How can I receive Rodinal?

Jimi and Jim and Janis · Oct 29, 2009

Since most photography websites wont ship certain chemicals like Rodinal, then what can I do to side-step this retarded law? Put it in the check baggage in the airport? And If you already have the rodinal, can you mail it to someone else who can't recieve it because of his location and shipping regulation?Thanks

chriscrawfordphoto · Oct 29, 2009

Its not a law, the shipping companies just dont want to handle hazardous chemicals, but it is legal for them to carry Rodinal if they wanted to. The US Postal Service is prohibited by law from carrying most types of chemicals.

Jimi and Jim and Janis · Oct 29, 2009

So If a friend put a bottle of Rodinal in a box to ship it to me, then it wouldnt get past the post office?

Bosaiya · Oct 30, 2009

I get it shipped from Freestyle all the time.

Jimi and Jim and Janis · Oct 30, 2009

Not ground shipping, Air shipping

PBrooks · Oct 30, 2009

Ha, people in the US are spoiled by being able to get all developers they want. I had this same problem a while back, I had them wrap it in multiple layers of bubble tape and then use something on the order of duct tape or gorilla tape works better and completely wrap it up. Then in a box with alot of other stuff for them to rummage through at customs. You may not have to go through all that but there you go. I am now in the same boat as I am in the US now but going back overseas and want to have developer there when I get back.

mpirie · Oct 30, 2009

Recently on a trip between the UK and Norway, I was requested to disembark the plane to open my suitcase and explain what the two bottles of brown liquid (Rodinal) were. I explained they were developer for photographic film and despite being less corrosive than carbonated soft drinks and in unopened sealed bottles, I was told to hand them over to the security guards or risk not flying home. I have asked for a receipt and proof of disposal, fat chance!

I was carrying powdered developer too and had a hell of a time trying to explain that they were safe in the manufacturers pack unopened. As for the film, i got some real funny looks when i told them that not all film comes rolled up in little canisters!

So the moral of the story is: If you want free photographic materials, get a job in airport security and help yourself to innocent travellers belongings, if they protest, play the "security" card and threaten them with not traveling, it'll work every time!

Mike

railwayman3 · Oct 30, 2009

mpirie said:
Recently on a trip between the UK and Norway, I was requested to disembark the plane to open my suitcase and explain what the two bottles of brown liquid (Rodinal) were. I explained they were developer for photographic film and despite being less corrosive than carbonated soft drinks and in unopened sealed bottles, I was told to hand them over to the security guards or risk not flying home. I have asked for a receipt and proof of disposal, fat chance!

I was carrying powdered developer too and had a hell of a time trying to explain that they were safe in the manufacturers pack unopened. As for the film, i got some real funny looks when i told them that not all film comes rolled up in little canisters!

So the moral of the story is: If you want free photographic materials, get a job in airport security and help yourself to innocent travellers belongings, if they protest, play the "security" card and threaten them with not traveling, it'll work every time!

Mike

Hmmm, Depends how you look at it. These airline rules, like them or not, are intended to protect the majority.

Another way to put it could be ....If, next time I fly to Norway, my suitcase arrives saturated with Rodinal leaking from some "innocent travelers" bottles which they have packed contrary to regulations (and which some lazy security man has failed to spot), I'll have an idea where to start looking for compensation?

Anscojohn · Oct 30, 2009

Jimi said:
Since most photography websites wont ship certain chemicals like Rodinal, then what can I do to side-step this retarded law? Put it in the check baggage in the airport? And If you already have the rodinal, can you mail it to someone else who can't recieve it because of his location and shipping regulation?Thanks

************
Cultivate the photographer on a cruise ship to hand carry it for you?

P C Headland · Oct 30, 2009

Your other alternative is to make some yourself from readily available ingredients.

Have a search for Parodinal.

Jimi and Jim and Janis · Oct 30, 2009

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Ill just sneak it out the old fashion way, maybe Ill stuff it inside of a teddy bear

railwayman3 · Oct 30, 2009

The Al Quaida way?. :rolleyes:

I know you're joking (surely you are?) and if the security men find a bottle of Rodinal in hand baggage they might let the passenger off as just being an idiot. Find something against regulations which has been deliberately hidden, and that passenger is likely to be studying the walls of the jail for a while, with only themselves to blame.

Anyone who think they know better....have a really good laugh, next time the security man asks if you're carrying anything harmful, just jest "only a little tiny teeny-weeny bomb". It's hilarious....errr....sort of.

Jimi said:
Thanks for all of the suggestions. Ill just sneak it out the old fashion way, maybe Ill stuff it inside of a teddy bear

Uncle Goose · Oct 30, 2009

P C Headland said:
Your other alternative is to make some yourself from readily available ingredients.

Have a search for Parodinal.

Unfortunately in some countries it's nearly impossible to get the ingredients, if you go ask for them they look at you as are going to make a bomb or something. In Belgium you can't get any raw chemical in the normal way, luckily you still have a company in Brussels who ships stuff with the mail for photographic purposes without remarks like "you can make a bomb with that" or "you can poison someone with that".

DLawson · Oct 30, 2009

Jimi said:
Not ground shipping, Air shipping

I haven't had the need, but isn't there any way to request surface shipping to P.R.? From all I hear, it isn't as if Rodinal is perishable.

[Aside: Remember when *everything* ordered took 6-8 weeks to arrive?]

Jimi and Jim and Janis · Oct 30, 2009

Its a very tricky situation in Puerto Rico for online ordering. Some sites consider PR a providence or territory while others count PR as a different country altogether (and then on some sites it shows PR as both!). The main site I purchase supplies is B&H (which they kill me with their holiday schedule btw) says that ground shipping is only applicable to the continental 48 states.

