On 3/4/06, Willem-Jan Markerink <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 4 Mar 2006 at 14:54, Ken Lin wrote: > > > Other than that , bring a set of disposable ear plugs, they work extremely > > well blocking out the constant droning from the jet engines. > > Why low-tech if you can go high-tech, with anti-sound/sound- > cancellation headphones....;))
Just fly business class. The noise cancelling headphones are complimentary... ;-) As far as the gear is concerned, don't worry about it. Let it go through x-ray and let the security people swab it down if they need to. Just make sure you don't accidentally have any tools in your camera case (such as that pesky little Allen wrench you use to tighten the QR plate with, etc.) There was some debacle recently about allowing tools on flights again, but I forget what the outcome was. Personally, I've had one of those Allen wrenches that has a screwdriver handle on it thoroughly inspected by airport security. This was three weeks after 9/11 so the procedures for discarding peoples tools were not in place yet. But I do recall that the screener asked his manager if that tool was OK to carry on... I also usually throw the cable release and other "weapons-like" devices in the checked luggage. As far as magnetic storage goes. Don't worry about it. If the x-ray machines emitted enough energy to cause the magnetic properties of the hard drive platters to change, I think you'd have bigger problems to worry about. Granted, the x-ray gun sits inside a pretty heavy steel enclosure, but that enclosure is open on both ends with only a flexible curtain of sorts shielding you from the x-rays. If the x-rays were strong enough to cause any harm, I can assure you that OSHA would have issues with having the screeners sitting so close to the machines for hours on end. And the rest of us would have issues when our balls got glowing hot from standing in line at the security checkpoint. The only snag I can think of is that your portable hard drive will probably show up as one solid block of metal on the x-ray machine. The security screeners tend not to like that too much. That's why they ask that video cameras, laptops, etc. are out of their cases for inspection. If you are worried sick, then take the hard drive out and place it in the tray along with all your other stuff. But in my experience, the only thing that happens if you forget to take your video camera, laptop, etc. out of its case and just run it through x-ray is that the screeners politely explain to you that it's not cool and they proceed to swabbing down your gear. No biggie. Nothing to worry about. Above is based on my personal experience. Your airline mileage may vary. I fly Seattle-Copenhagen roughly every 12-18 months and I fly within the US on a fairly regular basis. Tom * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
