Rodinal for international travel

[flycatcher]

Hello,

Rodinal seems nearly impossible to ship overseas. Apparently it's hazardous and the only guy who used to do it from Germany has stopped shipping by "surface transport" due to new restrictions.

Now I wil be visiting Germany on work and intend to purchase a few bottles of this fluid and put it in my check-in luggage on the way back.

Is this permitted? What documentation/precautions should I take?

Any feedback would be useful. I came across this link which seems to indicate technical restrictions on transport: http://www.freestylephoto.biz/pdf/msds/adox/Adox_Adonal_Film_Developer.pdf

Anyhow, I thought this forum would have some practical experience. Thanks!

Arvind

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

Rodinal is very concentrated and uses a strong base. As such I would imagine that most airlines would refuse to carry it, and regulations would prohibit it.

[Jan Pedersen]

Chances are that you will forced to remove it from your checked luggage or they will remove it without your knowledge.
I tried to bring a bottle of Agfa WA developer over from DK to the US a few years ago and that was a no no.

[Tim Meisburger]

I brought two bottles from the US to Thailand in checked luggage in September with no problem.

[Louie Powell]

Don't ask, don't tell.

[cjbecker]

Don't ask, don't tell.


Dido

[mpirie]

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the previous posts.

I was shipping some Rodinal in my check-in luggage from the UK into Norway where I lived at the time and was asked to disembark from the plane to open my suitcase and explain what it was. They then proceeded to confiscate my Rodinal citing the "Corrosive" label on the side and despite my protestations that the developer was less corrosive than certain soft drinks, I was given the option to remove it or find another way home as they would not let me fly.

You can take a risk, but if you're caught, be aware of the consequences.

Mike

[atlcruiser]

I would not say a word about it but I would double bag it and maybe stick it in a box...if it leaks all of your stuff will be ruined.

You could also purchase it then ship it yourself.

[Nathan Potter]

Transfer it to a suntan bottle. That improves the odds.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[eddie]

Don't ask, don't tell.

+2



You can take a risk, but if you're caught, be aware of the consequences.
Mike

yeah mike....you are lucky you did not find yourself in way more trouble than you had....:)

double bag it. wrap it safely. hope for the best.

[Brian C. Miller]

What has the world come to, smuggling developer?? How about mixing it yourself?

Digital Truth, Rodinal Formula (http://www.digitaltruth.com/data/rodinal.php)

Make friends with a chemist, and get the formula mixed up for you. Then you won't have to worry about shipping it.

[Tim Meisburger]

I freely admit to living on the dark side. My wife's favorite snacks or seeds for her garden from Indonesia, sausage and cheese from Europe, Rodinal or antique camera parts from America; there is always something dodgy in my suitcases...

When I leave the US they always search my suitcases because of the weird metallic things in there (lenses, or perhaps a Crown Graphic or Kodak Recomar, or a box of carving chisels), but they have never said anything at the other end. I think they actually searched the suitcase I had the Rodinal in (they leave a little leaflet to explain why all your carefully packed clothes are now a mess).

For the Rodinal, it comes in small, well sealed plastic bottles, and there is no restriction against it in the US (maybe there is in Europe), and its relatively cheap, so if I were you I would throw a couple bottles in my luggage (which I did last September), and give it a go. Worst that would happen is they would take it away, but I don't think they would do that leaving the US, and doubt they would do it on arrival in India.

When I travel in Asia (which I do all the time), and take more than carry-on luggage (which I seldom do) I often take my Paterson Orbital tank and small hotel shampoo bottles of Rodinal and fixer so I can develop film on the road (I once sent a months worth of shot negatives through a checked luggage scanner and ruined the lot!).

Cheers, Tim

[Doremus Scudder]

I'll chime in here too, since I regularly travel with chemicals, etc. in my checked baggage between the U.S. and Europe.

I routinely bring PMK pyro dry chemicals back to Vienna in my checked baggage (not Rodinal though). I buy the kit from Photographers' Formulary and leave it in the original packaging. I usually find the TSA leaflet in my suitcase, but have never had the PMK confiscated.

I've also brought back bottles and ziploc bags of various other chemicals (potassium ferricyanide, sodium sulfite, sodium metaborate, etc.) and have never had any problems.

However, the packaging for the chemicals I transport do not have explicit hazmat warnings on the label. I imagine that if you had packaging without warnings on it, there would be absolutely no problems. If your Rodinal bottle has the European hazmat "X" on it (which I suspect), or other warnings, then IF your suitcase is inspected and the bottle is found, there may be problems; mostly because the TSA guys have no real idea about what you are transporting and have to play it safe and follow the rules to the letter.

Wrapping the bottle in bubble wrap and putting that in a couple of ziploc-type bags to prevent leakage is not "intentionally disguising" it, and would increase the odds of it making it through. That is what I do with various bottles of liquid chemicals as well as the numerous bottles of habanero pepper sauces I bring back to Europe with me (I'm an addict). Never, ever had a problem in more than 20 years of doing this. I also bring boxes of 4x5 film back regularly as well, also no problems.

An anecdote to close with: An acquaintance of mine works for the AEC here in Vienna, he's a physicist. He regularly smuggles steaks from the U.S. back with him (Austrian beef just isn't the same as New York aged Angus...). When I asked how he manages without them spoiling he replied that he has found that if he packs them frozen, wrapped in two layers of bubble wrap and then aluminum foil and then all wrapped with plastic wrap, this provides enough insulation to keep still frozen till he arrives home.

Best,

Doremus Scudder

[CantikFotos]

I hear the afternoon light at Gitmo is very nice.

[Bill_1856]

Is Rodinal available in the US?

[Tim Meisburger]

yes

[Bill_1856]

yes
Where?

[Tim Meisburger]

freestyle has it. just search "rodinal". Goes under several different names now, as rodinal was a trade name fro Agfa (I think), but it is the same formula. I got the Adox Adinol version, but there are several.

Tim

[Terry Christian]

+1 for Freestyle (see the OP's first post): Adox Adonal, Foma Fomadon 09, Compard R09 One Shot -- they're all Rodinal. I use the Compard myself.

[Roger Cole]

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the previous posts.

I was shipping some Rodinal in my check-in luggage from the UK into Norway where I lived at the time and was asked to disembark from the plane to open my suitcase and explain what it was. They then proceeded to confiscate my Rodinal citing the "Corrosive" label on the side and despite my protestations that the developer was less corrosive than certain soft drinks, I was given the option to remove it or find another way home as they would not let me fly.

You can take a risk, but if you're caught, be aware of the consequences.

Mike

Seems a dire sounding warning for what was, essentially, a non-event. The "consequences" are that you lose a bottle of developer. So what? If you can afford to travel internationally then I dare say the price of a bottle of developer isn't going to change your financial life. You may not get your Rodinal, just as if you hadn't tried.

Jokes about gitmo aside the worst that's likely to happen is that they take your developer.