Li-ion and flying.....

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

When I was 12, I had this mania to light up the other side of the hill that was near my house. Spent all my money on the best flashlight I could afford and…on a very clear and dark night, you could faintly see the light touching the tree tops.

That was over 50 years ago….

Today, I bought the BFL Q8, yes I did…and woman folk fainted! And….I have full intentions of burning those trees to the ground!

Except….can I bring li-ion batteries on a plane? I asked the airline today and it appears that the answer depends on how I phrase the question. If I call them flashlight batteries, no problem, if I call them lithium batteries, I raise concerns.

Two questions….

Is there a concern? Needless to say, safety overrides everything.

Have you had a problem with airlines?

It’s going to be a bit of fun…but not if there are issues.

(To buy locally, they are 70 euros and worthless to my parents)

2

I fly with Lithium cells all the time. It is generally permitted as long as you take them into the cabin and not in checked bags and follow proper safety procedure.

The only questions I get are why I need so many flashlights :smiley:

3

Just don’t tell anyone.

4

Thanks USA.

Apparently I should of done a bit of googling.

They are allowed up to a certain power quantity and to make sure the is no draw.

Oh well…I can’t see any “delete thread” button sooooooo….

5

If you plan traveling regularly I would get Lithium safety bags or just leave them inside the product (ie light).
There are also special Lithium transport boxes, not sure how many you’d need to move.

6

It’s just a one time thing with the flashlight. I always carry a laptop and other devices and never thought anything about it. My extra concern rose because I was buying some 18650 and was going through all the “they are dangerous” hype.

To turn this thread into something useful……Here is the TSA regs…

…

Lithium ion batteries (a.k.a.: rechargeable lithium, lithium polymer, LIPO, secondary lithium). Passengers may carry all consumer-sized lithium ion batteries (up to 100 watt hours per battery). This size covers AA, AAA, cell phone, PDA, camera, camcorder, handheld game, tablet, portable drill, and standard laptop computer batteries. The watt hours (Wh) rating is marked on newer lithium ion batteries and is explained in #3 below. External chargers are also considered to be a battery. With airline approval, devices can contain larger lithium ion batteries (101-160 watt hours per battery), but spares of this size are limited to two batteries in carry-on baggage only. This size covers the largest aftermarket extended-life laptop batteries and most lithium ion batteries for professional-grade audio/visual equipment.

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ash/ash_programs/hazmat/passenger_info/media/Airline_passengers_and_batteries.pdf

7

There will always be an inherent risk when you have this much energy inside a battery. Technically, a spring inside the light could collapse and bridge towards a dead short. A fire would be imminent and there are pretty much zero ways to stop an event like this inside a cabin. This happens with mech vape mods at times and the youtube videos are horrifying.

The safest thing you can is get one of these:

8

I was planning on isolating the pack. Either take it out completely or if that was an issue, using some electrical tape/disc on both ends to isolate the batteries.

That plastic cap looks good too. My only concern would be because it’s outside the device, it may rise suspicion. Then what do I say? I did that so they don’t ignite? That should go over real well…

I never underestimate how much I need to underestimate some people.

9

Leaving the battery inside the flashlight should be safe and will probably not raise any concerns.

10

I can dream of a flashlight with a 160Wh battery! My last trip to the Philippines, I brought my drone with two 3200mAh batteries, and a couple flashlights with 2 18650s each, on my carry-on laptop bag, with absolutely no issues. I hazard to guess it has something to do with the baggage compartment being not pressurized and in sub-freezing temperatures…

11

I’ve flown many times with 18650 batteries in my carry-on and never been questioned. Sometimes I had as many as 4 flashlights (5 of us in the family) as well as spare batteries in plastic battery containers. And this is flying from USA airports as well as ones in Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia (we take 1 or 2 overseas vacations each year).

12

Just be sensible about it. Use of plastic storage containers taped shut, batteries out of devices so they can’t accidentally turn on, carry-on only. Pretty simple.

These silicone sleeves work really well too. Cost about $1 each, or less if you buy several.

13

In January I flew with the following in my carry on luggage. They didn’t give it a second look.

But to be safe I always carry with the batteries print outs from the FAA and TSA web sites which state what batteries are allowed.