limit), holding a 70 m rope, 20 quickdraws, helmet, belay device, two pairs of shoes, top-rope anchor gear, clothes, a folding chair and food; no harness is listed
Checked bag two: a The North Face Base Camp Duffel 71 L at 7 kg (15 kg limit). Outbound it mostly held an empty crag pack; on the way home it took clothes and souvenirs
Carry-on: an 18 L backpack and a shoulder bag, 5 kg (8 kg limit), with valuables, a laptop and a power bank
Problems: the suitcase's lock and wheels were broken on arrival in Athens, patched with climbing tape for the time being. Each checked bag had an AirTag. Two thick guidebooks and souvenirs pushed the total, carry-on included, from 33 kg to 40 kg on the return. The author met the group on the island, and shared gear such as an 80 m rope, knee pads and extra draws was not in this list
Source: note (in Japanese), 2025-05-05

US domestic flights are usually smoother. One climber flew from Washington to Las Vegas and back in 2025 with a rope, quickdraws, lockers, slings and a chalk bag all in carry-on, "no issues at all". In the same thread, someone else was less lucky: two lockers forgotten in a carry-on were confiscated at Tenerife (Reddit r/ClimbingGear, 2025-10-26).

Trad and multipitch: cams are expensive, so many people won't check them

New York to Salt Lake City (2025): full trad rack in the cabin, rope checked

Trips: New York to Salt Lake City, and New York to Rapid City (the Needles in the Black Hills)
Carry-on: a full trad rack
Checked: the rope and the nut tool
Why: he did not want the rack lost for an indeterminate time, and figured at least one partner's rope would get through. His checked bag was also heavy, and the rack would have pushed it into a big surcharge
Problem: at Salt Lake City the scanner found a small knife he had forgotten in a chalk-bag pocket
Source: Mountain Project thread, 2025-09-21

Seattle to Las Vegas (2021): everything but the helmet checked

Airline: Southwest
Checked: rope, sport and trad gear, everything except the helmet. He considered carrying the harness in case of delays but checked it
Carry-on: helmet
His routine: photograph all the gear laid out before the trip, for police and insurance claims if it is stolen. Zip-tie the duffel zippers with neon ties so any tampering is obvious. Pad the cams with clothes; none were damaged
Source: Mountain Project thread, 2022-01-16 (trip in December 2021)

A full trad kit in one bag (2023): about 50 lb

Contents: a double rack of cams, a 70 m rope and a couple of pairs of shoes, "just under 50 lbs" in total (about 23 kg)
Bags in the replies:
- A Metolius Quarter Dome haul bag as checked luggage, holding up well after about 20 flights and usable at the crag
- A Mountain Hardwear Expedition Duffel
- A Deuter Traveller, whose zip-on panel covers the straps and buckles when checked
- A Patagonia Cragsmith as the carry-on: a rope and a double rack fill a little over half of it
Source: Mountain Project thread, 2023-05 to 2023-07

Barcelona to Argentina (2022): fine on the international leg, forced to check on a domestic one

Carry-on: a trad rack in a backpack; Barcelona to Argentina was fine
Problem: at Buenos Aires' domestic airport (AEP), security made him check the whole carry-on backpack, and particularly disliked the look of a BD #4 cam
His advice: have checked bags plastic-wrapped to deter pilfering
Source: Mountain Project thread, 2022-10-21

A year in Europe (2021): ropes bought on arrival

Checked: a clothes suitcase each, plus a large "bag of bags" suitcase with hiking packs, poles and shoes
The checked bag of metal: 16 quickdraws, 12 alpine draws, a double rack of cams, nuts, offsets, tricams, lockers and belay devices, plus two pairs of shoes each, helmets and harnesses
Carry-on: a laptop bag, camera and drone bags, and a small backpack just for guidebooks ("those are so heavy!")
Space saver: they bought ropes once in Europe
Source: Hello Hola Ni Hao blog, 2021-09-21

Brazil to El Potrero Chico (2025): everything in the cabin internationally, forced to check on the Mexican domestic leg

