Baggage Identification With Duct Tape : A Simple Solution

Web: www.fishfoto.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

12/08/2008 - Baggage Identification With Duct Tape : A Simple Solution

Over the past two years I have received countless e-mails asking me various solutions for labeling baggage so it is easily identifiable. I have written on the topic many times, each time detailing various ways. These topics range from how I colour code my bags to be easily spotted, to making sure my name and contact info is clearly found inside and outside of the bags.

Overall the quick and easy visual identification of my bags is carried out by the simple use of brightly coloured duct tape.

Duct tape, as everyone knows, has thousands of uses. Duct tape is used to fix heating ducts (its original purpose) to NASA's use of duct tape to keep astronauts alive on Apollo 13 (it was used to help modify the carbon dioxide filters....and again on Apollo 17 to repair a damaged fender on a lunar rover on the moon).

If duct tape can keep astronauts alive why overlook it as a simple solution to baggage identification? I generally use one colour tape on my bags so I can quickly spot my bags and to keep them all uniform. The colour I have chosen is "Flamingo Pink."

Duct tape will adhere to almost any surface and remain in place until removed, which makes it ideal for bags that will go from hot on the ramp to frozen in the baggage hold, to pouring rain waiting for your rental car.

My bags get wrapped with 1.88in (4.77cm) tape on the top and side handles, then additional tape on the front, back and remaining untaped side. By placing florescent coloured tape on all four sides of my bag not only can I identify my bag quickly, but also airport and baggage thieves are deterred from approaching my bag.

As I have also discussed many times in the past airport thieves want an easy target and a piece of luggage wrapped clearly in multiple places in extremely bright (and in some cases bordering on obnoxious) tape is not a bag they want to try and blend into the crowd with.

While I also use coloured electrical tape and gaffers tape on my equipment and personal items, my bags are primarily taped in duct tape. In the United States the easiest tape to find (in my experience) is Duck brand duct tape, however for ease of purchase when buying 'matching' duct tape, vinyl tape, electrical tape and gaffers tape I have not found any place that equals the quality and selection offered by TapeBrothers.com

Below is a photo of three rolls of duct tape I have on my shelf for labeling various pieces of travel gear. These three rolls of 'Duck Tape' are coloured Blaze Orange, Island Lime and Funky Flamingo (which is on my bags).

Happy Flying!

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4/07/2008-The Weekly Round Up : New Mountainsmith Giveaway Deadline : Anatomy Of Airport Security : Easy Baggage IDs : Why Can't I Fly When I Want?

Web: www.fishfotoworldwide.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

4/07/2008-The Weekly Round Up : New Mountainsmith Giveaway Deadline : Anatomy Of Airport Security : Easy Baggage IDs : Why Can't I Fly When I Want?

This week's weekly round up is brought you to from my perch on a cement wall overlooking the San Francisco Bay and San Francisco International Airport's (SFO) Runway 28L/28R. It's Independence Day here in The United States and I'm off to photograph a wedding here in San Francisco then catch the overnight night flight to Philadelphia to photograph another wedding there tomorrow morning.......ahhh the freedom flight can give us sometimes!

We kicked off this week on Flying With Fish the announcement that the Mountainsmith Bag Giveaway deadline has been extended! For you procrastinators out there who have not submitted the traveling worse case scenario you have experienced you now have until NEXT WEEK! That's right folks; you have until July 14th to get your entries in! You can find out more details here:
30/6/2008 - Mountainsmith Bag Give Away Deadline Extended!

As I took my first flight of the week it occurred to me that I have never walked the readers of Flying With Fish through a security checkpoint from start to finish. I rectified this situation in this post: 2/07/2008 - Anatomy Of An Airport Security Checkpoint

For those of you frustrated with an airline at times telling you 'we can't locate your bag' when it has been delayed, I detailed one bag I often travel with that has made this excuse from an airline impossible to believe. Find out how I labeled one of my bags here: 3/07/2008 - Clear Baggage Identification - Revisited

Planning a trip can be difficult when there are no flights when you want to depart. Find out why you can't always fly when you want in this entry: 4/07/2008 - Why Can't I Fly When I Want To Fly?

