Transporting Kit When Playing Abroad

[onasilverbike]

umm how can you say " it's a toy" when it can shoot a projectile/object at 200mph lol...

Because, basically, that is what the Home Office class them as.

Traveling to and from World Cup we had no issues with any kit, just packed in hold luggage and the markers packed with a PGi nearby. Had more trouble with my cameras/laptop in my carry on.

 

[russyj]

Recently flew FlyBE from Toulouse to Leeds. In my checked-in luggage there was a steel air tank with reg detatched from the bottle, and a tippy 98 in lots of bits, no problems with that.

In my hand luggage was a 12V revvy, and a second set of internals for it. Got pulled up going through the x-ray, and the guy asked to have a look in the bag, and I told him I knew what he was looking for, had batteries in the complete revvy and showed him what it did, and that the internals were the same. He looked a bit perplexed, until he said "ah, paintball! You know, we used to have the world cup here in Toulouse?" That made me smile.

 

[Kitty]

Just thought i would post up about traveling to the US as i do it so often and some things have been missed.

firstly remember in some US states inc Mass (Boston) and Hawaii paintball markers are considerd firearms, but regardless of state laws you MUST contact the airline in advance. Its not a problem and tbh its more for your kits safety. You need to fill in a firearms declaration form and get yoru luggae tagged - now this is useful as by being Tagged the luggae handlers dont touch it, a nice security guy will come take your bag and lock it in the fire arms hold and when you land be it Stateside or UK you go to customs to pick it up.

Now UK side they are fine and never check what it is, sometimes when you arrive stateside they will require a look, now for this get some picks of tourney ball with your luggage before you pull out the marker.

Before packing - take out th ebolt and battery, leave the battery side grip open as they normally wanna check this. Also remove batterys from hoppers - mine have a habbit of turning on in flight and its a waste of weight too.

So theres my top few tips

If you have an air bottle, take off the reg chuck it in your luggae and dont mention it, but also note unless your bottle is DOT or Tri tested you cant use it in the states - there air fills are far tighter than ours.

Also note the reason to tell them, all bags are now scanned, anything remotly reasembling a firearm will get pulled and you can get royally screwed if you have not declared it, in fact a mate was sent home over it and lost his right for a visa waiver which is a big pain in the arse. so risk it at your own loss.

Any questions raise them here or PM

 

[Ceicj]

also NEVER i repeat NEVER call your marker a gun i learnt that the hard way

 

[bonjour]

hi there! hope this helps, read through this. http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=1653495&highlight=paintball+marker+plane and you will be okay.

 

[michael freeman]

sorry to bring a old thread up guys but going Germany soon for mill's and have read and heard horror story's about taking markers to Germany and about the F stamp that all markers need? could anyone shed some light on the subject? i really dont fancie getting caught with my marker on and and loosing it with a big fine to pay too !

 

[Tom]

The f stamp is Germany's requirement to confirm the guns are compliant

They have a lower legal limit on the power (7.5 joules / 214 fps)
The f stamp is a marking to prove the gun has been tested AND has been prevented from the ability to adjust higher

You can either be compliant and get stamped, get a fake stamp, or don't get a stamp
You're going to want advice from someone who attends or the organisers

 

[michael freeman]

ok no worries cheers dude

 

[onasilverbike]

sorry to bring a old thread up guys but going Germany soon for mill's and have read and heard horror story's about taking markers to Germany and about the F stamp that all markers need? could anyone shed some light on the subject? i really dont fancie getting caught with my marker on and and loosing it with a big fine to pay too !

I have been told by a German dealer that the F stamp only applies to German citizens, not visitors, various booths at Bitburg have offered an F stamping facility, though the legality of this is very sketchy as they have to be tested and registered by German authorities on behalf of the original manufacturer/distributor in Germany. If you are caught, the local German police may not know any better and seize your 'weapons' and destroy them!

The police don't bother you at Bitburg, basically the local mayor approves of the Millennium event, it brings trade to the area and they are 'asked' to leave the paintballes alone. However, if you fly in to Cologne, you may well have issues, but if you travel by car from the UK you are unlikely to, unless of course you advertise the fact or give the police a reason to pull you. Bitburg is only a short distance from the Belgian and Luxembourg borders, so the likely hood is small.

*Disclaimer* If you do get stopped and fined/jailed don't come looking for me!

 

[Tom]

With regard to it only applying to german citizens and the police not knowing any better, these would not be true

Like in the uk any paintball gun exceeding the specified force or equivalent velocity considered to relate to that force would be considered a firearm, and unless you are licenced for it then it's illegal

Transporting a paintball gun through germany even just passing through also should comply with the f stamp.

If you search google you will find various pages with information by and for us army (and other services) paintballers serving in Germany warning about f stamp compliance. The us services have a habit of treating their bases as American soil, they are not. Any army based abroad keeps within their home country, the host country and the services law. If what they do is illegal under one of those then that law applies (though strictly speaking the home country law does not usually extend that far, assumptions are made that it does and some laws can & do apply to a citizen abroad)

There may be an exemption that applies to the millennium,, however as the subject of f stamps get brought up then there is probably no exemption, possibly some blind eyes are being turned - which would indicate why the police are not aware - because they are not turning a blind eye

Not getting caught by not bringing attention to yourself if you do not have an f stamp, is sort of good advice, in the same way that you don't want to bring yourself to the polices attention if you are doing anything illegal