Trip: nine days in January 2025, nearly 40 routes from 5.6 to 5.11a in a week, mostly in sectors with no approach hike. To avoid checked-bag fees he packed few clothes and filled the rest of the cabin backpack with warm layers and climbing gear
International leg: São Paulo to Mexico City, with the gear in the cabin and no problems
Problem: on the domestic leg from Mexico City to Monterrey, the gear was refused in the cabin on the grounds that "carabiners can be used as weapons", so the pair had to check one backpack
Other reports departing Monterrey: two replies from December 2025 are about flying out of Monterrey airport. One says security will not let a carry-on through if it contains a harness, and will make you check it and pay the airport checked-bag fee; the other says a rope in the cabin gets stopped about half the time and has to go in a checked bag. Plan on checking one bag for Potrero Chico (Mountain Project, Reddit)
Source: Gear Tips Club blog, 2025-08-27

Alpine and ice: ice tools and crampons cannot go in the cabin

Portland to El Calafate (2026): a tight connection, a checked duffel carried to security, and ice tools that would not pass

Trip: Patagonia in January 2026, aiming for Chiaro di Luna on Aguja Saint-Exupéry. Portland via Atlanta to Buenos Aires' international airport (EZE), with the domestic leg leaving from the other airport, AEP, about an hour away by taxi
Luggage: one overweight 120 L duffel plus two stuffed backpacks; the ice tools and crampons were packed in the duffel to be checked
Problem: the inbound flight ran late, and boarding had started by the time he reached AEP. He pulled the duffel off the check-in scale and carried it to security. The ice tools and crampons, "medieval torture devices" to look at, were pulled out, no explanation helped, and he missed the flight
Cost: rebooking onto the next day's flight cost only $50, less than half his taxi fare between the airports
Source: Mountain Shop blog, 2026-03-18

Short-haul Asia: low-cost carriers' 7 kg carry-on limit gets you first

Narita to Hanoi, Huu Lung (2025): over the VietJet allowance, upgraded to 30 kg at the last minute

Allowance: some VietJet fares include no checked bag; the author bought one with 20 kg
Checked: an 80 m rope, 20 quickdraws, a drone and a tripod. A weigh-in before leaving showed it "easily over", and 7,625 yen bought an upgrade to 30 kg
Carry-on: VietJet weighs its 7 kg carry-on limit strictly
Author's advice: Huu Lung is limestone with closely spaced bolts, so a route takes about 15–20 draws; one 40 m route has 28 bolts. The author brought an 80 m rope and two knee pads
Source: Kiisampo (in Japanese), 2025-10-13

Kuala Lumpur to Krabi (2025): 7 kg carry-on only, with just shoes and a harness

Airline: AirAsia. The author flew with cabin baggage only, limited to 7 kg
Carry-on: just climbing shoes and a harness. The author found size harder to pass than weight, and even left the mosquito coils behind
Checked: nothing of his own; in Krabi a partner collected the checked bags
Problem: the flight slipped from late afternoon to after 9 pm, and the airline handed out meals at the gate
Source: haru356.com (in Japanese), 2025-02-05

Siem Reap, Cambodia via Kuala Lumpur to Bali (2025): a rope that cleared six airports, stopped at Siem Reap

Carry-on: a 60 m rope clipped to the outside of his backpack had passed six airports on a long backpacking trip, and he had checked the prohibited-items list before leaving
Problem: in January 2025 at Siem Reap, security declared the rope a dangerous item, and several layers of supervisors would not budge. He tried to have it put in his already-checked bag and was told that was no longer possible; checking it separately at $30 per kilo would have cost twice what the rope was worth
Outcome: he called a local climbing guide to the airport, and security handed the rope over directly. AirAsia then announced a 1.5-hour delay, so there would have been time to check it after all. The delay also left too little of his 2-hour layover in Kuala Lumpur, so he spent the night in an airport hotel while a prepaid hotel night in Bali went to waste. The missed connection came from the flight delay, not the rope
Source: dopaminerlifestyle.blog, 2025-01-31

Climbing in Taiwan, and flying out of Taiwan

Tokyo to Long Dong, Taiwan (2025): a 63 L suitcase with the rope, draws and two pairs of shoes

Airline: EVA Air both ways, November 2025, a group of six
Checked: one 63 L suitcase with a 60 m rope, 8 quickdraws, two pairs of climbing shoes and clothes
Carry-on: a 40 L crag pack with a laptop, power bank and valuables
Group split: each pair of partners brought a set of draws, three sets of about 15 for the group, and the group brought two sets of cams up to #4. The author notes that a 50 m rope is too short for Long Dong; bring a 60 m
Source: note (in Japanese), 2025-12-02

Haneda to Taipei Songshan (2025): no suitcase, just a large trekking pack and a small city backpack

