Photo backpacks are great

I had the weight problem on EVA last January out of LAX. Anybody whose carryon looked heavy got weighed. Bags with wheels apparantly looked heavier to them. They were hassling people at the check-in counter AND at the gate. They were happy to have me carry the stuff in my pockets and around my neck, but they just didn't want it in the bag. So like Bubblevision said, make sure you have a way to carry the stuff by itself onto the plane if necessary. I.e., neck strap on your camera, etc.

Flying TACA for the first time next week from LAX to Costa Rica (going to Cocos, yay!), 10kg carryon limit, worried about similar issues. I'm borrowing a photo vest to wear, so I can offload extra weight into it if necessary, but I'm gonna try my darndest for the carron to weigh exactly 22 lbs. My "purse", however, is gonna be a doozy! I hope I don't need the photo vest, but I figure it's good insurance. I'll report back.

Any other ideas? TACA flyers?

If someone sees you off at the airport, give them your carry-on and make them wait around the corner while you check in. "No no luv, no carry-on, just this newspaper and bottle of mineral water".

Duty free bags are a good one too. They tend to turn a blind eye to those, so make it look like you just bought the stuff in the departure lounge. Do you reckon the pond life manning your average boarding gate could be convinced that you just bought your Phenom at the duty free?

Helium balloons inside your carry-on bag are another option. Am I right in remembering from my tek days that Neon is even less dense than Helium. Do BOC do that?

Anyway I'm off to buy a pair of those gay combats with like 20 pockets on each leg. Can't wait to see the x-ray operator's face at Bangkok airport as I unload them onto the conveyor.

Oh by the way I got a hell of a grilling in transit at Dubai over a L&M Sunray battery that I was carrying. Had to go through the queue twice, then to a special interviewer. Thought they were going to confiscate it and I nearly missed my connection over it.

Nick

Well, SOMEBODY has quite the sense of humor tonight!

Not sure Dubai would be someplace I'd be keen on being subjected to extra scrutiny.

The Gay Cargo Pants are now totally 'out' here . . . nowhere to be found . . . maybe I should try some thrift stores?

Had another idea . . . people are always flying back from Mexico to the UW with huge pinatas . . . how much camera gear do you think would fit in one of those?

I have the LowePro CompuTrekker Plus AW. Great backpack. With camera, lens, laptop, etc., it gets really heavy.

Each time I get on the plane, I try to "act" like the bag is light.

I am definitely running out of space.

All of my gear including luggage: housing, strobes, camera, laptop, scuba gear weigh 125pounds, with about 5 pounds of clothes and personal items. Has anybody tried to ship stuff to the destination before going?

A couple of pointers..... people haven't yet considered.......

Of course, every situation is different now and with rising fuel costs airlines are being stricter with the amount of weight they will allow. Added weight - of course - means more fuel.......

As a professional, a phonecall or letter from you to the airline in advance SHOULD allow you more allowance.

Supposedly women are allowed 2, items of hand luggage. Someone, somewhere, said that because they carry handbags, then they must also be allowed to carry another piece of hand luggage as well......

Playing the "How dare you discriminate against me because of my biological makeup" card would most likely get your gear on.... especially if there is a big queue behind you and the airline doesn't want a sex-discrimination case to build up before their very eyes.....

Another point, blag it / wing it! In more international-friendly terms, just keep talking and remain confident in your situation.

My other half and I went off to Indo last year with SIX pieces of hand luggage..... No-one said a thing! Flying with Silk Air, as a Singaporean company, one would expect them to be very strict with allowances but, hey, there you go - we were obviously VERY lucky....

Upon our return, though, it was a SLIGHTLY different matter.

The gear weighed in at 140 KG!!!! Understandably, they tried to get us to check it all in.

I stood my ground, demanding matter-of-factly........

"GUARANTEE me that this equipment WILL arrive in FULL working order and I will check it in. Fetch the supervisor, we will go through every part that I have, testing it and showing it all working. Then any damage received WILL be the airline's responsibilty and they WILL pay for it in full...... This will also delay your flight by more than one hour, but if you are happy to absorb the massive costs which the airport fines will cause you to have to pay, then so be it. Lets check the gear, right here, right now. Don't tell me that damage to equipment is not your respnsibility. Of course it is, even if you state in writing at the check in desk that it isn't your responsibility, ANY court in the land would back me up over you if you broke my equipment. FACT!"

Tell them that they've damaged your equipment previously and numerous compaints to the CS department have still been left unrectified...... For me, they had, so I wasn't lying, but it is still ammunition.......

Tell them to put it into the animal crate as these are treated with a little more respect than your average inanimate bag.

At the end of the day, we jumbled around a lot of the gear in front of the check in counter and managed to get it down to only 4 items...... two each..... and wasted one hour in the process..... making the ground staff sweat profusely as they fast approached the "delay means fines" point of no return....

Our baggage allowance was 40kg for the both of us, leaving us about 60 kilos over, still. Most airlines expect - at the least - 600 USD for this amount (10 - 20 USD per kilo?). We ended up paying for only 20 kilos..... Again, by blagging it...... Golfers are allowed extra baggage because - presumably - they "sit up front" and therefore are more valued as customers. Again, this is discrimination and it sucks..... They know it, but they expect you not to...... Stand your ground.

Stay calm throughout, and keep smiling and claim that you "understand the position that the airline is in, but they must also understand your position......". But always stand your ground.

Then, continue to hold your ground.

It is simple, you WILL NOT allow 10,000 dollars of delicate equipment to be manhandled by a bunch of muppets behind the scenes.

As Nick mentioned above, worst case scenario, they will allow you to carry it to the plane yourself and unload it yourself. Not ideal but quite a fair compromise.

Bottom line - don't take "No" for an answer. Hold up the queue. Ask any other customers behind in the queue if they have a similar situation and wish to join forces.

Turn the problem around that the airline is giving you and give it back to airline in the form of delaying them and making their job harder. I know that it is mean on the poor sod at check-in or the gate, who can't change the rules, but he will most likely have a supervisor behind the sceens who can bend them for you....

Whilst here, though. What seems to be the problem with Pelican cases? Have the baggage handlers learnt that they are for expensive delicate equipment and steal every one that they lay eyes hands upon?

I think that one is best to stick with pelican, or a similar brand. After all, they will take the most harsh of beatings and still deliver your equipment in working form, at the other end...... A fabric backpack, for that matter...... mmmmmmmmmm..................

One more point for the less experienced housing owner.

DON'T SEAL THE HOUSING BEFORE FLYING. For obvious reasons.........

Chris

Good post Chris. And yes, lots of housings being stolen from Pelicans in the Caribbean. There is a thread on here somewhere about that, i believe in the Copyright/Theft forum..... a scary read

ergh...........

I had no idea........

But it had to happen eventually eh?

Lets hope that the asians don't cotton onto it eh? After all, why would any of us want to dive the caribbean when we've got SE Asia??????

Hang on, they removed the housing from the Pelican? A locked Pelican? Dodgy buggers!

I had absolutely no idea that housing theft was such a big issue. I have been warned not to put any kind of stickers on my pelicans that would hint at the contents inside, but I was completely unaware that this is a real serious problem. Thanks for all the posts, very, very helpful read. Especially just as I am about to invest in an FX1 setup that costs as much as a slightly used car.