Keeping your fursuit safe when travelling: A Guide

I thought I’d write a quick post with some tips on how I travel with my fursuit, or tips I’ve picked up from more seasoned travellers. Fursuits are a big investment and keeping them safe and clean is super important! So here’s five handy little tips that might help you travel safely with yours next time!

Carry your head as hand luggage

This very much depends on the size of your head, but if you can get away with storing it as hand luggage – do it! The head is the most fragile part and if you can avoid putting it in your suitcase it’s a really good call. A lot of fursuit makers now do custom bags for your fursuit head too, so look in to that!

Use a hard shell case

If you are going to travel with your fursuit head in a suitcase, then always opt for a hard shell case. These are easy enough to find, but the bigger and more durable the case, the safer your head will be. Be sure to pad around the head as best you can, and stuff the inside to prevent any warping, which brings me on to my next tip…

Store paws inside the head

A great space saver is to store the smaller parts of your fursuit inside the head itself, whether you’re carrying the head as a carry on, or in a suitcase, stuffing the head will help keep the shape and form of the foam head safe, and it makes carrying a partial suit a lot easier.

Consider partial or poodling

If you’re not convinced you can keep your fursuit safe, consider not taking the full suit. A lot of the time I will travel with only my head and hand paws, it’s a lot easier to manage and there’s always the joy of ‘dressing up your character’ when you don’t take your full suit.

Poodling is great as well! I’d like to think the fandom is mostly over the period where we used to police this, but if you’re happy having exposed arms and legs, then poodling is a great and safer option for travelling with your suit!

Pack essential fursuit care items

It’s all well and good travelling with your fursuit, but I’d also recommend carrying some quick maintenance items to keep your suit as clean and fresh as possible. Things I always take with me include:

• A wire brush: It doesn’t have to be a big one, but a little wire brush keeps your suit looking photo ready even after a long and bumpy flight.
• Fursuit Spray: Doing a full wash of your suit while on vacation isn’t really an option, so packing a little fursuit spray is a good idea, you can probably pick this up at the Dealer’s Den if you need to!
• Plastic bags: Wrapping your fursuit items in a plastic bag, or any find of waterproof wrapping is a great idea. Not only does it protect your fursuit from getting wet, but it also helps prevent other items from tangling the fur.
• A sewing kit: This might already be on your travel essentials, but a small sewing kit with the correct colour thread is a handy thing to have, there’s been numerous occasions where my friends have had slight wear and tear mishaps during the convention and it’s made them nervous to continue fursuiting. Even if you’re not a great sewer yourself, you’ll be surprised how many of your furry friends are and would be willing to lend a paw in an emergency!

Travelling abroad with your fursuit for the first time can be a little stressful, but its so worth it when you’re there getting gorgeous photos on location with all your friends.

Be sure to give your fursuit a good wash after your adventures!