Airline: China Airlines economy, with 23 kg checked and 7 kg carry-on. Two people, departing Haneda Terminal 3 at 7:55 and landing at Songshan at 10:55 (travel post)
Two bags: the author deliberately left the suitcase at home and took only a large trekking pack and the small backpack he uses around town. The gear list has a 60 m rope, 19 quickdraws (plus 1 for self-belay), a belay device, liquid and powder chalk, and two pairs of climbing shoes; he does not say which went in which bag
Checked: another post in the series says they had checked in online, so at Haneda they "only had to drop off the luggage". It does not say which bag; given the sizes, it was most likely the trekking pack. The weight is not given (first part)
Carry-on: not stated, presumably the small city backpack. His usual climbing pack is heavy on its own, so it stayed home
Problem: online check-in made bag drop quick, but getting through the departure gates took a while; boarding time passed, both their names were announced, and they ran to make the flight (first part)
Source: tsuyoshi74climb.com (in Japanese, 2025-11-26): packing list, travel post, first part

Flying out of Taiwan, one climber spent about two months on trad in Yosemite, Indian Creek and elsewhere from September to November 2025. Outbound it was two bags totaling 30 kg, probably 23 kg checked plus 7 kg carry-on; the return was three bags totaling 37 kg. The write-up does not say which gear went in which bag. The useful part is how the cams were pieced together: for the routes he chose, he felt he needed at least 6 sets of #0.5 to #1; with gear support from two friends, he got to 5 sets (TOCC, 2025-12-15, in Chinese).

Bouldering: the pad is the biggest item

LA to Europe bouldering (2025): crash pads checked as sports equipment

Airline: American Airlines from Los Angeles; destinations included Spain and Mallorca
Checked: pads filed as oversized sports equipment, or as a "gymnastics pad" if that option is missing. Each had a 50 lb limit, so they stuffed things inside. Cost was about $100–200
Other tactics: on layovers the airline transferred the pads; they took the pads on trains in Europe and parked them with a luggage-storage app for 7 euros a day during side trips
Source: Asana Climbing blog, 2025-12-11

Flying to Rocklands (2024): choose a pad that fits checked-bag size

Background: before a Rocklands trip, Dan Turner realized all his pads were over airline size limits, and switched to the Organic Airline Trifold Pad
Size and weight: folded it is 51×76×30 cm, 157 cm in linear dimensions. The video cites a 158 cm checked limit at easyJet, American Airlines and Ryanair, so it just fits. The listed weight is 15.25 lb (about 6.9 kg)
Setup: one checked pad plus a cabin bag; you can stuff things inside the pad
Source: Dan Turner on YouTube, 2024-09-24

Rocklands advice (2026): shoes always in the cabin, rent the pad locally

Carry-on: everything you need to climb in, clothes, shoes and chalk, with at least one or two pairs of shoes in the cabin. The speakers say lost luggage hits "like five people a year at least", and climbing gear is very expensive to buy in South Africa
Pads: renting locally costs about €150 for a month; if that beats the extra baggage fee, rent
Source: Paradigm Climbing webinar, 2026-04-07

A Japan bouldering example does the opposite: a staff member at the climbing shop Wild Rock says her "checked bag is always full of gear", with all her clothes in her carry-on Patagonia Black Hole MLC. The Okayama trip is a planned one; the packing is her usual habit (Wild Rock, 2025-12-04).

US to Fontainebleau (2025): two pads plastic-wrapped into one bag, $100 on the return

Airline: the post mentions Delta for the return flight and does not say where the trip started (the poster's profile lists Fayetteville, West Virginia); five weeks
Checked: plastic wrap from a hardware store bound two crash pads together so they counted as a single oversized bag. A friend covered the outbound oversize fee; the return cost $100 with a Delta credit card
Similar experiences: another climber has checked a Metolius Session II on Icelandair and United without problems, except once when it was left behind in Paris for a day. The original poster, heading over in March 2026, read Delta's rules as an oversized fee of $300 each way (Mountain Project, 2025-08-16). The Session II owner added in another thread that the pad usually just barely makes it on planes without extra charges, albeit as oversized luggage (Mountain Project, 2026-01-07)
Source: Mountain Project thread, 2026-03-22 (trip in 2025)

