Thank you Andrea and Bruce your for great replies! Your experience with airport security and the boxes has been good. Like you, it would be my inclination to add everything I could along with the bike parts, up to max weight. But, I would fear that they would open it, paw around thinking I was hiding something, never get it all back in, tape it shut poorly, and it would roll around the baggage carousel at the end spilling stuff.

I do like building things, including custom boxes when I can't find the perfect size, so your approach is very appealing. My only marginally similar experience with bikes was in the San Diego train station at the end of our Pacific Coast ride from our home in BC when I bought an Amtrak bike box (for a single bike) and partially disassembled our tandem enough to fit it in for the ride back to Bellingham. We had not towed the hard case on that ride, and Amtrak wanted bikes in boxes.

As for inspiration... touring again after your ladder accident and recovery, journalling from the road with great photos and wordsmith skills, telling compelling stories in your posts, appreciating Rilke, all come quickly to mind.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply re the cardboard approach!

247!!

For all the snakes and other critters out there (dead and alive) and the many unseen ways they help hold together the Delicate Fabric of our handsome planet.
🌸❇️🌼❇️🌸

Hi Mark,
Thank you for your questions. Although I'm not familiar with tandems I would think a cardboard box would be fine. As Andrea said, we have only ever had one box opened one time (this trip coming home) but it was as if they opened it and didn't touch a thing. It's always been my fear that some zealous worker trying to impress a superior thinks he sees something on the x-ray and digs through the box. No way would anyone ever pack it back up the way we do. But this has never happened and unless we put something that looks really suspicious in the box, I doubt it ever will happen. The workers generally don't want to dig through the box and repack it and reseal it. On our boxes there is the main flap that is obviously the one they would slit to open. That's no problem. And this time, when they did open it up, they did retape it, although not as well as I would have. The thing about cardboard is that it is versatile. You can make a box any size or shape, plus you can add an extra layer of cardboard under something that needs more protection. We use things like sleeping bags and tents and clothing to pad here and there. I use empty water bottles inside the corners for some more reinforcement. There are lots of things to make a box better. And, so far for us, it has always worked perfectly. Our boxes end up being right around 19 or 20 kilos every time. A cardboard box that heavy is not going to get thrown around easily. I think this is one reason they have fared so well, that and the difficulty of lifting them without handles. It's just a big heavy box. There are, of course, unforeseen problems that can occur so nothing is perfect. We have gone with cardboard boxes partly because of cost and our desire to leave from a different location than the one we arrived at. Cardboard has proven to be the most versatile way to go in this regard.

Thank you for your kind words. Andrea and I have never thought of ourselves as inspirations. So nice of you to say that. We simply like a good adventure and if we learn something along the way, we want to share what we have learned. CycleBlaze is a great place to do that - a community. It's been a lot of fun meeting people through CB.

That's great.

Well, the main problem is that you come away with a dark oily substance all over your body and smelling badly. I can get that by changing the oil in my car.

Hi Mark,
Yes, those are the boxes we put the BFs in. We made them from full sized bike boxes that we purchased from a bike shop in Ubon Ratchathani in January 2020. They’re back in Portland again and good for at least one more flight. The dimensions are 20x30x12 inches. We carry a small string with us with those lengths marked off. Converting to this size that will open on top is kind of a mind stretch but so far I’ve figured it out every time. And yes, the top that opens is clearly marked with our names and addresses. We never assume it will end up in the hold of a plane right side up so put lots of padding and extra cardboard inside. This recent flight home is the first time one got opened, by Thai security. They did not lift out the bike or rearrange anything. They did not re-tape it as thoroughly as we did but the bike is fine. I think if you are wanting an open jaws trip and are willing to discard your box and packing materials at the airport or hotel, this is a good way to go. At the end of the trip allow an extra day or two to track down a proper box that’s very sturdy. Buy a couple rolls of packing tape, and have a sharp knife along. It just so happened that we had friends willing to store the boxes in Bangkok this time so now we know that these boxes can take multiple flights. They are probably mostly packing tape now 😜!

Hello Bruce,

You and Andrea are an inspiration (along with others here at CB) to keep heading out, not to mention overcoming obstacles to do that! (Obstacles re physical health increasing with age for many of us, for sure.)
Your comment to Steve and Dodie recently about using cardboard boxes when checking bikes on flights resonates with me as a good option that we might use with our BF tandem. We've used the hard case (for wheels, triangles, etc. up to 23 kg), plus an extra duffle, in the past. But, as you know there are limitations and problems to that.
My question is: Do you leave one side of your boxes clearly marked as an 'open here' section, for TFSA? Have they opened your boxes to inspect them? If yes, did they do a good job of reinserting everything and taping is shut quite well?
For us, after flights, TFSA attention led to our first hard case suffering a broken main latch (fixed that), then a broken handle (I just removed the remaining stub of that) and later broken side latches (had to retire it and get a new case.)
Just curious: Are those boxes in the corner in this photo your bike boxes? They look well made and sturdy. I cannot tell if they would open and reseal easily.
Thanks, Mark

I don't know. I don't have fond memories of getting a massage from a gas station guy.

It's where Lucy would practice if she was in Thailand. https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Lucy%27s_psychiatry_booth?file=LucyBooth.jpg

Thank you, Brent. I'm glad you liked them. They are very peaceful, as most beach photos are.

I have no idea how they made it. I'm sure it was wood and not bamboo or rattan. Because it was painted it was hard to figure out how they had made it. I guess I didn't spend enough time trying though. I try and try to educate people on the little I know, through this journal, but I guess this time I failed. Sorry.

Wow, that makes it all the more impressive! Was it like bamboo or rattan? How old earth did they get those bends?

Well, that's something you don't see everyday!

These things were made of wood!

And all the other stuff too!