John Lucas wrote: > > Here is a couple of cents worth on tripod bags. Beneath it, and around it, I pack heavy > clothing; down jacket (winter), boots, gloves, etc. This provides all the > cushioning required to protect the tripod and an easy way to take all the > bulky clothing that I can't pack into a suitcase or carry-on luggage. As > described, it is virtually indestructible and unique in identifying at > baggage claim. It ain't fancy, but it works. > John describes something I've heard many times from professional photographers who travel a lot. Never underestimate the padding and protective potential of clothing, particularly winter jackets. You do not need to purchase fancy shipping cases, etc. to make sure that your camera gear stays in one piece, whether traveling by air or in your own car.
One friend who travels overseas quite a bit for the Los Angeles Times carries the bare essentials as carry-on...a small Domke bag with a Nikon body, a couple of lenses (18-35 and 80-200 zooms, I would guess) a flash and some film. Much of the other gear, including spare lenses, film stash etc., is wrapped with personal clothing in her suitcases. Another tip to keep in mind when you are flying. Try to spread the essentials out. I carry-on virtually all my camera gear in a Tamrac back pack. I take three other checked bags that generally contain radio gear, clothes (and tripods) and night photo gear. I try to stash the film evenly between the three checked bags. That way, if they lose a bag, I still have a good stash of film with me until the lost bag catches up. Same with cold weather gear...it's spread among the bags and I carry-on the Gore-Tex parka, wrapped around the photo backpack. It's unlikely that they will ever lose all three bags at once. Interestingly, in the last ten years, I have only had two bags mishandled by airlines (Delta and TWA) and both were on the inbound (home) legs of the trips. I carry two tripods on trips, a Bogen 3221 and the stubby 3221S. Both are in Domke sling bags that I purchased used at camera swap meets. I wrap the tripod heads in bubble-wrap for additional protection. Both tripod bags fit nicely along with my clothes, into the big Halliburton case I use as a suitcase. One other word about checked baggage on airlines. Several years ago my employer sent crews to Kobe, Japan to cover the earthquake there. United Air Lines misplaced a bunch of their gear and the trip was pure hell for the crews involved. I did some research after it was all over to see how it could have been prevented. United claims that multiple bags will generally stay together if they have LARGE stickers attached with your name, destination and bag number. For example: SMITH, #4 of 4, Destination: DEN. You can do it simnply with gaffer tape or wide masking tape lettered with an indelible marker. I do not know if this works, but we made a bunch of labels at work to attach to bags when we go on trips (8-10 checked bags is our normal load) and we haven't had a problem since. It also seems to help baggage handlers at curbside and at hotels (tho most railfans like me are too cheap to stay anyplace where they have hotel porters to carry your stuff). --David R. Busse --> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects X-Mozilla-Status: 0001 Content-Length: 2657