UK to Albarracín (2025): three pads wrapped as one bag, no extra charge on BA

Checked: two Moon Warriors and a Moon Cirrus wrapped in one sheet of plastic as a single item, with no extra fee from British Airways. The condition is contacting the airline in advance with the item's weight and dimensions
Contrast in the thread: the original poster has taken pads to Albarracín several times, two wrapped together, without trouble. The year before, he flew Air France to Fontainebleau and rented pads there, which cost about the same as bringing them and varied in quality. He had read older forum posts about pads running into trouble at Paris CDG; a reply suggested the problem was Air France's size rules rather than the airport, and he agreed that might be it
From the replies: Air France and KLM are strict on checked dimensions, so a standard pad can be technically over; Ryanair, easyJet and Jet2 are usually fine with one or two strapped together. For Fontainebleau, flying into Orly is another option
Source: UKClimbing thread, 2025-10 to 11

Carry-on-only trips

Pro climber to Italy (2022): a single cabin bag

Trip: pro climber Anthony Gullsten at the Frasassi Climbing Festival in Italy
Bag: a La Sportiva travel bag, "the only bag" he brought, cabin-sized, with a full clamshell opening and a laptop pocket
Contents: harness, Solution climbing shoes, chalk bag, rain jacket, headlamp, tape, brush, power bank and clothes; no rope or draws
Source: EpicTV Climbing Daily, 2022-03-18

Personal-item-only weekend (2024): shoes clipped outside the bag

Airline: Frontier, with a fare that includes only a personal item
Plan: wear two layers and clip the climbing shoes to the outside of the bag
Replies: one person put the shoes in the water-bottle pocket and carried the bottle while boarding. Another warned that Frontier is strict on size, so put everything inside. Someone flew BA from London to Vancouver with shoes clipped outside without trouble. Another said TSA always flags her nut tool, so she packs it near the top
Source: Reddit r/climbergirls, 2024-12-27

Crag pack as personal item (2024): wear the gear

Bag: a single Creek 50 as the personal item, no carry-on and no checked bag
Passing the bag check: put on the harness, rack the gear on the loops, wear the helmet and all the jackets, and stuff the shoes in the jacket pockets
Reminders from the thread: one person's checked gear went missing, and having shoes and harness on hand saved the trip. Another's helmet was thrown on the asphalt by a baggage handler and cracked, so the helmet now always goes in the cabin
Source: Mountain Project thread, 2024-04-08

Tours airport, France (2026): a snapgate confiscated as a knuckleduster

Luggage: cabin bag only. He usually carries plenty of carabiners in the cabin to keep the checked bag light
Problem: at Tours airport at the end of September 2026, security said a carabiner could be used as a knuckleduster and confiscated one snapgate; pointing out that other airports had allowed it made no difference. He had packed carabiners this way on many trips over the years, and this time he was caught out
From the thread: one person had a keyring carabiner taken at Chambéry, France, a few years ago. Another recently flew to France with a 70 m rope and carabiners in the cabin without trouble. Someone with an overweight checked bag asked security in advance whether draws could go in the cabin, and was told yes
Source: UKClimbing thread, 2026-10-01

The counterexample to traveling light: a beginner couple climbing in Railay and Tonsai, Thailand, and Thakhek, Laos, did not bring a rope, and that was their one regret. Rope rental runs about 10 euros a day in Tonsai and Railay, and in Ao Nang they could not find one to rent (Mountain Diaries, 2024-01-03).

Patterns across the 45 examples

The counts below are the number of examples that explicitly state a practice or incident. These are volunteered community posts, skewed toward people who had trouble and like to post, so treat them as a sample, not as rates.

Shoes, harness and helmet in the cabin: about 20 examples. This is the most consistent habit. The reason is almost always the same: these three are fit-specific and hard to rent or buy in your size at the destination. Crushed or cracked helmets are a second reason; for checking a helmet that has been dropped, see Climbing Gear Inspection and Retirement.

Rope in the hold: about 20 examples; rope in the cabin or personal item: about 7. A rope is heavy, relatively cheap to replace, and the item most often stopped at security, usually with a remark about tying someone up. At Siem Reap the rope was declared a dangerous item outright and never made it onto the plane.

Metal depends on the region. About 6 examples carry cams or a full trad rack in the cabin, mostly on US domestic flights, because a rack is too expensive to lose. Outside the US, about 11 examples put quickdraws and carabiners in the hold, some after being refused before, others simply because the checked allowance had room. About 8 examples state that the nut tool goes in the hold.

