Sirsucksalot
270 posts
Feb 28, 2011
1:30 AM
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Anyone have experience taking harmonicas on planes. do i carry them on or put them with the checked luggage.
i don't want Samuel L. Jackson to pop up and say "I have had it with these motherfucking harps on this motherfucking plane!"
Last Edited by on Feb 28, 2011 1:34 AM
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harmonicanick
1105 posts
Feb 28, 2011
1:58 AM
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I carry them and have had no problems, I pare down and take 3 (A,C,D)
How many are you taking?
If you put them in your checked luggage they could get lost, as happens on a regular basis.
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MrVerylongusername
1578 posts
Feb 28, 2011
3:14 AM
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Apparently (no personal experience, but I remember this topic on Harp-L a while ago) they can look suspiciously like ammo clips in a baggage scan. I'd carry them on and make them very obvious.
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Blocker
81 posts
Feb 28, 2011
3:28 AM
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I've carried them in my hand luggage quite a few times and never had a problem. The last time the woman on security asked why I would have 3 of them. I just explained they were different keys and she seemed happy, she didn't ask to see them she just recognised them from the scan.
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
574 posts
Feb 28, 2011
3:30 AM
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I've flown with harps in my pocket, my harp case as a carry on with no problems. If they look like ammo clips, they will open it up and proclaim "these are harmonicas" and close the case. You probably won't even notice this because you are putting your boots back on.
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"There are only two things money can't buy - true love and homegrown tomatoes." - Lewis Grizzard
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XHarp
427 posts
Feb 28, 2011
4:18 AM
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Carried 3 of them on in my pocket. I put them in the trays seperately and had them go through the scan. Security picked one at random and made me play it to verify that they were working. No problem.
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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harmonicanick
1106 posts
Feb 28, 2011
5:40 AM
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@XHarp
My sister bought me back a wrapped up didgereedoo from OZ, and stopped over in India, and security asked her to prove it was a musical instrument.
She had to unwrap it and could only make a 'fart' sound, but I got it some days later.
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harpcrab
62 posts
Feb 28, 2011
5:45 AM
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I took 8 or 9 in a soft case in my carry on bag last year. The screener pulled me aside and asked to go thru my suitcase... along with a supervisor. - They were very interested in what it was in the case. Once they saw it was harmonicas they let me go.
They declined to let me play a song.
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Bluesharp- If you don't blow you suck...
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Oisin
765 posts
Feb 28, 2011
6:21 AM
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Exactly the same experience as harpcrab both at Stansted and Belfast City airports. They ran the little brush thingamy over them too. Happens every time. Always carry them in a 14 harp case with hand luggage so I know where they are.
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Oisin
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Dog Face
94 posts
Feb 28, 2011
7:32 AM
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I used to have them inspected every time I flew. Now if I fly with them, I take them out of my bag and put them in my hat in the tray instead of with my back pack. I make it easy for them. It's better to look like you've done this before then to look like everyone else whose gone through that day getting pissy when TSA has to inspect their bag because they had a soap sculpture of a pistol they were bringing home as a gift for their dad in prison.
PS- I'm going to use your Sam Jackson quote. Haha. I don't know when yet but it's now a personal goal.
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Be safe, keep the faith, and don't let em tearrrrrr ya down.
Last Edited by on Feb 28, 2011 7:32 AM
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harpoon_man
14 posts
Feb 28, 2011
7:45 AM
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I travel quite a bit and always carry 4 harps in my carry-on bag.
I keep them in a separate zip-lock quart bag and prior to the security scan, take them out of the carry-on and place them in the tray beside my other zip-lock bag containing my toiletries. This way, security can see the harps without touching them, and I don’t have to place the harps directly in the bin where they could come into contact with who-knows-what.
Before I started doing this, my luggage ended up being searched almost every time.
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Miles Dewar
742 posts
Feb 28, 2011
7:46 AM
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Only if it is a small SESNA and I won't be on the plane when it lands.
Just put one in my hook knife pocket. Who needs that anyway? :)
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ridge
201 posts
Feb 28, 2011
8:01 AM
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When I went to HCH last year, I brought my full case of 12 harps.
I use an ADG sports case -- I think it's actually a hand gun case. I put that sucker right through the xray machine and wait for the obvious looks of suspicion from TSA employees.
They open my case and see mics and harmonicas and then let me go on my way with no problems. :)
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walterharp
550 posts
Feb 28, 2011
8:10 AM
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don't check for sure, carry on.
I travel fly often with 10 or so harps. In the US never get stopped any more. In Europe last summer got asked to open my bag both times, both times I ended up playing for them. The second time I got an ovation from all the people going through security and the officials. That was fun. Everybody was smiling and before that is was a pretty grim business as usual airport grind for all involved.
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isaacullah
1422 posts
Feb 28, 2011
9:39 AM
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Yeah, I put my harp case (with up to 15 harps in it) in the grey plastic tray along with my shoes. They used to always search my bag when I'd leave the case in there. Now I just preempt it and put it in the tray, and they never have a problem with it.
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toddlgreene
2667 posts
Feb 28, 2011
10:12 AM
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Between 21 years in the military and some personal trips, plus my recent South Korea travels, I have taken my harmonicas pretty much around the world. The most I have ever had to do is open my case. Amazingly, no one has ever questioned the Lee oskar tool kit I keep in my harp case, even though several of those items could be used as weapons if someone so chose. They always seem more concerned with my shoes and my belt buckle.
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Todd
my moderator username is Admin007
Eudora and Deep Soul
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MP
1459 posts
Feb 28, 2011
10:56 AM
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i've only had a delay w/ a JT-30. the fact that it's a mic seems dubious. they like to look at its art deco styling.
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MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
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groyster1
888 posts
Feb 28, 2011
12:55 PM
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I put them in a carry on-its so great that harps are portable-I leave them out of the case so the inspectors can see what they are-I really thinks harps are pretty innocent looking if people can see them
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djm3801
345 posts
Feb 28, 2011
4:19 PM
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I had 2 harps in a carry on and they were loose. Apparently they were arranged so they looked like an automatic pistol, at right angles like the letter L. You had to see the really careful treatment I got when i was asked to open the bag. The Security guy said "Oh. Harmonicas. Wow, had us fooled." Hey, their job and one I thank them for and would NOT want. Dealing with the public is not for me.
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BronxHarp
39 posts
Feb 28, 2011
4:30 PM
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I had my case in my carry on when I went to HCH last year, and the TSA guy looking at the X-Ray machine, yelled out, "You're a harp player!" That was it.
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JimCorazon
3 posts
Mar 01, 2011
3:54 AM
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Similar experiences to many above, i moved to Greece recently and my hand luggage was jammed packed to bursting with various mics including my own crafted ones clearly not branded(explosives)...a telephone mic, laptop(sorry detonator), 8 track(my other detonator), various harps, all my jewellery, cowboy boot heel rands(these were my hand weapon of choice in case i was discovered), many pairs of sunglasses. Meticulously packed to fit.
Meticulously unpacked by security.
Unmeticulously re-packed by me
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http://www.reverbnation.com/jimcorazon
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The Gloth
587 posts
Mar 01, 2011
7:00 AM
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On time I took harps on a plane ; I was coming back from Ouagadougou (in Burkina Faso). The harps were in my checked luggage, no problem at the check (there wasn't really acheck, it's a rather small airport).
Unfortunately, I had a bottle of "mousse à raser" (I don't know how to say that in english : razor soap ?) under pressure that broke all over the harps, and it ruined them.
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