Bosaiya · Oct 30, 2009

Whoops, the people on the phone say one thing but the website says another. Sorry about that.

mpirie · Oct 30, 2009

railwayman3 said:
Hmmm, Depends how you look at it. These airline rules, like them or not, are intended to protect the majority.

Another way to put it could be ....If, next time I fly to Norway, my suitcase arrives saturated with Rodinal leaking from some "innocent travelers" bottles which they have packed contrary to regulations (and which some lazy security man has failed to spot), I'll have an idea where to start looking for compensation?

That's a fair point and I appreciate why they did what they did, they're only following rules put in place to restrict freedoms.

However, how many people place other liquids in their check-in baggage that could cause just as much (if not more) damage to your luggage or the structure of the aircraft such as carbonated soft drinks? Especially when i had my developer packed properly in sealed containers. I doubt others pack their liquids the same way. The only difference is that Rodinal is labelled "corrosive", cola is not!

SMBooth · Oct 30, 2009

Put it in a coke bottle and carry it on....

railwayman3 · Oct 30, 2009

mpirie said:
However, how many people place other liquids in their check-in baggage that could cause just as much (if not more) damage to your luggage or the structure of the aircraft such as carbonated soft drinks? Especially when i had my developer packed properly in sealed containers. I doubt others pack their liquids the same way. The only difference is that Rodinal is labelled "corrosive", cola is not!

I've no idea how many people illegally place liquids in their check-in baggage, do you?

Hopefully the next time I'm on a plane the security men will be as alert in investigating mysterious bottles. Just hope that the flight is not held up too long by some "innocent travellers" lack of common sense.

And it's OK for me to break laws just cos some other people get away with it? The cops certainly didn't accept that idea when they booked me for speeding.

Maybe I should declare at this stage that I lost a business acquaintance on a certain memorable September date a few years ago, and that does make one more thoughtful. I apologise if it also makes me appear less tolerent.

tkamiya · Oct 30, 2009

I'm sorry for the loss of your colleague. I, too, work for a company that lost a dozen people in the incident.

Whatever one's opinion may be for the current air-traffic regulation or the rationale behind it, can't we all agree that risking one's personal legal status and freedom is not worth getting that perfect photographic chemical? If one is to deliberately and knowingly hide a corrosive chemical, that was banned aboard aircraft even before 9/11, and security personnel discovers it, what follows later would certainly be unpleasant and expensive.

mgb74 · Oct 30, 2009

mpirie said:
That's a fair point and I appreciate why they did what they did, they're only following rules put in place to restrict freedoms.

You can argue that the rules are overly broad or even unnecessary, but to say that rules are "put in place to restrict freedoms" is a bit much.

mpirie said:
However, how many people place other liquids in their check-in baggage that could cause just as much (if not more) damage to your luggage or the structure of the aircraft such as carbonated soft drinks?

I've seen this point made a few times on various sites, but never with any substantiation. As I am neither a chemist nor a metallurgist, I don't know. If you have some specific expertise in this, please enlighten us.

cmacd123 · Oct 30, 2009

Some things are easier to get at a local store. Do any Photo stores exist in the area where the orginal poster lives? The distributors can probably get such items shipped to a dealer by filling out a lot of paperwork. It has been a while since I have touched the subject but it is regulated in the US by a regulation called CFR49. Basically a licensed carrier must be used and the shipper must fill out a bunch of forms. The goods must be shipped to a location where the receiver understands the CFR49 rules and so is eligible to sign for the goods. That is how the stuff gets shipped to any Camera store on the US mainland. (There is another layer if it comes from the factory in Germany directly to a large reseller like Freestyle)

The dealer can ship "consumer comodity ORMD" by surface via some carriers with suitable paperwork. (and those extra fees) shipping to canada gets dicey - first because the carriers that can do this tend to charge arms and legs to cross the border, and second because the shipment must also meet the Canadian Version of the Regulations which is called "TDG"

A camera store in PR can probably order through the US distributor whoever that is, and the paperwork should not be all that different than required to ship to camera stores in other states.

PBrooks · Oct 30, 2009

SMBooth said:
Put it in a coke bottle and carry it on....

Sorry, nope, You can't even carry water through our security anymore. They still even make me take off foam flip flops. They can touch search and take everything and anything they want. You have no rights at all when you fly anybody that thinks otherwise has not flown in the last 8 years. The US is still the land of milk and honey or would that be rodinal and pyro. Oh, and the fact that ilford paper is right at 2.5 times what it is in the US. It is cheaper to buy it online and pay for shipping to Asia than it is to purchase at the local store. Not to knock Ilford cause it is the only paper I have found there.

Jimi and Jim and Janis · Oct 30, 2009

I respect all the laws of airports and I see how many of the precautions and measurements that are carried out by security are necessary for our safety, but I always ask myself "When will it go too far?". I remember Bill Maher saying that if terrorist start carrying bombs in their bras instead of shoes, then does that justify the airport to make all women remove their bras before entering the terminal? I dont see how Rodinal is a threat once stowed in the belly of a plane, and if it leaks into the next persons bag, I dont see how thats a matter of National security.

And the fact that you cant bring a bottle of coke through the security check, but you can purchase all the coke you want when your inside the terminal also makes no sense to me, but I dont work for the NSA...

Anscojohn · Oct 30, 2009

Jimi said:
Thanks for all of the suggestions. Ill just sneak it out the old fashion way, maybe Ill stuff it inside of a teddy bear

******
Obviously you have seen the play or the film "Wait Until Dark."

How can I receive Rodinal?

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