Can You Carry Exercise Bands as Carry-On Luggage?

Traveling for business or for pleasure can throw your exercise routine out of whack -- but it doesn't have to completely stop you from keeping fit. While it's probably not feasible to bring along your dumbbells or exercise bike, traveling with your exercise bands, also called resistance tubing, is totally possible. These basic pieces of equipment are not only portable, but they can help you exercise your entire body while you're away from home.

Considerations

If your travel plans include airplanes, it's always a good idea to look into what you can take along, since your airline and the Transportation Security Administration have fairly strict rules about what is allowed. If you're concerned in particular about whether your exercise bands can go in either luggage or your carry-on, you shouldn't be.

Materials

Typically, exercise bands are made of rubber or a heavyweight plastic with soft handles. The TSA does have restrictions on certain materials, including explosives, firearms and sporting equipment such as golf clubs, pool cues, lacrosse sticks and ski poles. The sporting equipment list includes things that could possibly be used as weapons and that, consequently, must be checked. The TSA's online list of restricted sporting equipment doesn't include exercise bands or resistance tubing. Using the TSA website's "Can I bring my..." search tool on their main page doesn't register an answer for exercise bands, but it does give an "OK" for jump ropes -- a similar item.

Weight

Another concern for you may be the weight of your carry-on luggage. Typically, an airline's weight limit for your carry-on is 50 pounds. Exercise bands normally weigh less than 1 pound, meaning they'll hardly make a dent in your carry-on weight amount. The weight amount information for exercise bands that is provided on retail websites can be confusing. When a company says it has a "50-pound" exercise band, that means the band provides 50 pounds of resistance, not that the band weighs 50 pounds.

Carrying Them

Airline policies for the carry-on items is typically one bag, such as a small rolling suitcase and a single "personal item." This personal item is typically a purse, handbag or briefcase, but could be your exercise band. As with any specific items or questions you may have about air travel, it's always a good idea to check with the ticketing agent or other airline official if you have concerns before boarding.