One-piece or Take-down?

[Hawken1911]

I'm curious how many of you experienced bowhunters who travel do so with a one-piece bow?  Take-downs are made to make traveling easier, and in some cases cheaper, but I see a lot of Africa trophy photos with one-piece bows.

If you travel with a hard bowcase or tube for a one-piece(especially one for a longbow) how much extra (ballpark) are you paying per flight?

Thanks,

Paul

[Hawken1911]

Also, has anyone ever had a bow damaged on a flight, and if so, what were the circumstances?

[John3]

I just went through this the past two weeks. I am taking a one piece bow to Africa this July. I know that Delta "includes" bowcases in your free luggage allowance (2 checked, 1 carry on). I also think that United includes archery cases as well. I got a gibberish email back when I asked about bowcases from United.
I am flying SA air when in South Africa. From what I can tell it's a wash. Some charge an xtra $25 to $100 for the size (over the total inch limit). either way I am not going to sweat at check in, lets see if somebody catches the fact that my bowcase is an whole 2" over the limit.

John III

[Bill Turner]

If you do not have a TD don't hesitate to take a one piece. Personally, I will never travel by air to hunt with anything but a takedown bow. Air travel is differcult enough without the long, cumbersome, highly identifiable bow case. Good luck and have a great hunt.

[Orion]

Haven't flown outside of the country with longbows, but have flown to Alaska a few times with them.  I use a heavy PVC pipe as well.  Usually, my hunting partner and I tape our two PVC pipes together, along with two shorter pvc pipes in which we carry our arrows, into one package.  Never been charged for more than one checked bag for the entire package.