First off you folks are making a big deal about nothing. I've had absolutely no problems flying with my rig since Sept, 11th. The fact that I work as a FSS specialist for the FAA and usually carry my ID badge with me has absolutely nothing to do with it either. The fact that I'm a frequent flyer on Continental, Delta, and Southwest has nothing to do with it either. Southwest is the airline that worked to get the Cypres thing resolved and if you read the SSK website you will see that prior to Sept 11th an IATA safety conference was convened where the Cypres thing was brought up. I agree the security people sometimes don't know what they are looking at sometimes and need an education but most of them do know what a rig looks like, especially at airports near major dropzones. The advice others gave about not wearing skydiving tees etc is good advice. You want to look like everyone else and don't want to draw attention to yourself. If you do get picked for a random gate search just don't let them pull on any handles. They know perfectly well what you are carrying. The FAR thing helps also in this regard. The letter from the airline outlining their policy does to. Just be polite and nice and act like a frequent flyer cause it works everytime. If the security people want to do the paper thing, let them, the rig will pass. Also it is good advice to pack your helmet and hooknifes and rigging tools in your Checked bag. Bag matching should also eliminate a lot of lost bags. Have a good flight and don't make an issue where ther actually is none. Chris
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