Vapes on Planes - Traveling With Vaporizers

valleysquirrel said:

Sounds easy enough

Do they like scan mail or anything to see what's inside? Like how about a pen with some wax? I don't plan on mailing one of the pricier vaporizers so a cheap pen would be sweet

Sorry if this has already been answered

If not then maybe the mflb?

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I wouldnt put anything inside them. Just mail a new or well cleaned vaporizer to a PO box. They are aromatherapy devices.

hoptimum said:

I wouldnt put anything inside them. Just mail a new or well cleaned vaporizer to a PO box. They are aromatherapy devices.

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Thanks dude looks like I'll be getting silly in the Philippines

They've probably never seen or heard of a vaporizer so that'll be cool

Thanks again

valleysquirrel said:

Anywho would you risk taking a vaporizer with you to the Philippines?

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I am very experienced with this venue. These guys are serious as a heart attack, just wait until you try to leave the country there is an exit tax. Anyways, are you stopping in Taipei on the way? Its a typical change point for Manila, they have signs like this below so I wouldn't get caught there under any circumstances. The only way I would enter this area of the world, and I wouldn't any more, would be with a clean (read STERILE) vape, no medicine, obtain that locally. The vape, preferably in parts, should be scattered amongst as many other things as possible. I would never do this so If you do I would also pray to whatever deity you hold dear while going through customs and immigration that all will turn out well. If you give them reason to detain you expect a shakedown for $$$ of you and your family to get out.

NEVER underestimate the level of corruption in the place you are visiting.

This goes double in the Philippines. If you are white, stay with a group of friends at all times, never alone. If you hide and let the locals (your friends) negotiate cab fares they will be 1/3 of what they would be if the driver saw you first. Be aware of your surroundings at all times.

I agree, carrying anything suspicious in an Asian airport could be asking for trouble. mailing should be a lot less risky

t-dub said:

I am very experienced with this venue. These guys are serious as a heart attack, just wait until you try to leave the country there is an exit tax. Anyways, are you stopping in Taipei on the way? Its a typical change point for Manila, they have signs like this below so I wouldn't get caught there under any circumstances. The only way I would enter this area of the world, and I wouldn't any more, would be with a clean (read STERILE) vape, no medicine, obtain that locally. The vape, preferably in parts, should be scattered amongst as many other things as possible. I would never do this so If you do I would also pray to whatever deity you hold dear while going through customs and immigration that all will turn out well. If you give them reason to detain you expect a shakedown for $$$ of you and your family to get out.

NEVER underestimate the level of corruption in the place you are visiting.

This goes double in the Philippines. If you are white, stay with a group of friends at all times, never alone. If you hide and let the locals (your friends) negotiate cab fares they will be 1/3 of what they would be if the driver saw you first. Be aware of your surroundings at all times.

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Thanks for your input man

It's not likely that I will bring anything carry on as I will probably just ship a brand new vape over there and maybe not even risk bringing it back

However as @hoptimum mentioned, aren't they just aromatherapy products? If I were to carry on something brand new and sealed do you think they'd hassle me still?

And you definitely know your stuff. The fam actually mentioned that they can get out of some pretty sticky situations with what would be a reasonable price for us in USD

Fortunately the people I'm traveling with were actually born in the Philippines and know the dealio

Btw there's not a chance I would risk bringing any kind of herbal goodies after seeing that warning pic^^ so thank you for that haha

valleysquirrel said:

aren't they just aromatherapy products? If I were to carry on something brand new and sealed do you think they'd hassle me still?

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I'm not sure what the law is in the PI regarding "Aroma Therapy" devices so I took a quick look at paraphernalia law. Here is an interesting section:

"Section 12. Possession of Equipment, Instrument, Apparatus and Other Paraphernalia for Dangerous Drugs. - The penalty of imprisonment ranging from six (6) months and one (1) day to four (4) years and a fine ranging from Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) to Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) shall be imposed upon any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall possess or have under his/her control any equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia fit or intended for smoking, consuming, administering, injecting, ingesting, or introducing any dangerous drug into the body: Provided, That in the case of medical practitioners and various professionals who are required to carry such equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia in the practice of their profession, the Board shall prescribe the necessary implementing guidelines thereof.

The possession of such equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia fit or intended for any of the purposes enumerated in the preceding paragraph shall be prima facie evidence that the possessor has smoked, consumed, administered to himself/herself, injected, ingested or used a dangerous drug and shall be presumed to have violated Section 15 of this Act."