Forced to check, confiscated or nearly confiscated: about 25 incidents, concentrated in two places. Spanish airports (Madrid, Barcelona, Mallorca, Tenerife) account for about 8, and Mexico City and Monterrey airports (on the way to and from Potrero Chico) for about 5. One climber in Mexico City had to check all his climbing gear, which Aeromexico luckily checked for free (Mountain Project, 2024-05-02). Another had carry-on quickdraws refused and had to run back to check the bag (Reddit, 2022-12). The rest are scattered across Melbourne, Buenos Aires, Venice, Paris CDG, Mumbai, Denver, New York JFK, Siem Reap in Cambodia and Tours in France. The reasons go beyond "you could tie someone up": a carabiner was treated as a knuckleduster in Tours and as a weapon in Mexico City, and ice tools and crampons cannot go in the cabin at all. At least 3 examples mention the same airport passing gear outbound and refusing it on the way back. If a trip changes to a domestic flight along the way, leave enough connection time to go back and check a bag: in Buenos Aires the international (EZE) and domestic (AEP) flights leave from different airports, and the Portland climber, short on time, carried his checked duffel to security, had the ice tools stopped and missed the flight.

Stick clips are the item most likely to be taken: about 6 examples. The fixes are checking it, buying a painter's pole locally and adapting it, or carrying it on and hoping.

Crag pack as carry-on or personal item: about 10 examples. When a pack has to be checked, people put it inside a cheap duffel, ask the airline for a heavy plastic bag, use a pack with a strap cover, or have it plastic-wrapped at the airport.

Duffels and rollers dominate. Rolling duffels or suitcases appear in about 9 examples, expedition duffels in about 8, a large trekking pack (most likely checked) in 1, and a haul bag as luggage in 1. The Patagonia Black Hole line is the most-named single line, in 3 examples.

Crash pads wrapped together as one bag: 2 examples. Two or three pads bound with plastic wrap or a plastic sheet count as a single oversized item: Delta charged $100 on the return, and BA charged nothing after advance notice. Air France and KLM are stricter on dimensions, and a standard pad can already be over.

Weight tactics: about 15 examples. They include pre-buying extra checked kilos, wearing heavy clothes and gear, splitting rope and draws with a partner, sharing one checked bag between two, choosing an airline with two free checked bags, renting or buying the rope at the destination, and getting cams from friends. The UK-to-Kalymnos pair simply left out trad gear they would not use. Carry-ons on non-US airlines often have weight limits; the examples mention 5 kg on Aerolíneas Argentinas domestic flights and 10 kg on LATAM (Mountain Project, 2022-09), 8 kg on legs to Nepal (Short Guys Beta Works, 2022-04-10), a strictly weighed 7 kg on VietJet, and 7 kg plus size limits on AirAsia. A trad rack alone can push a carry-on over.

Lost, delayed or damaged checked bags: about 9 examples. These include easyJet losing a bag with an entire sport kit, where a bag is only considered irrevocably lost after 45 days (UKClimbing, 2022-09-26), Air Canada gouging a suitcase and slashing the pack inside it (UKClimbing, 2022-08), and the Narita-to-Kalymnos suitcase arriving in Athens with a broken lock and wheels. Mitigations named include AirTags, photographing gear before the trip, zip-tying zippers, padding cams with clothes, and travel insurance. If your rope was crushed in a suitcase, check it carefully when you flake it out at the crag.

Put together, these habits give the order most people use to decide where an item goes:

flowchart TB
  A["An item of gear"] --> B{"Can you rent or buy it<br/>at the destination if lost?"}
  B -->|"No: shoes, harness, helmet"| C["Cabin"]
  B -->|"Yes: rope, draws, clothes"| D{"Could it pass as<br/>a weapon or restraint?"}
  D -->|"Yes: knife, nut tool, stick clip, ice tools, crampons"| E["Hold"]
  D -->|"Maybe: rope, draws, carabiners"| F{"Is the departure airport strict?<br/>e.g. Spain, Mexico, France"}
  F -->|"Strict"| E
  F -->|"Lenient and cabin allowance fits"| G["Either works<br/>expensive cams often go in the cabin"]

Three setups you can copy

The weights below are estimated from the examples above and manufacturer specs, to check whether you will be over. Your actual allowance depends on your flight; weigh everything at home before you leave.

