Using a hard cooler as luggage

[PITOU]

In the old days a good ole' trick was to use an Igloo Cooler as your luggage. You would pack your clothes maybe some fishing gear in it at the baggage check after checking it a little duct tape around it and when you arrived to Abaco .......... a cooler for the deck or boat. I haven't done it for years ..... is this still possible to do or are the days gone by? Anybody? .............

[Rykat]

Dont see why it would matter what you put in a cooler. We packed one in November with frozen steaks, shrimp and chum. Nobody said boo except to ask what was in it. We duct taped it, they opened it and resealed it with their tape.
Just make sure the dimensions do not exceed whatever their measurements would be for a suitcase(121 linear inches I think....check your air carrrier)

[HALF-A-HAMIAN]

We still do it, but the larger ones won't fit in the nose or wings of the Cessna puddlejumpers. They'll take it in the cabin only if there's room, otherwise it's space avail. We fly Bahamasair, so we don't have that problem any more.

[RI BLUES]

We used one of those soft sided coolers with wheels, bought at job lot for 15$. We brough steak,shrimp,etc , used it everyday to go out on the boat or to the beach. lightweight and disposable. we left it at the rental house, they could save or throw out.

[HALF-A-HAMIAN]

The advantage of the hard cooler, or hard suitcase for that matter, is you can better protect your shell/sandollar collection, pack any fish you may want to bring back, wet, stinky clothes you don't want everyone looking to see where the smell's coming from, etc.! KnowwhatImean? ;-)

[PITOU]

Thanks for the responses. I was worried with the new TSA rules for "locking luggage" ..... "approved TSA locks only" the cooler might get inspected (tape removed or were you even allowed to tape it shut) and then it would not get re-taped and then everything everwhere. I'll be traveling American and the Eagle.

[JJ]

The soft sided zip coolers will elimate the need for duct tape. The one we have is on wheels and small enough to be taken as a carry-on.

(a great way to bring back small shells and sand dollars - Pringles potato chip containers)

[mrbill]

going to abaco, never a problem with hard coolers... I untape for customs and retape after.

comming back... don't know. I leave them behind... for next guest or landlord.. (I never caught enough fish to bring back)

I'm sure TSA has some tape...

[steamboat]

We get a 48 qt size wheeled cooler (need to measure to stay withing airline luggage size rules) and arrange luggage straps around the cooler (3 with buckles on top) so that inspectors can open and then re-close the straps to keep the lid closed. We hard freeze everything we're taking and pack the cooler full. Most stuff will last 24 to 26 hours traveling this way. Biggest problem now is the new weight limits and making sure the cooler is less than 50 pounds, has no dry or liguid ice in it (we use blue ice bags or blocks), and doesn't count as a second checked bag on certain airlines that now charge for that second checked bag. We either use the cooler to bring back stuff in to make our carry on luggage lighter or leave it there to be used by the caretaker or other guest.