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I read a posting earlier asking what other people carry their camera gear in when travelling by air. Not wanting to hijack ( no pun ) the other thread I thought i would post what extremes I have to go through to get on a plane and pass the scrutiny of the check in desk at airports.
Flying to various parts of the world as a diver and underwater photographer/videographer always has an issue with carry on luggage. Excluding any of my dive kit, my camera rigs which consist of:
2 x canon 350D's
1 x 5Dmk2
G9 Canon
Sony pc1000e video
Underwater houysing for 350D
Underwater housing for PC1000e
2 x strobes for 350D
Focus light for 350D
2 x kowalski 1250 speed video lights for PC1000e
8" fisheye dome port for 350D housing
macro port for 350D housing
Strobe arms
60mm Canon
10-17 Tokina
17 - 40L Canon
70 - 300 DO USM Canon
10 - 22 Canon
100mm Canon
Portable hard drives
Filters
Dioptres
Sony Vaio TX series laptop
In total probably best part of £15,000. There is no way on earth that I am going to be checking this in. I have had to claim a few years ago as i had some damage caused to my personal items after i had checked them at check in. My insurer informed me that as i was not in posession of the items at the time my insurance was not valid and i did not have any form of cover from them, they suggested i made contact with the carrier who i flew with, which i did do to be told that they were not responsible and that i should contact my own insurers. I told them that i had already done this and they were not in the slightest interested. I then contacted the company that handle the baggage once it has been checked in, after many frustrating emails, telephone calls and hand written letters i eventually received some token of compensation. I had 3 x Giorgio Armani shirts ruined - 1 x Hugo Boss t shirt ruined - 2 x LaCoste t shirts ruined. Total value of these items new was £850. The clothes were no more than 2 months old when they were damaged. The cargo handling company policy was not to replace old for old or old for new or anything similar, there policy was to pay by weight. I cant remember the exact maximum allowance per kilo but they took an educated guess at what these items would have weighed and sent me a cheque for £25. I had receipts for these items, which they never asked to see, even though i offered them. I dont know where these people buy there clothes to be able to replace 3 shirts and 3 t shirts for £25.
Anyway back to the OP topic and camera gear. Whilst all of this was going on I decided to start reading the small print of all of the companys involved regarding lost damaged items. ( my home contents insurers which i pay for worldwide cover for at a premium - the airlines - my holiday insurance - the cargo handling company ) All of the take no responsabilty for electrical items that are within your checked baggage. So from that day on i wear everything. I have an oversized photography vest with nice deep pockets, combat trousers with nice deep pockets - a jacket with plent of storage space. Mt DSLR housing and dome port fits inside of my hand luggage bag and takes up all of my allowance. My video housing and macro port is in another bag which my wife uses and this takes up all of her allowance. ( there is still a lot of spave inside of these bags though ) I have the 2 x 350D bodies in 2 of the pockets on my vest, external hard drives in a vest pocket also. 5DMK2 over my shoulder with the heaviest lens on it. 60mm and tokina 10 -17 in my combat trousers - laptop in a large pocket that is around the back of the vest - my 2 x strobes in my jacket pocket. G9 in combat trousers - my wife has the 2 video lights in here handbag. All of the other items are hidden where ever we can hide them. It is a lot of hassle to have to do this as it weighs a hell of a lot. From memory 20kilos. Once we have checked in we just go and sit down and get all of the gear out and then put it in our hand luggage bag. touch wood we have never been stopped at the boarding gate. I travel to indonesia and asia a lot and excess baggage for these carriers are roughly £38 per kilo per flight, so if i was to put all of this inside a peli case and my dive kit and clothes inside another bag i would be somewhere in the region of 30 kilos over. At £38 per kilo over each way, my 2 hobbys start to get even more expensive.
And yes I do get some very bizzar looks from fellow passengers when i am in the queue at check in. Luckily most of the planes i fly on are full of divers and the other passengers are usually up to the same kind of thing as me.
Stew
Flying to various parts of the world as a diver and underwater photographer/videographer always has an issue with carry on luggage. Excluding any of my dive kit, my camera rigs which consist of:
2 x canon 350D's
1 x 5Dmk2
G9 Canon
Sony pc1000e video
Underwater houysing for 350D
Underwater housing for PC1000e
2 x strobes for 350D
Focus light for 350D
2 x kowalski 1250 speed video lights for PC1000e
8" fisheye dome port for 350D housing
macro port for 350D housing
Strobe arms
60mm Canon
10-17 Tokina
17 - 40L Canon
70 - 300 DO USM Canon
10 - 22 Canon
100mm Canon
Portable hard drives
Filters
Dioptres
Sony Vaio TX series laptop
In total probably best part of £15,000. There is no way on earth that I am going to be checking this in. I have had to claim a few years ago as i had some damage caused to my personal items after i had checked them at check in. My insurer informed me that as i was not in posession of the items at the time my insurance was not valid and i did not have any form of cover from them, they suggested i made contact with the carrier who i flew with, which i did do to be told that they were not responsible and that i should contact my own insurers. I told them that i had already done this and they were not in the slightest interested. I then contacted the company that handle the baggage once it has been checked in, after many frustrating emails, telephone calls and hand written letters i eventually received some token of compensation. I had 3 x Giorgio Armani shirts ruined - 1 x Hugo Boss t shirt ruined - 2 x LaCoste t shirts ruined. Total value of these items new was £850. The clothes were no more than 2 months old when they were damaged. The cargo handling company policy was not to replace old for old or old for new or anything similar, there policy was to pay by weight. I cant remember the exact maximum allowance per kilo but they took an educated guess at what these items would have weighed and sent me a cheque for £25. I had receipts for these items, which they never asked to see, even though i offered them. I dont know where these people buy there clothes to be able to replace 3 shirts and 3 t shirts for £25.
Anyway back to the OP topic and camera gear. Whilst all of this was going on I decided to start reading the small print of all of the companys involved regarding lost damaged items. ( my home contents insurers which i pay for worldwide cover for at a premium - the airlines - my holiday insurance - the cargo handling company ) All of the take no responsabilty for electrical items that are within your checked baggage. So from that day on i wear everything. I have an oversized photography vest with nice deep pockets, combat trousers with nice deep pockets - a jacket with plent of storage space. Mt DSLR housing and dome port fits inside of my hand luggage bag and takes up all of my allowance. My video housing and macro port is in another bag which my wife uses and this takes up all of her allowance. ( there is still a lot of spave inside of these bags though ) I have the 2 x 350D bodies in 2 of the pockets on my vest, external hard drives in a vest pocket also. 5DMK2 over my shoulder with the heaviest lens on it. 60mm and tokina 10 -17 in my combat trousers - laptop in a large pocket that is around the back of the vest - my 2 x strobes in my jacket pocket. G9 in combat trousers - my wife has the 2 video lights in here handbag. All of the other items are hidden where ever we can hide them. It is a lot of hassle to have to do this as it weighs a hell of a lot. From memory 20kilos. Once we have checked in we just go and sit down and get all of the gear out and then put it in our hand luggage bag. touch wood we have never been stopped at the boarding gate. I travel to indonesia and asia a lot and excess baggage for these carriers are roughly £38 per kilo per flight, so if i was to put all of this inside a peli case and my dive kit and clothes inside another bag i would be somewhere in the region of 30 kilos over. At £38 per kilo over each way, my 2 hobbys start to get even more expensive.
And yes I do get some very bizzar looks from fellow passengers when i am in the queue at check in. Luckily most of the planes i fly on are full of divers and the other passengers are usually up to the same kind of thing as me.
Stew
