My buddy and I were shooting our bows yesterday after he got back from his Pennsylvania hunt and his bow was shooting far down and way right. So much so that there could only be something wrong with the bow. He's shooting a New Mathews Vertix. We noticed that his attached quiver was bent and then assumed that the airline must have tampered with the bow or mishandled the case. His bow was stored in a new pelican case so it should have been very protected. After a trip to the bow shop today, the tech said that it was his limb bushings that were damaged and maybe not the sight and it would have taken 100's of lbs of pressure to make that happen. Anyone else heard of a bow getting damaged in a case with air travel? Maybe bow case didn't pressurize properly or release pressure properly? I'm at a loss. At this point, pelican said that they have heard no issues like this. ...He did kill a nice velvet buck on the Pennsylvania hunt so it was shooting straight before the return flight.
Seems weird that the damage on the inside would not show an impact on the outside, too bad it is too late for a claim with the airlines.
SKB is the way to go with a bow case for air travel. I went to Alberta 5 times with connector flights each time using my SKB case and didn't have a single issue. That case was handled 40 times! Just curious, how did your buddy manage to kill a velvet buck in Pa when the season opens the bucks have already shed their velvet?
If he has it in a Pelican case, or similar hard case such as an SKB, then it'd take a lot of force to do damage so long as it was properly secured and there wasn't anything floating around in the case to cause damage to components. If it was the limb bushings, it sounds like it may have been dropped or just one of those rare instances of equipment failure? I have flown many times with various bows in SKB cases. Never did I have any damage, even with the baggage handlers throwing my case through the air (I witnessed this and called them on it to no avail). I did need to do a minute sight adjustment as my binoculars bumped the sight. But, that was my fault for trying to pack stuff in there. But, when I do fly, I put a lock on my compound bow so that if anyone (TSA) happens to open it, they can't draw it back and potentially dry fire it. http://www.acuarchery.com/index.htm
Pure conjecture here, but TSA opened the case and messed with it. With no damage to the case, its the only logical explanation
This is my initial thought as well. I know a number of competetive shooters who put notes in their cases stating "This is highly tuned, delicate equipment. Please handle with extreme caution." TSA did open my case once when I was flying out of San Francisco back home. I noticed the velcro straps holding my bow were no longer as I normall have them, and a few things were out of place which were strapped in. Between the PoS check-in counter staff, TSA messing with my stuff, seeing the baggage handlers throwing my SKB hardcase through the air to land on the ground, etc. I have vowed I will not fly through San Francisco again if I can help it. I'll go to San Jose if I have to fly in/out of NorCal.
Traveling with equipment is always a risk. Airline employees don’t make much money and they don’t care. It’s not their stuff. I’d assume that an employee checked the case and damaged the bow. You can’t prove it and they won’t hold their employees accountable. As is with most government employees (no offense to anyone). We’ve had equipment damaged by them before. It’s much better to try to ship your equipment to your destination than it is to fly with it. I’d try and do that if/whenever you can. You can have the outfitter receive it for you and if it gets damaged you can file a claim with the carrier. Or you can ship it to a friend or family member if possible. Or ship it to yourself with a destination center “hold for pickup”. Then go pick it up when you get there.
On another note, the only thing I own from Pelican is coolers. If their equipment cases are anything like their ice chests... they can take a beating to hell and back and come out fine. There would be visual damage on the case if it were damaged in the case. Otherwise, as pointed out, someone took it out of the case and damaged it. There is the very odd chance that your friend could have damaged the bow himself sometime after the hunt and before y’all went to shoot.
I have a pelican case myself and have flown and drove with my bow. It even fell out of my truck (due to my dumbass) coming back from my hunting camp last year. It has been awesome zero issue with my bow. I agree the asshats at TSA and baggage handlers caused the issue. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If the bow was in the case the entire time there's zero chance the cam or limb bushings were damaged - I don't care what they did to it. Those new Pelican cases are darn near indestructible. I could maybe see the quiver hood being bent depending on how it was packed in the case and what was done to it during travel, but even that's a stretch. Assuming the bow was damaged by someone removing it from the case and handling it, they would pretty much need to dry fire the bow in order to damage the cam or limb bushings. Even dropping the bow on a hard surface would not damage the bushings, and you should see other physical evidence that the bow was dropped or otherwise harmed. In the future, I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea to lock or at the very least cable tie your bow during transport so it can't be drawn back.
If something says or implies Fragile, that means you throw it under-handed. Don't know what handlers get paid but they want to get the plane loaded and ready for take off. I have watched them from the concourse on many occasions. Once had a suitcase destroyed. Company replaced with a cheap suitcase, and I mean cheap. Justin has a good idea!
I posted this in my initial response earlier in the thread. But, will do so again. IMO, it's a spendy piece of plastic. But, it's cheap insurance to prevent a dry fire from someone who shouldn't be drawing a bow back. It's the same thing I've seen many shops have on display bows: http://www.acuarchery.com/index.htm When I was first looking into flying with my bows, I was told three things from others: 1) Use a high quality hard case such as SKB or Pelican. 2) Use a cable lock on compounds so it can't be drawn back 3) If a sight is removable, such as one with a dovetail, do not keep it in your case. Pack it in your carry on and take with you. 4) Allow extra time at the airport due to special equipment. Aside from the issues I mentioned in my previous posts, about the only other issues I've had are: 1) My SKB cases look like firearm cases. So, when I go to the airport, I've had many people freak out because they think it's firearms. One woman panicked on me, as she started screaming I needed to take my guns to airport security and not check it with her. I had to calm her down and explain over and over again that it's archery equipment. She still was highly skeptical and told me that I'd get into trouble if I was lying. 2) When I flew to Chula Vista with my Olympic recurve, I packed my Axcel Achieve sight in my carry on. While going through security, my carry-on was flagged for "having a weapon". After a few accusations from them, and calm explanations from me, I was finally allowed through. While my problems have been minimal, I'd definitely drive instead of fly if was able to.
Not nearly as dangerous as time travel..like others said SKB is a great case and I never had a prob when it was in the air. Sounds like someone was jealous you were hunting and they were stuck working at the airport
I was traveling from Atlanta to LA (not Lower Alabama). I had received a gas infra red burner that was shipped to me in a wood box about 12x12x12. Top was secured with screws so I had to take off the lid. When I mentioned it was a gas burner, the idiots at security thought there was gas in the burner! It was a metal box! Like you buy an electric range with a supply of electricity? The venturi was removable and they thought that could be used as a weapon. No matter that I had ink pens, magazines, etc., that could be used as a weapon. FWIW, saw a photo of a TSA person watching a monitor that was supposed to reveal things in the X-ray. She was playing Solitaire! Good post with info on solid cases and locking the bow so it can't be drawn back. Guys, how did you store/ship your broadheads? Curious.
I have fun with this argument when people tell me I can't carry a smaller than 2" blade knife because it can be used as a weapon.
I seen a bow come out damaged out of a hard SKB case that wasn't opened. A WB rest was snapped off at the riser. The case was never opened because it was still locked as it contained a checked in handgun. Fly enough and anything is possible.