Setup A: a week of sport climbing, two people

	Climber A	Climber B
Checked	70 m single rope, own clothes and kit	14 quickdraws, stick clip (if bringing one), own clothes and kit
Carry-on	Climbing shoes, harness, helmet, chalk bag, belay device	Same
Estimated checked weight	About 13–14 kg	About 11 kg

How the estimate works: in the UKClimbing nine-day example, one person's rope, draws, harness, three pairs of shoes and all other luggage came to about 16 kg. Using a 70 m Petzl Arial 9.5 mm at 58 g per metre, the rope is about 4.1 kg; 14 Petzl Spirit Express 12 cm draws at 92 g each are about 1.3 kg. Take those two out of 16 kg and one person's clothes, shoes and bag come to about 9–10 kg. Split between two, each bag lands around 15 kg, the Kalymnos couple's base checked allowance.

Is there room in the cabin for shoes, harness and helmet? The Kalymnos couple's carry-ons had a 5 kg limit and held harnesses, one pair of shoes, a belay device and cameras.

To save another checked-bag fee, two people can share one bag. The 2026 UK-to-Kalymnos pair shared one 23 kg checked bag with an 80 m rope and 21 draws, and came in just under 20 kg after dropping the trad gear.

Setup B: trad, one person with the full kit

	Contents
Checked	70 m single rope, nut tool, knife, clothes and kit; cams padded with clothes (if checked)
Carry-on	Double rack of cams, nuts, carabiners and slings, climbing shoes, harness, helmet
Carry-on bag	A crag pack, such as a Cragsmith-style pack in the 40-something-litre range with a full back-panel opening
Estimate	About 23 kg for the whole kit (checked plus carry-on)

How the estimate works: in the "full trad kit in one bag" example, a double rack, a 70 m rope and a couple of pairs of shoes came to about 50 lb. Two sets of Black Diamond Camalot C4 from 0.3 to 3 weigh about 1.6 kg in cams alone, before carabiners and nuts.

What to adjust: the US domestic examples mostly carry cams on. Departing Mexico City, a Spanish airport or a Buenos Aires domestic flight, expect to be told to check them, and arrive early enough to run back to the counter. On flights with a 5–8 kg carry-on limit (7 kg is common on Asian low-cost carriers) a full trad rack will not fit; split it between two people or check it.

Setup C: bouldering with one pad

	Contents
Checked	A crash pad that folds within checked-bag size, stuffed with clothes, a sleeping bag or other soft luggage
Carry-on	Two pairs of climbing shoes, chalk bag and chalk, brush, tape, one change of clothes
Estimate	About 6.9 kg for the pad itself, filled up to the airline's weight limit (50 lb, about 23 kg, on American Airlines in the LA example)

How the estimate works: Organic lists the Airline Trifold Pad at 15.25 lb, 157 cm in linear dimensions when folded. A pad over the checked-size limit may have to go as oversized sports equipment; the LA example paid about $100–200.

Alternative: if the destination rents pads, compare the rental with the extra baggage fee. Rocklands rental runs about €150 a month, and the webinar speakers' advice is to rent if that is cheaper. If two or three of you each bring a pad, plastic-wrap them into one item and pay a single oversize fee; check the dimension rules first on Air France or KLM.

Three things to do before you leave

Weigh at home. Buy a luggage scale and weigh both the checked bag and the carry-on once packed. If you are over, switch to hand-washing clothes and wear the heavy jackets before dropping any gear.
Photograph your gear laid out. You will need it for a police report or insurance claim if bags are stolen or lost. A tracker in the bag helps with high-value items like cams and ropes.
Keep the top of your carry-on for items security will check. Keep chalk in its original packaging, and move the nut tool and knife to the hold. If you are told to check something, arriving early gives you time to run back to the counter.

With the examples in hand, the next step is choosing bags: whether a gear duffel, a large backpack or a travel pack suits how you will get around, see Climbing Travel Luggage. For what to bring to different destinations, see Climbing Trip Gear List by Destination.

Update log

2026-10-19: Added 15 examples from 2025–2026 and three new sections: "Alpine and ice", "Short-haul Asia" and "Climbing in Taiwan, and flying out of Taiwan". The at-a-glance table now has 31 representative examples, the patterns are recounted across 45 examples, and two patterns are folded in: new reasons ropes and carabiners get stopped, and crash pads wrapped together as one bag. The start of the collection range in the introduction is corrected to September 2021. The same day, each of the 15 new examples was checked against its original source and 37 statements that did not match the source or went beyond it were corrected, including a broken link to the TOCC post and two more posts cited for the Haneda example. The Siem Reap missed connection was caused by a flight delay, so "tight connections" is down to 1 example and is folded into the paragraph on refusals; shoes, harness and helmet in the cabin is now about 20 examples, and rope in the cabin about 7.