Ironbird,

Being a Brit and living in France I fly between the two regular, see some of Martins posts for flights gear and travel are very useful.

To be sure, stash all of you gear in the hold. British security can be and are a pain. If they see you toting a safari type vest packed with " survival" gear count on being escorted out of the line to explain yourself and your equipment and why you feel the need to take it on board. If you happen to miss your flight...oops sorry just doing our job.

You can carry a neck knife, but if a copper see you with it, big no-no, virtualy no knife is legal, even SAK's are frowned upon unless you can convince the copper in question that it's really a multitool to keep in case your bike breaks down or something. Standing next to a bike at the time helps,.. if there's no bike find another story FAST.

More practical in your kit is to prepare for long stays and waits in the airport. Good books, warm clothes, plenty of cash for drinks. All drinks even water purchased outside the airport must consumed or thrown away before passing into departures, count on the prices being high. 50cl of Evian £1.50 ($3). We had to wait over 3 hours for a scheduled flight for Paris and had both our children with us, forunately the wife and I were equipped for such occassions.

Other than that you'll be fine

Any other Brits in the forum want to chip in?