Have fun at Shoe Mart, don't look like you have money (hard to do if you are white since they assume you do), don't get kidnapped, don't draw undue attention to yourself, stay in groups and stay safe

More interesting reading here: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/research/Philippines/RA_9165.html

Fuck that country, never goin to that fucking backwater
Big world, not enough time, I travel to more enlightened countries
Fuck, you go to jail for freaking chewing gum

t-dub said:

I'm not sure what the law is in the PI regarding "Aroma Therapy" devices so I took a quick look at paraphernalia law. Here is an interesting section:

"Section 12. Possession of Equipment, Instrument, Apparatus and Other Paraphernalia for Dangerous Drugs. - The penalty of imprisonment ranging from six (6) months and one (1) day to four (4) years and a fine ranging from Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) to Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) shall be imposed upon any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall possess or have under his/her control any equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia fit or intended for smoking, consuming, administering, injecting, ingesting, or introducing any dangerous drug into the body: Provided, That in the case of medical practitioners and various professionals who are required to carry such equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia in the practice of their profession, the Board shall prescribe the necessary implementing guidelines thereof.

The possession of such equipment, instrument, apparatus and other paraphernalia fit or intended for any of the purposes enumerated in the preceding paragraph shall be prima facie evidence that the possessor has smoked, consumed, administered to himself/herself, injected, ingested or used a dangerous drug and shall be presumed to have violated Section 15 of this Act."

Have fun at Shoe Mart, don't look like you have money (hard to do if you are white since they assume you do), don't get kidnapped, don't draw undue attention to yourself, stay in groups and stay safe

More interesting reading here: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/research/Philippines/RA_9165.html

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Shit dude that's crazy thank you for looking into it in such detail

I'm thinking I'll ship like a FM or something and then depending on how things go, maybe tip them on the way back or just ship it back
-- EDIT: my gf's mom who travels there regularly apparently tips them $10 everytime and in return they don't check her bags. To add more info I guess I'll be flying directly to Manila from the states.

Seriously thanks again dude you were incredibly helpful this is why FC is super tight

When I traveled with my Pax I did the following:

1. Thorough cleaning with ISO, pipe cleaners and quetips
2. Threw some tobacco in it and vaped 3 tobacco bowls
3. Put fresh tobacco in the chamber
4. Put a bag of pipe tobacco next to the Pax and bundled them together

What you get is a vape with some tobacco residue, tobacco smell and a bag of tobacco. If they really want to frame you for smoking weed they better have a good reason since such a package doesn't really scream weed user and the tobacco would mask any faint smell of the dank. Once you arrive at your destination just pour the tobacco out and put some MJ back inside.

I know this guy that recently took a domestic plane trip, with carry-on luggage. He put his superficially clean crafty in an odor-free slipcase in his small carry on, and a small metal personal stash container with ground medicine in his roller, lost among his assorted non-liquid toiletries. These toiletries included some iso prep pads for superficially cleaning the crafty before the flight home, where the same strategy was employed.

If this guy wanted to transport a larger amount of medicine home he would definitely mail it (again just domestically), with lots of teabags, tupperware, bounce sheets, ziplocks and maybe even some dirty laundry, why carry it home when they have flat-rate priority boxes. As someone that used to fire up a dugout wherever, he might even get crafty with his crafty in the layover terminal restroom, or even in the airplane stall. edit: The above is not recommended for beginners or paranoids, or even in general.

I just took my crafty from BWI to DEN by just throwing it in my carry on. I returned with it dirty and a few grams of shatter stashed in my headphone case. No issues what so ever.

Teabags and bounce sheets won't fool anybody. Use multiple layers of vacuum sealing to eliminate odor.

elmomuzz said:

Teabags and bounce sheets won't fool anybody.

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The bounce sheets will definitely throw off a drug-sniffing dog, that's all I am concerned with.
Teabags for insurance

grokit said:

The bounce sheets will definitely throw off a drug-sniffing dog, that's all I am concerned with.

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I'm pretty sure that's not true. Dogs do not detect smell the same way humans do, so you can't mask an odour from a dog. They separate odours the way we separate colours. We smell only Bounce, the dog smells Bounce and your stash.

What is true is that dogs are notoriously inaccurate when it comes to alerting. The high percentage of false alerts (40-60%) is explained by their handlers as "residual odours of the previous presence of drugs." The way drug dogs are trained can be abused, since they associate a key phrase with alerting. This lets the handler initiate a false alert and a subsequent illegal search.

elmomuzz said:

I just took my crafty from BWI to DEN by just throwing it in my carry on. I returned with it dirty and a few grams of shatter stashed in my headphone case. No issues what so ever.

Teabags and bounce sheets won't fool anybody. Use multiple layers of vacuum sealing to eliminate odor.

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Good to know. I have flown from BWI to Denver twice in the past 6 months and did not take any gear with me either time due to paranoia (could lose my job if any legal issues occur). Used a friend's gear when I got there. May try bringing a Solo or Air or PnP next time.

pakalolo said:

I'm pretty sure that's not true. Dogs do not detect smell the same way humans do, so you can't mask an odour from a dog. They separate odours the way we separate colours. We smell only Bounce, the dog smells Bounce and your stash.

What is true is that dogs are notoriously inaccurate when it comes to alerting. The high percentage of false alerts (40-60%) is explained by their handlers as "residual odours of the previous presence of drugs." The way drug dogs are trained can be abused, since they associate a key phrase with alerting. This lets the handler initiate a false alert and a subsequent illegal search.

