Returning with legacy lightsaber hilt

[leiaorgana]

I’m just curious how other people safely packed their legacy lightsaber hilts and blades from Dok-Ondar’s when returning to the UK?

We’re flying with Virgin and I’ve heard conflicting things about it being up to the TSA agent’s discretion when going through security whether the hilt can go in carry on or not because of the weight of the hilt. Ideally, I’d prefer to pack it in my carry on case so that it doesn’t get damaged with the way they throw the cases around there but I don’t want any problems getting it through security either so I was just wondering what other people have done with them.

 

[SkyGuy]

I’m not going to give you any helpful advice about traveling with your legacy saber, but checking that you know the legacy hilts come in quite a large, hard, plastic case that won’t be easy to just tuck away in a carry-on like a small hilt. (This is Darth Maul’s as an example.) It will be fairly well-protected. I’ve had several shipped home domestically, and while some of the packages came rather beat-up, the hilts and cases were all fine. The blades come in a long, narrow cardboard box and aren’t as nearly protected and are, unfortunately, breakable. We’ve always put them in the overhead bin, after everyone else has loaded their luggage, and never had an issue. You could also purchase one of the saber carrying cases, put your saber together, and then place the entire saber in the overhead bin and then pack the empty hard hilt case in your suitcase or carry-on.

 

[leiaorgana]

Thanks for the info! I already purchased Leia’s hilt and the 36” blade yesterday and knew about the box etc beforehand through previous research. The box will easily fit in the carry on wheelie case I have though so I’m not worried about it not fitting. I’m more concerned about whether it’ll be allowed through security or not in carry on luggage because of how heavy it is.

I think I got some bad info yesterday though from the CM that served me there because I tried to purchase one of the carry cases for the blade and was told they were only for the ones you make at Savi’s, which I didn’t think was the case but didn’t push it. Tbh I think they were new and didn’t really know what was going on. It wasn’t the greatest interaction.

 

[SkyGuy]

It’s a different case than the ones they give you at Savi’s. The one at Savi’s is black and kind of a nylon material, and the one you can buy in Dok Ondar’s is a dark gray and is more of a canvas material, but it has the foam liner like the one from Savi’s that should protect the blade and hilt. I have one and it seems much sturdier than the Savi’s one, but it’s also a little tricky to get a saber in there. You kind of have to jiggle it around to make it work. And unless something changed, you should have been able to purchase one of them from the store because the one’s from Savi’s are given to builders for free on their exit from Savi’s. They have no need to go upstairs and purchase a case.

 

[deno]

I love Star Wars but admit I'm clueless here BUT...

My eldest has a reservation at Savi's at the start of our trip. I read that they can ship this back to the UK for us? Does anyone know how that works as I also read that he can 'play' with it first and then ship it at the end of the holiday.

Anyone know anything about that?

 

[tinkerbell1991]

I spoke to Virgin ironically last week about this and they confirmed that the hilt needs to go into HOLD luggage as the weight makes it viable for being classed as a weapon. I'd personally well pad it and put it into your suitcase. TSA do have on their website lightsabers can be put in the hold but if its vague like most things in the world are and you turn up but they don't allow it through (they could argue they mean blade only on their website ), you don't want to run the risk of losing it when it could have easily be stored in a suitcase

 

[MadScouser]

We did Saavi workshop, came home with two lighstabers in their carry cases (on BA) as hand luggage

No eyes batted through security (mind boggles) - and BA staff stored in im guessing Biz class / first at front as obviously not fitting into overhead cabins

All a bit strange and odd really. That was at the end of April (so 2 months ago)