Travelling Tips

Choose wisely: Choose not only lightweight gear but also a non-photographer life partner. This way whenever you travel you can pack half of you gear in their carryon and luggage.

Also, I leave extra zipties in my bags so that after TSA check I can zip them up / and or TSA can zip then up.

I put "suspicious looking bits" in ziplock bags or other plastic bags and clearly mark the bags with what they contain. This way I can save the TSA dudes from gearing up their imagination. For example I help them think "underwater camera housing o-ring grease" or "camera lens zoom gear" instead of "uranium enrichment plant parts".

I separate parts into different bags. For example, I take handles off housing. For the clemptomanics that open the bags an "entire" housing looks much more sellable than a bunch of parts that they would have to figure out how to put together.

Definately agree on the non-photographic life partner- my wife gets to carry half my stuff!

One thing we have learnt is to use a backpack that doesn't look too heavy when the check in staff are thinking about weighing it. We have got away with way overweighted carry on by saying "only my backpack" when asked what carry on we have, and making it look nice and light.

I travel alot with my gear and I never check it in. Always always always carry on! All my camera equipment, laptop etc is in my handluggage. I use the Loewepro combo trekker, and I can almost fit everything in there: Ikelite housing, 2 lenses, flatport, 8 inch domeport, 1 Inon strobe all cables etc. (My girlfriend can carry the leftovers that doesnt fit - second strobe and an extra lens! )

My handluggage - fully packed with laptop in the back weighs around 16kg - but never have I been asked to put it on a wheight-scale. I have it on my back when I come to the check-in counter, and try to look like its lite as a feather!

I mainly travel from Europe to the red sea or asia. Only one time in Borneo, have I been asked to put my handluggage on a scale and when they asked whats inside and I said camera and computer - well they didnt mind anything about it.