Fire festival season is officially in swing so I thought I’d share with you what I’ve learned about something that pops up a lot as we’re going from place to place--and that’s how best to fly with your fire props. I've written on this topic before when it comes to poi, but I've learned a lot in the years since that post and can now apply many of those lessons more generally to other tools.

I have had tools confiscated and I know other people who have as well. Here’s how to try and keep it from happening as well as what you should do if it does.

TSA Regulations

To start with, let’s talk a little bit about the Transportation Safety Administration, or TSA, and the rules it has in place that cover what we do.

TSA forbids people from flying with any sorts of flammable liquids, weapons, sharp objects, or firearms. You’ll note that there is nothing in that list that explicitly forbids most types of fire props. The closest objects that you are forbidden to fly with are torches, which are defined by TSA as any object containing a fuel reservoir that is meant to be lit on fire. Normally, the definition is applied either to tiki torches or cigarette lighters that have a liquid fuel source, such as filled zippo lighters.

Fire props don’t have fuel reservoirs--the fuels we use are almost always more or less consumed when we spin fire, so this rule really doesn’t apply to us at all. In other words, there is absolutely no regulation that forbids you from flying with a fire prop--frankly, there’s no regulation forbidding you from flying with your props in your carry-on, with two exceptions:

1. If your prop qualifies as a weapon. If you’ve got a fire sword or fire nunchucks, you will have to check that tool--no ifs, ands, or buts.
2. If the prop is too big to fit either under your feet or in an overhead bin. So, you can totally take fans, poi, double staves, levi wands, collapsible hoops, and many more on the plane with you. If, on the other hand, you’ve got a dragon or contact staff you are going to have to check it. For cases like this, it's not a bad idea to invest in a good ski or snowboard bag to protect the staves in transit.

Preparing your Tools for Travel

Whether you’re checking your tool or taking it on the plane with you, it’s a good practice to try and minimize the visible effects of fire on your tool. Wipe it down with some Clorox wipes or a cleaning spray to cut through the soot. Also: cover your wicks. While your fire tools aren’t explicitly forbidden by TSA, that doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to call attention to them, either.

Many companies offer wick covers of a variety of types that not only protect your wicks from the elements, but also make them look friendlier and stand out a little bit less to people unfamiliar with what we do. You can also use water balloons, socks, or beer cozies for this purpose.

A lot of people also like to separate their tools into a small bag that includes a note specifying that they are juggling equipment or include a photograph of themselves using said equipment to clarify its purpose. I’m not actually sure this does much good to a bag inspector in a rush, but it also can’t hurt in the grand scheme.

Props as Carry-on

If you decide to take your props as carry-on, here are a couple things you should be aware of:

It’s not unusual for the bag inspector to pull aside anything that looks every a little bit suspect as you go through the X-Ray. They’ll probably consult with some of the other TSA officers on duty to get their opinion on the matter. If they decide to classify your prop as something you can’t fly with, such as a weapon, ask to talk to the On-Duty Supervisor.

In many cases, the On-Duty Supervisor will consult their list of forbidden items and decide your prop doesn’t match anything on their list. In a few cases, however, they will classify your prop as something you can’t fly with. This has happened to me once with my double staves, which were classified as being something like a baseball bat. Other times I’ve talked TSA officers into classifying them as something more similar to walking canes.

When you’re talking with TSA, be polite, seriously! You’d be surprised how far being reasonable will get you. Remember, they’ve got all day to wait, but you’ve got a flight to catch. They know they can wait out someone who is making a scene whereas if you’re calm and reasonable and show you have a good understanding of the regulations, they’ll be much more likely to listen to you.

If the On-Duty Supervisor tells you that you can’t fly with your prop, you’re out of options for now. You’ll then have three choices: you go back out to ticketing and try to check your prop, leave the prop with someone at the airport, or allow TSA to confiscate it.

In Case of Confiscation

If TSA confiscates your prop, the good news is that you have one more option available to you: as soon as you land, track down the phone number for TSA at the airport you just left and call up the airport’s TSA supervisor. This is a different person than the On-Duty Supervisor who has to make a decision in a few minutes. The airport’s TSA supervisor is almost always more reasonable and can take more time to look up the regulations and make an accurate determination.

Twice I have had an object from my bags confiscated by TSA and both times I was able to contact the TSA supervisor and they determined that the agents who did the confiscating were at fault. Now, here’s the trick: in most cases TSA destroys the objects in confiscates within 48 hours. You need to get the TSA supervisor working on your case before that happens. Most are willing to mail your props back to you, but this process can be a pain.

It should be noted that it’s also entirely possible that your props can be confiscated even if they’re in your checked bags. It’s really unlikely, but it does happen. If that happens, again, call up the airport’s TSA supervisor as soon as you can.

Hope this helps! Enjoy your travels this festival season and I hope to see you guys out on a burn field in the very near future. What are your favorite tips for traveling with your props? Let me know in the comments!