We came home thru Dulles in May, and it was raining... hard.... upon arrival.

Apparently our bags and gun cases were left out in the rain after rechecking them in and waiting for our departing flight. When I got home the insides were a mess.

Seeing that I am unable to post pictures on line here, if you would like to see them and read the complete story, e-mail me at tblauwkamp@superior-sales.com and I'll send them back via reply.

What airline?

United.

Terry, did it happen to be on a Friday, May 28th? I was heading out that day and we did a "touch and go" at Dulles due to weather. Had to run to catch SAA and my bags were both four days late finding me in the bush in Zim. We sat on the tarmac for 2 1/2 hours after pulling away from the SAA terminal just so SAA could get an "on time departure"! Of course my bags were just sitting idle for those 2 1/2 hours. Go figure.

Terry,

I can only imagine how nasty everything was. When I was in Zim once we shared a camp with 2 other couples that had traveled together. There luggage was delayed a couple of days but when they got it everything was soaked and mildewed. Evidently it had sat as your did on the tarmac through a thunderstorm. These folks and particularly the ladies did not have a clue aboout what to bring on safari so they had packed everything but the kitchen sinks in 8 fabric suitcases. The whole camp was covered in ladies apparal at one time as everything was drying. Made for a grumpy group.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by muygrande:
Terry, did it happen to be on a Friday, May 28th?

No, it was on Tuesday of that week.

Gentlemen, here is how to avoid wet luggage.

For many years I always pack EVERYTHING in water resistant bags.

And I mean EVERYTHING,even the things in my carry on.

I use Sea to Summit roll down water resistant bags. I call them water "resistant" because if they were submerged very deep they might leak.

I have never had one leak and I had a couple of them under water for over 7 minutes once on the back of a snowmobile.

Your clothing is slightly more bulky, but it stays dry and sust free and is still organized after many days of travel.

I use the thin bags for clothing, but they also make some more rugged bags for heavier duty.

I ut ammo in the heafvier duty bags if weight is a roblem, other wise I use a Pelican case.

I had my bags set out on the tarmack in Dillingham Alaska in the rain for several hours, whild we waited for the weather to clear enough to fly out.

We did not get out that day, or for the next 3. Everybody else with me had to dry ALL their stuff out, but NOTHING of mine got wet.

I also have some roll down bags made for the front of a Kyak that will hold a takedown rifle/shotgun in a Boyt takedown case.


www.seatosummit.com

the other trick is to use the plastic bags that you vacuum the air out of. they are heavier plastic, reusable and sucking them down after packing with a vacuum cleaner makes for a lot less space taken up in luggage

butchloc

The only problem with that is getting everything back in the bags in Africa without the vacuum cleaner.

not really - you can put the stuff back in the bags and then lay down on them - that forces most of the air out again

zip-lock also sells a variety that has a hand pump that sucks the air out. Pretty efficient, too.

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
the other trick is to use the plastic bags that you vacuum the air out of. they are heavier plastic, reusable and sucking them down after packing with a vacuum cleaner makes for a lot less space taken up in luggage

I've spent most of my life traveling the world and have never done this -- but I think that I'll change my ways. This sounds like a great idea.

Another advantage to having your stuff liquid proof is that if anybody else has luggage that leaks, shampoo, ladies perfume etc, it will not contaminate your stuff.

Also once you arrive at your destination it keeps dirt, bugs, and small animals out of your stuff as well.

I have discovered that the roll up bags are tougher, and stay sealed better than plastic bags.

They also make clear and transulent roll up bags.I use them for bulky stuff that TSA might want to see what it is, so they do not have to open up the bag.

I start the packing process by placing a medium mill plastic kitchen size trash bag inside the duffle to be checked. I put things like socks, underwear, and most clothing items in gallon size zip lock bags. These go inside the trash bag along with the other hard goods items that are not bagged, then wrap the trash bag around everything, close it up tight. This will not protect the contents if they get dunked but have never had any superficial water make it through to the contents. This barrier also keeps dust out as well.

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

Welcome to International Travel.

Using a couple of the clear Costco garbage bags to put everything in works too. Better to do that then have your stuff ruined. I have never had TSA not put the stuff back into the plastic bags. Sometimes the stuff isn't even disturbed as they can see through the bag and don't bother. Just my 2 cents worth.

you can buy the plastic bags for clothes in just about any size and I can even find them at wal-mart. I don't buy the expensive ones that you can compress with a vacum hose,, just sit my big butt on it and squeeze the air out and zip closed. Saves room and helps organize etc. On one of my long trips it saved my clothes as well. Apparently there was a leak in the line or holding tank, you know "the blue water" tank and it soaked many of the suitcases and baggage claim was dang near a riot when they came out soaked with the "blue Crappy water". My suitcase was blue as well,,, but my clothes were not! A cheap preventive from disaster,, wrap them in something if your bag isn't waterproof....

I use the 2 gallon ziploc bags for everything in my bag. I usually pack a day or two days clothes in one bag. It's so easy to find stuff in my duffel bag by just pulling out the ziplocs. No dust and never wet.

I just returned from a rainy bear photography trip in Alaska and ended up using my packing ziplocs for other purposes for the trip home. Of course it was raining and my bag sat out in the rain so when I got home everything was very wet. (Bear photos here if you are interested http://www.pbase.com/cjw/2009_grizzly_bears_alaska )