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It was certainly true when I had a "live dugout" in my back pocket about 15 years ago, surrounded by nothing but a well-worn sandwich baggie and a bounce sheet at the canadian border. While they were searching our vehicle (which had nothing in it), they brought a drug-sniffing dog up to my behind and it sniffed my ass without reacting. So mailing with bounce sheets is a winner for me, as I think it eliminates a big source of probable-cause justification for an actual physical inspection. Ymmv, jme.

Anyone have any any experience or know of someone who has travelled from or into PR with a vape?

@bounce5 Are vaporizers illegal in PR? All a clean product will do is invite further scrutiny at the very most. If you are not carrying, and it's not illegal, it shouldn't be a problem. I know a woman who owns a head shop and she travels with huge glass bongs as carry-ons. It's not illegal domestically. PR is domestic or should be domestic: you don't need a passport for PR, do you? It should be a state.

PR is a commonwealth, which is roughly in between a state and a territory. It has a US zip code, and you don't need a passport. They get to vote about once a decade on self-determination, and always choose to remain the same. I think I read something about them relaxing their mmj laws, not sure.

But what is a vaporizer besides a portable aromatherapy device, which are legal anyways -- just keep it clean and maybe have some mugwort or tulsi or something on you to go with it.

I think Puerto Rico is in fact a commonwealth, but that has nothing to do with it. PA, MA, VA (and think KY and maybe other states) are actually commonwealths, also. Commonwealth has nothing to do with being "between a state and territory".

However, it is a US Territory and under US law. I think they have recently tried to pass MMJ and decriminalization (not legal weed as CO & WA, just making it a citation with no arrest as many states and cities have), but don't think either of those efforts have passed.

So, MJ is about as "legal" in PR as it is in more conservative states. In other words TOTALLY ILLEGAL!

EDIT: Just checked the NORML site. Sorry I didn't think about that until after posting. According to NORML, MJ possession (any amount) and paraphernalia possession are FELONIES in PR. Not sure, but don't think this is the case in any states. Don't know how they are about enforcement down there, but you're probably MUCH better off getting caught with less than an ounce wherever you live than you would be in PR. And, pretty sure you'd have to travel across an ocean to a really crazy government to find felony charges for paraphernalia. In short..... PR is probably the last place you want to risk anything MMJ related. Stick to rum down there!

You don't need a passport or have to go through customs to travel to PR, but would think they may be a little more tuned into illegal drugs both there and on return because of PR being a hub for trafficking from South and Central America for decades.

So... not as risky or well scrutinized as an international flight, but probably more so than flying from Newark to LA or pretty much anywhere else domestically except maybe flying in from Denver.

There is a law against paraphernalia. It is a felony. Max fine $5000. Max prison time 2-5 years. Same as first offense of possession. Not sure if that is different than domestic or other state laws. Is it? However, I've seen vapes for sale at different places. There is a head shop that sells arizer solo and others (way overpriced). I've read though that sometimes those places get shut down. There has been an attempt to decriminalize in the past couple years, to make it just a $150 fine or something without jail time for the first offense, but it didn't pass. Hopefully next time. With a clean vaporizer with an herbal blend or tobacco it could probably be a non-issue - not recognized. Don't know if sending by mail in that state could be better. Or better just avoid it all together. Wanted to see if anyone knew for sure. @M0J0 what would you advise for someone wishing to travel with a vaporizer to/from PR? Thought you might be able to chime in on this topic.

Seems a new unused hand carved Vaporgenie, pouch of pipe tobacco,pipe tool,and bic lighter stowed together wouldn't raise many questions.

How about a VM with new stem and middle piece, cleaned bowl that always used a concentrate screen so it's clean. With a pouch of tobacco, or herbal blend. and empty torch lighter. Maybe the instruction booklet that says that it's an aromatherapy device. Another option is to take it apart. This could be for a round trip (less likely), or for when SWIM leaves to move from PR to the U.S. Or would it be best that SWIM leave it behind.

How drastically would your life change if you got caught? I'm retired - no job to lose - no kids to take away. I may be willing to take more risks than most. I just can't imagine problems with a log vape such as the E-nano. With the parts distributed around your checked luggage, even if they could put it together they wouldn't have the foggiest idea what it is. If asked, it is for aroma-therapy.

I was thinking the HC VG looks so much like a standard fancy tobacco pipe that you would have no reason to even explain what it is if you carried tobacco and related tools.

If i wanted to go to PR and have my vapman or underdog I would Mail/send 'em ahead and not carry 'em on the plane myself.

flotntoke said:

I think Puerto Rico is in fact a commonwealth, but that has nothing to do with it. PA, MA, VA (and think KY and maybe other states) are actually commonwealths, also. Commonwealth has nothing to do with being "between a state and territory".

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However, it's the only US territory besides the northern maraina islands to have commonwealth status.


(commonwealth status in orange)