Airlines & Paintball

[Allen Turner]

I asked David who is a TSA trainer to look up the guidelines for Airtravel with paintball. He was kind enough to do so and here is the info straight from the TSA guidelines.
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Transporting Paintball Equipment

Some paintball gear can be transported on-board the aircraft. Please refer to the guidelines below:

Markers (aka Paintball Guns) are prohibited from carry-on luggage. These items should be packed in checked luggage. Paintball guns are not considered a firearm and may be transported in unlocked, soft or hard sided luggage.
Compressed gas cylinders are allowed in checked baggage or as a carry-on ONLY if the regulator valve is completely disconnected from the cylinder and the cylinder is no longer sealed (i.e. the cylinder has an open end). The cylinder must have an opening to allow for a visual inspection inside. TSA Security Screeners will NOT remove the seal/regulator valve from the cylinder at the checkpoint. If the cylinder is sealed (i.e. the regulator valve is still attached), the cylinder is prohibited and not permitted through the security checkpoint, regardless of the reading on the pressure gauge indicator. TSA Security Screeners must visibly ensure that the cylinder is completely empty and that there are no prohibited items inside.

Please note: Many of the seals/regulators used in paintball are not designed to be removed from their cylinder by the end user. The seal/regulator should only be removed and reinstalled by a factory trained technician.

Passengers considering air travel with a compressed air or CO2 system would be advised to contact its manufacturer for guidance in locating a qualified technician, or to consider shipping the system to their destination via a parcel service.

[wileyc143]

Now me personally I understand the reason for them to not wanting the end user to remove the reg. But, what is so special about removing a reg from a cylinder? Is there a specific torque on the reg that requires a torque wrench? Or is there a need for a thread lock that the producer recommends?

I personally work with nitrogen and hydralics with 3000 psi working pressures on a constant basis. I understand the hazards involved. Is it possible that we contact the manfacturer and request this information so that when we are traveling to tournaments via airlines that I or we can go ahead and remove the regs? I know it will be a real pain to ship your tank via ground mail before a tournament.

[Allen Turner]

Regs

There are an actual Torque reccomendation and Threadlock reccomendations. Rule of thumb is "Snug" dont flatten the O-Ring. Use an adequate amount of threadlock.

As a matter of practicality I know that players and shops remove the Regs all the time and re connect them, its not a difficult process but you need to understand what you are doing, and how to re-install the valve w/ threadlock.

[wileyc143]

well thats a relief Allen. Thanks again for the info.