Can I take my bat on a plane?

You know the feeling. You are planning a great summer vacation and you want to fly somewhere sunny. You are not the kind of person that can relax at the pool for a whole week, so you are planning to take you baseball equipment with you, to get some swings in. The season is running and you do not want to let your team down by not practicing at all during your vacation. 

So you arrive at the airport, you bats in your hand and suddenly security tackles you and pushes you to the ground. 

Now you probably wonder why. Had you read this post before your vacation, you would know why this happened. 

“Can I take my bat on a plane as carry-on?” 

That is a question I am getting asked fairly regularly, and the sad answer is “NO!”. 

You are not allowed to bring your bats as carry-on, as they are seen as potentially dangerous, so you are not allowed to take them into the cabin. 

You should also be careful with metal cleats. Most airlines classify these as weapons, you they are also not allowed as carry-on. 

I would recommend to get a big baseball bag, like the one below in order to transport your beloved baseball gear. Even though these bags are pretty sturdy, make sure to wrap your bats in bubble wrap in order to keep them safe. Baggage handling can be pretty rough and it would be a shame to have dents in your baseball bats, because you did not prepare them right for a long trip. 

“Can I take my bat on a plane?”

Now you know that you cannot do so. As a rule of thumb, make sure to put everything that could be used as a weapon in any way in your baggage. This includes your helmet and shoes with cleats as well. Most airlines actually accept your helmet as carry-on luggage, but I would not risk it. Would be a shame to not be allowed to take the helmet into the cabin after checking in your baggage and then having to throw the helmet away. Better safe than sorry!

In case you forgot to prepare your equipment correctly and you might need a new bat after the flight, check out my review for the best baseball bats.

I hope this post was of any help for you. 

Make sure to leave a comment and tell me about your experiences with airlines and baseball equipment. 

Get home safe, 

Jan