A Baggage Story

J & K One family shared with me their own unique take on my mortar case luggage. I absolutely loved the results.

a Baggage Story 2010-03-11

Luggage & Gear
K had seen a video of my Flying with Firearms lecture. For a while it was little more than a fun story he could share with some of his other gun enthusiast friends. Until the time came for he and his wife to book a flight! It was then that he was inspired to build some of the luggage that i often show. (He went through Coleman's Military Surplus, the outfit i reccommend for 81mm ammo cans.) They arrived in great shape and he welded on some solid steel hasps...

After that, they all received a fresh base coat of black paint...

The cases already looked cool enough just like that, but K's wife J wanted to change the sort of attitude they might solicit from others as they travel. J's a fine woman, and not at all uncomfortable around firearms (from what i understand, her daily carry piece is a .45) but she was quite conscious of others' feelings and thus decided to give the luggage some additional colors...

I particularly like the stencil on that particular side there... Perhaps it might catch the eye of someone from the TSA, the Police, or other agents of the state who are involved when we travel with firearms and remind them of the primary value which they should be concerned with protecting.

Final Details & Thoughts
I love how cleanly these turned out and i wish J & K the best of luck in their travels. While a part of me is concerned that those flags will take quite a beating in the rough and tumble world of baggage handling, the multiple coats of a clearcoat protectant might preserve them just enough to keep looking alright well into the future. Perhaps we'll see a travel account here from these two fine folks at some point later on.