Airplane travel with an IK

I recently took a trip to Costa Rica to go kayaking. This involved taking my boat and gear on an airplane. Most airlines limit you to 50 lbs per bag, so it's important to be able to put together a bag that weighs under this amount. I had bought an Aire Small Inflatable Kayak Bag. My IK, paddle, helmet, and footbrace fit in this bag and come in just under 48 lbs. The rest of my gear (PFD, wetsuit, pumps, gloves, wetsuit, repair items, mesh bag, carabiners, and straps) went into my main luggage bag.

The mesh bag allows you to keep your wet gear out of your suitcase, and keep it together. There are medium-sized mesh duffels that can roll up to the size of a pair of socks.

I ended up taking a K-Pump 100 and a Rule id20 electric pump ("screamer"). The Rule pump, which is basically a cost-reduced version of the LVM, is small and generates plenty of pressure. The K-pump is fine, but it can take a long time to fill a boat and then top it off. Also, it's a good idea to bring along a small screwdriver and some pump grease if you are using this as the primary pump.

Note that I mentioned that my straps and carabiners went into my main luggage bag. My boat usually has 8 straps on it (4 for the backrest, 2 for the footbrace, and 2 for rear gear), and I take along 2-4 long straps for strapping the boat to a roof rack. Cam straps weigh about 2 ounces each, so 8 of them make a pound, which can be a significant amount of weight. Carabiners are also a little heavy.

The final key is to keep in mind that you may be traveling back with wet gear, which can add weight to your gear. If you can, try to dry out the gear before traveling, but always make sure that you have some extra weight allowance.