I'll finish up this weekly round up with the reminder that there are still seats available or the No Jet Lag Photo Workshops. The Europe Workshop and the Round The World Workshop are both designed to push their participants to the edge of what they think they are capable of handling as both photographers and travelers! There are whole new sets of skills awaiting you......sign up now and Come Fly With Fish! For more info click here: 30/6/2008 - Join The No Jet Lag Photo Workshops: Push Your Travel & Photography Skills To A Whole New Level!

Have a Happy 4th Of July! I should see the fireworks this evening just as my flight lifts off over the San Francisco Bay

Happy Flying!

Clear Baggage Identification - Revisited

Web: www.fishfoto.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

3/07/2008 - Clear Baggage Identification - Revisited

While I have covered the topic of clearly identifying checked baggage in the past, both about what information to place on your bag, as well as clearly making your bag identifiable, I still frequently receive questions regarding this topic.

As I pulled the bag that contains my mobile lighting kit off the baggage carousel yesterday at Washington's Dulles Airport (IAD) I thought I should shoot a few photos to demonstrate another very effective method of clearly labeling your baggage.

As any traveler knows the vast majority of suitcases being rolled through airports are black ballistic nylon bags. As you watch for your bag to come around the baggage carousel it is hard to look past the sea of black luggage; should your bag be delayed it becomes hard to describe your bag when you tell the baggage office agent that you are trying to locate your black ballistic nylon roller bag.

For me, when I travel with my lighting equipment it is critical that it arrive with me, or be able to quickly located by an airline and returned to me. While thousands of bags are separated from their owners annually never to be seen again, I'd find it impossible to believe an airline could misplace any of my bags given how they are marked......especially my lighting bag, which must be checked due to the size and weight of the bag.

Having had my lighting bag 'delayed' a number of times while connecting to the last flight of the night out of Philadelphia (PHL) into Providence (PVD) I became frustrated when the airline would often tell me they could not find my bag in the baggage facility (despite it being wrapped in bright tape, which was listed clearly in the description of my bag on the baggage forms), further delaying the bags return to me. Twice, when my lighting bag was delayed my luggage tags ended up becoming lost, once losing both my luggage tag and the checked baggage tag placed on the bag by the airline with my name, flight and destination information. While I have my name and contact info placed clearly inside my bags, airlines often only look for contact info as a last resort, if at all.

Rather than become subject to an airline's inability to locate and identify my baggage all of my checked bags now have my name and contact information written or labeled in more than one location on the outside of the bag. This identification system is in addition to my luggage tag and the baggage tag placed on my baggage by the airline.

My lighting bag, a Lowepro "Pro Roller 2" is an extreme example of my exterior markings. The labeling of this bag is not only a huge deterrent to airport thieves, but it also makes it impossible for an airline to tell me they cannot locate my bag. Should my bag be accidentally transferred to another airline, or be placed in a baggage office, anyone can quickly and easily find the name and contact information of the owner (me).

What did I do to this one bag?

For starters on the front and back in bright yellow paint marker are large drawings of five cartoon fish. The largest fish is wearing a backward baseball hat; the second fish is the Susie Fish (Mom) and it has large sunglasses and a pony tail; following Susie is the Lauren Fish (my daughter) with a bow on it's head; next up is the Max Fish (my oldest son) with a beanie & propeller hat; taking up the rear is a Little Simon Fish (the youngest) with a forward baseball hat on.

If 'The School-of-Fish' on the front and back of the bag are not a good enough visual aid to look for when writing out the delayed baggage form, hopefully they can find the name 'FRISCHLING' written on the to top in bright yellow with some ease. If for some reason my Fish Family and last name in huge capital letters are easy enough to spot, hopefully the cannot miss my full name written in bright yellow on the side and the back along, along with my phone number and e-mail address (never mind this bag, like my other bags being covered in bright Flamingo Pink duct tape).

I'm not suggesting everyone go out and make large cartoon drawings on their bags (unless you want to) however you should make sure to clearly place your name and a contact phone number in more than one location on the outside of any baggage you plan on checking.

Happy Flying!

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