{"id":22867,"date":"2012-02-13T21:24:39","date_gmt":"2012-02-13T21:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philipbloom.net\/?p=22867"},"modified":"2012-02-16T18:57:42","modified_gmt":"2012-02-16T18:57:42","slug":"flying-with-gear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philipbloom.net\/blog\/flying-with-gear\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying with gear…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ethics Statement:<\/strong> I am not an affiliate of any of the mentioned companies, although the Amazon links do go to my affiliate where, at no cost to you, I get a small percentage of purchases made. 90% of the bags and stuff I mention I have bought. The DSLR Backpak from Petrol was supplied to me for review and I can thoroughly recommend it. Please read more in my full ethics statement here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

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I have been flying with camera gear for 20 years and I can say one thing: flying today is a nightmare compared to when I first started to fly.<\/p>\n

In my old days I used to have my BETACAM SP camera as hand luggage (no laptop, as they didn’t really exist then and we didn’t use them!), Flight case with 3 X Red Heads, Vinten tripod in tube, flight case for sound gear, flight case for batteries and charger, flight case for stock, about 4 LARGE flight cases for our edit gear…put it this way, it was a lot of stuff, way more than I take today. Which of course is great, since if I flew with that all the time, I would have excess baggage bills for many thousands. Of course that depends on with whom you fly. Some airlines are better than others!<\/p>\n

Let’s take last year. In 2011 I was abroad for 9 months of the year, I took around 60+ flights. The most I had with me was probably around 9 or ten bags. That was the most and completely excessive!! Generally I have around 3 to check and try to sneak on two as hand luggage, as many airlines only allow one.<\/p>\n

I am not going to get into things like Carnets and stuff. Just about luggage and what you can and cannot get away with. Flying has become the single biggest stress for me for these jobs. Be nice to drive my truck everywhere, but it would take a fair while to get to Australia!<\/p>\n

HAND LUGGAGE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let’s start with hand luggage and the issues you can have with that. Some airlines have a limit on weight as well as size. For example, the airline I usually use for transatlantic flights and the one I am using to go to Australia, Virgin Atlantic, for economy (which I avoid!) they allow one single piece of 6kg, which is a paltry 13lbs. This is nothing. My 17″ MBP is half that allowance on its own!<\/p>\n

I never check cameras and rarely check lenses. Too fragile so they always go as hand luggage. I also always keep my hard drives\/ media as hand luggage. No way I am trusting an airline with my rushes!<\/p>\n

For almost all my flights, taking a full size ENG camera loose has generally been accepted (wrapped up in my coat and blankets!), take it in a soft bag and they often say no. Putting it in a big flight case and checking it scares the crap out of me, both for fear of damage and also because luggage gets lost easily. I remember waiting for my luggage at Heathrow last year and seeing a Sony F900 HD cam camera in a flight case left on the floor by the carousel. Obviously not where it was supposed to be. I phoned the production company to tell them it was there, and they said their crew were on their way to Thailand…obviously without the camera. Scary stuff!<\/p>\n

With smaller cameras it’s a bit easier, they can go in smaller bags like the ones Petrol make below (which take my C300 or FS100 just fine, too tight for my F3). My main carry-on bag is made by Think Tank. I use the Airport Security V2 when flying to the US and back or within the US, and the Airport International for the rest of the world. The US hand luggage max size is slightly bigger than the rest of the world…like the country \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

I have flown with my Epic in the Airport Security V2 (padded up of course) and lenses. It’s pretty damn spacious. Although heavy when loaded up so if your airline weighs your luggage…be prepared for a fight!<\/p>\n

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