UKC

Axes on ferries

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 George Salt 27 Dec 2015
Hi, just a word of warning for all you would be winter warriors out there. Me and a friend have recently crossed the med, by ferry, from Spain to Morocco and nearly had our ice axes confiscated.
The spanish border force were concerned about us having them on the ferry over because we could potentially do some damage. Bearing in mind our bags we're right beside us and not in a secure 'hold'. Fair point. But we had all other gear to accompany them, therefore painting an overall picture of what we're up to.
No way were we abandoning them. We argued our case for a while and they compromised by letting us go across with our bags in the hands of some of the ferry workforce. Reckon we got off lightly!
In hindsight this does make sense but i wouldn't want to be in a situation like that again.
Anyway, hope this helps people out in some way.
 gethin_allen 27 Dec 2015
In reply to gkrgeorge:

When I saw your thread title I thought it was going to be a spin off mock thread taking the piss out of another "can I take my axes/ice screws/crampons in easyjet".
Surely this is a ridiculous issue, you could easily do as much damage with a small penknife as you could with an axe and if you were trying to cause carnage, why would being on a ferry be any more effective than being in any other environment? it's not like on a plane where you could cause the thing to fall out of the sky if you managed to get in the cockpit or damage the fuselage significantly.
 Misha 27 Dec 2015
In reply to gkrgeorge:
It sounds like you were foot passengers, is that right? Although you get spot checks on cars as well, I've been 'checked' in Dover a couple of times but they just had a cursory look without even taking bags out never mind opening them.
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OP George Salt 27 Dec 2015
In reply to gethin_allen:

We joked about the same thing after. They picked up on our axes but not crampons, screws or knife.
OP George Salt 27 Dec 2015
In reply to Misha:

Yep, it was an x ray job when they picked up on the axes. "No piolet, IMPOSSIBLE!"
Well, obviously not.
Best not risk sacrificing them though. That's what i'm trying to get across. Fly instead!

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