Carry on Bag suggestions please!

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Pete
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Hi all, I thought this required a separate thread to my other post asking about the logistics of backpacking with camera gear..

I'm planning a couple of week long trips in Europe and am trying to find the largest possible camera bag that I can take on a plane as hand luggage.. And ideally stow under the seats on board; so that i don't have to pay to check a bag in. Has anyone got any suggestions from personal experience? Ideally it would have a fair amount of free space to fit in a weeks clothes etc! (presuming thats possible.. Haven't travelled with just and luggage before)


Any suggestions/ pointers would be very much appreciated! Thanks :)

Pete
 
How much camera gear are you thinking of taking? A weeks worth of clothes would generally take up far more room than the gear I'd take for a weeklong trip going hand-luggage only (two lens max, or just a compact). I wouldn't use a camera bag specifically for that type of trip, they tend to be poorly shaped for making best use of your size allowance.

If it had to be a camera bag, probably a Lowepro Prorunner as they're a pretty boxy shape and provide a lot of volume for their dimensions - although no seperation between camera and clothes other than the standard divider trays.

Otherwise.. hit TKMax and find a carry-on sized soft-shell roller case. Put a small day bag inside the carry-on bag and pack your clothes around it. This assumes you'll have a base (hotel, left luggage locker) to leave the carry-on case in during the day whilst you're out using the day bag.
 
I use a Billingham packington as a carry-on. Great size and security. Used it for a weekend with SLR kit (warm place) - don't think I'd manage a week, unless I washed my clothes every night!

PS I remove the padded stuff inside - unnecessary. In fact I packed my SLR kit in a Billingham Hadley (no padding again) and put that into the Packington along with my clothes and stuff.

PPS and the packington will get thru the stingiest airline baggage limit.
 
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Hi Alastair, thanks very much for your reply, packing a smaller daysack would definitely be an option for this particular trip. Good point about the shape of camera bags aswell. I'll look into your suggested one.


Does anyone else have any large ish camera bags that can be carried onto a plane?

Cheers
Pete
 
Ive taken a Tamrac expedition 8x on as hand baggage on an easyjet flight. It sort of does fit in the trial luggage racks with a little bit of squeezing but if someone wanted to complain it was too big i probably wouldnt be able to argue much..
 
I've taken the Tamrac evolution 8 carry on with EasyJet with no problems.

It will slide (at a push) under the seat in front. It takes a 70-200 2.8, a body and several other lenses. It will also take a small laptop.

Not much room left for any other stuff though, I usually check in another bag with non essentials (clothes etc.) :)

You need to carefully watch the airlines policies, EasyJet don't care how heavy your hand luggage is as long as you only have one bag and it doesn't exceed the specified size. Other airlines impose a weight restriction.
 
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davek said:
I use a Billingham packington as a carry-on. Great size and security. Used it for a weekend with SLR kit (warm place) - don't think I'd manage a week, unless I washed my clothes every night!

PS I remove the padded stuff inside - unnecessary. In fact I packed my SLR kit in a Billingham Hadley (no padding again) and put that into the Packington along with my clothes and stuff.

PPS and the packington will get thru the stingiest airline baggage limit.
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thanks for this suggestion David, considering cutting back on the padding is deffinitely an option as i dont have a massive amount of kit. most the space will be clothes etc. checked out the packington but think il stick with a backpack to spread the weight evenly, thanks again :)
 
allymac said:
Ive taken a Tamrac expedition 8x on as hand baggage on an easyjet flight. It sort of does fit in the trial luggage racks with a little bit of squeezing but if someone wanted to complain it was too big i probably wouldnt be able to argue much..
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john-oh said:
I've taken the Tamrac evolution 8 carry on with EasyJet with no problems.

It will slide (at a push) under the seat in front. It takes a 70-200 2.8, a body and several other lenses. It will also take a small laptop.

Not much room left for any other stuff though, I usually check in another bag with non essentials (clothes etc.) :)

You need to carefully watch the airlines policies, EasyJet don't care how heavy your hand luggage is as long as you only have one bag and it doesn't exceed the specified size. Other airlines impose a weight restriction.
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Thanks for your suggestions! i haddnt looked at any tamrac ones.. i guess that after reading the dimensions id be stuck if a happy ryanair person confronted me but its very usefull to know a bag of this size can fit under the seat!

thanks again,
Pete
 
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The Compurover AW has been linked earlier in the thread.. I would suggest a degree of confident swagger would be required in approaching check-in and security as this bag is too deep to fit into the maximum luggage dimensions for Ryanair or Easyjet. I've used mine with the lower padding removed (which allows it to fit the dimensions) and body/lenses in seperate pouches.

With confidence you'd probably get it through (follow the usual guidelines), but be aware that you may need to do a re-pack at check-in if caught - if you pull out the foam bucket it will fit in the cage if you're asked. If this pack allowed the laptop padding to be removed when it's not needed, this could have been the perfect bag for short trips without stowed baggage.
 
I fly with a LowePro Rover AWII as carry-on to avoid checking in any bags. It will hold a pro body with 2/3 lenses, flash, batteries etc. in the lower padded portion and clothes/toiletries in the top...I wash clothes and dry them over night to avoid taking too much, easy if you have travel/walking clothing, a tube of travelwash and a plug for the sink. It also has outer mesh pockets for drinks bottles and you can attach Street and Field pouches to the belt to extend it. If it's over weight I just shove lenses in my pockets until I've checked in.
 
As per my post in your other thread I've used my FStop Satori EXP as hand luggage, however, when it is full I think it would be too big (it is larger than limits) however, the slightly smaller Tilopa BC is within size limits. The beauty of the FStop system is that you can choose how much space you want for camera equipment and clothes etc.
 
Depends if the airline weigh hand luggage or not.

If not....rolling peli case. All your junk plus a SIL daypack in there. As long as you can shoulder press it into the overhead locker you're fine. Even if somebody else's bottle of Sangria explodes all over it (stick it in the shower at the hotel).

Depending how many clothes you have either use the insert from an F-stop to pad it or some of these http://www.mcl-media.co.uk/photo/camera-care-cleaning

If they weigh it and have one of those crazy limits then travelling for a week without checked luggage can be tough. Cheap ripstop backpack and take your camera over your shoulder. Tilopa weighs nearly 2 kilos. Which is tough it you're only allowed 8.
 
Alastair said:
The Compurover AW has been linked earlier in the thread.. I would suggest a degree of confident swagger would be required in approaching check-in and security as this bag is too deep to fit into the maximum luggage dimensions for Ryanair or Easyjet. I've used mine with the lower padding removed (which allows it to fit the dimensions) and body/lenses in seperate pouches.

With confidence you'd probably get it through (follow the usual guidelines), but be aware that you may need to do a re-pack at check-in if caught - if you pull out the foam bucket it will fit in the cage if you're asked. If this pack allowed the laptop padding to be removed when it's not needed, this could have been the perfect bag for short trips without stowed baggage.
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i just walk through and was never challenged to be honest (y)
 
With the budget airlines I've found it OK in this country but abroad they check rigorously and are totally inflexible, especially Italy.
 
iced_jacob said:
i just walk through and was never challenged to be honest (y)
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I suspect you could, I pulled the bucket from mine as I said (I's have had to ditch the bucket if challenged).. I've never seen anyone get stopped that acted with confidence or used the usual tricks to disguise the size of the bag. However I frequently see the usual nervous types get sent to the cage to have the dimensions checked for just acting as though the bag is too big.

Hint to everyone else.. never use the cage in front of check-in to measure your bag.
 
Sometimes you can get lucky with that.

I suspect it's less common since airlines realised they could make a decent amount of money charging for oversized bags. Remember there's another check at the gate and if your bag fails to fit in the frame then they will toss it in the hold. Probably literally.
 
Just wanted to say a massive thankyou to everyone who has replied on here!! really helped not just with bag choice but some nifty tips aswell!

have to say that my ideal bag would be the F-stop, it looks fantastically comfortable, durable and the ability to alter size would make it good to go for most my trips.. slight issue around the price, but i think this bag is going on my wanted list.

thanks also for the warnings about how strict airlines are.. ive been having a read of travel forums and the budget airlines are becoming insanely strict.
for anyone's information, the dimensions for carry on bags are (correct as of this week)

Ryan air: 55x40x20cm 10kg weight
Jet2: 56x45x25cm 10 kg weight.
Ryan air hold baggage: max 81cm(H) 119cm(d) 119cm(w)

charges for extra sized handluggage can stretch up to £40/50 - the cost if ryan air has to put your carry on bag into the hold.


another thing to note - ryan air stress that your only allowed one item of handluggage.. and from what ive read.. they have asked people to even put duty free items into their handluggage.. and i read in their T&C's that even cameras must be carried within your one item of hand luggage.. not round your neck.

insanely strict. i dont know if they stick to it or not. but given that its in the fineprint... il be hoping not to find out
 
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Just as a little update.. Based on the amount of photographic and non photographic kit i would need to take.. the option of only carrying on handluggage sadly wasnt an option. It turned out to be cheaper and less stressful to check in a larger bag.

I managed to get cheaper flights through momondo a flight price comparison website.. extremely good! because of this, its cost me just as much to check in a bag than it had initially cost me to just take hand luggage.


My current bag, Kata 456i will do for a little something to carry around with me during the day once ive (hopefully) dumped my larger bag..i can fit in all the kit i need and the top compartment just about fits in a thin waterrpoof jacket, a few documents, some snacks and a bottle of coke will fit on the outside mesh pockets, as would my small gorilla pod. There are a few other zip pockets for memory cards, wallet if your feeling brave, documets etc. but given how easy they are to access, i will probably just be keeping maps/tissues in them. This bag does have a raincover,, but in truth its not the best and at points where it touches the bag, water can seep through. I will be ordering another. The padding on the bag is ok... with moveable inserts.. but i put some bubble wrap under the camera compartment as it is a bit thin. They seem to have put the most effective padding on the bit that goes against your back lol.. :confused: either way.

I may take the above bag, but after some thought, I'm going to have a look at some of the lowe pro smaller bags.. as getting kit out of the kata is a bit of a faff (have to take the bag off & put it down).. something with a side entry would be nice.

Ill post an update on here! thanks again

Pete =)
 
I tend to use either a Thinktank retrospective 100 when travelling for me, or a lower AW commercial when travelling on paid stuff. The commercial does need a degree of confidence as its a little bit on the big size
 
Pete,

Most airline also allow a small camera bag (like a Lowepro toploader), If you can find a jacket with lots of big pockets, then that is another option.
 
Ricky said:
Pete,

Most airline also allow a small camera bag (like a Lowepro toploader), If you can find a jacket with lots of big pockets, then that is another option.
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also looking into this!! :)
 
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