packing and transporting my rig

4 hours ago, Davide DB said:

The problem is that the first time you're unlucky and they force you check your carry-on, you'll inevitably break most of the equipment in your bag.

Looking at how you've packed your gear, there's a danger of damaging it even on a simple road trip.

Eh, while it won't survive getting tossed out of an airliner's baggage hold onto tarmac, United-breaks-guitars-style, I have already done a few road trips with it to no ill effect. The lenses that aren't on the camera are inside an airbag, the camera is inside the housing with multiple points of contact all around the body (it's not held on a tray by the tripod socket) and there's plastic or neoprene interleaved between almost all the metal items. If some $15 UV torches get scratched up - meh, I won't cry over it.

3, 2, 1 ready for the RIB

Happy Diving!

On 12/17/2021 at 1:21 AM, Barmaglot said:

I guess I must've been lucky. My experience is less extensive than yours - I've only had two round-trip domestic flights in the Philippines; one with Air Asia from Manila to Cebu and back, and the other with Cebu Pacific from Manila to Dumaguete and back, and on neither of those was I hassled about my carry-on backpack - I didn't have the CB70 back then, but it was still 15kg+.

Last trip to Egypt I split my carry on into three separate bags. So I had one small rolling bag with housing, ports and strobes in it - total of 10kg. Then In backpack I had camera stuff with lenses and my purse with small items. I had no problems with weight as it was distributed in smaller bags and didn't look as chunky but it was at least 15kg heavy 

Just now, andi_db said:

Last trip to Egypt I split my carry on into three separate bags

My last trip to Egypt, the customs officers at the Taba crossing demanded that I leave all my underwater photo at the border. I told them no f'ing way and went back home.

3 minutes ago, Barmaglot said:

My last trip to Egypt, the customs officers at the Taba crossing demanded that I leave all my underwater photo at the border. I told them no f'ing way and went back home.

Holly crap! No way!  We flew via Frankfurt direct to Marsa Alam, had no problems. We did at least 5-6 trips to Egypt and never had any major issues.

2 minutes ago, andi_db said:

Holly crap! No way!  We flew via Frankfurt direct to Marsa Alam, had no problems. We did at least 5-6 trips to Egypt and never had any major issues.

I'm Israeli; they don't like us very much

My main problem are the domes, they are so big!

I have been traveling by checking a Pelican Air 1615 with padded liners and all my gear fits perfectly with 1.5Kg to spare. It includes a Nauticam NA-Z7II, Zen 230mm dome, Macro Port 60, port extensions, 2 - Inon Z-330s, 2 - Kraken 8000s, arms, floats, clamps, etc. I have a large travel dive bag that I also check with dive gear and clothes. I carry on my camera body, lenses, and all the batteries in a backpack. The Pelican Air 1615 is lighter than my 1650 and practically indestructible.

For air travel I place a pelican case inside a large duffel bag and check it on with zip-ties through the Pelican case lock holes.  So far, so good...

So much to unpack here...

I don't even know where to begin to figure out the best bag for transport of my gear. I guess take measurements and go from there?

One thing that took me a while to realize: not everything needs to go in the equipment case, only the fragile stuff.  Arms, clamps, floats, chargers, tools can go with the wetsuit.  These days, batteries can’t be checked so go in my backpack.  It’s all obvious now . . .

On 10/5/2021 at 9:16 AM, Draq said:

Ever wonder what your luggage experiences at the airport?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJV-JiTWWXI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP1fxYWaO_E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MZqiE3yGlQ&t=11s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MBWZWyvMng

 

Thanks Draq for sharing these, I that is a lot of hit that a case would take in any sort of air travel!

To avoid running off-topic on my separate thread on the theft-appeal of Pelican cases, I thought I'd ask here for opinions/experience on another approach to checking-in underwater imagery gear.

Knowing my gear must travel as checked baggage (save for laptop, cameras, lenses and batteries that I'll keep in carry-on), the Pelican alternative I have considered is the following:

=> Buy a regular suitcase (flying under the radar), you can find a variety of soft and hard shells that will take anywhere from 80 liters to 120 liters of stuff (for reference, the lage Pelican 1637 that I was considering "only" takes 89 L), and weigh only 2.5 kg.

=> include in there 2 DSLR housings, 2 flat ports, 1 or 2 dome ports, EMWL, 2 viewfinders, strobe arms & floats, 3 strobes, 1 focus light, 1 dive torch, 3 snoots... OK my list is a tad long, but I like to play around  To avoid bubble-wrapping nightmares, I would pack them in "clusters", using the Cinebags pouches tested by Adam Hanlon here (just saw this yesterday), plus some nauticam portective boxes for the DSLR housings.

Now with this approach I saw 2 flavours:

Option 1: hard-shell fancy Samsonite, like the Samsonite Lite-Shock Sport 75cm, takes 98L, weighs 2.4kg.

Option 2: soft-shell case, like the Samsonite 72 DLX SPINNER 71/26 EXP, takes 90L, weighs 2.5kg empty.

Has anyone used either Option 1 or 2? How well does this work?

I think the packing would be much eaiser with Option 1 (the lid opens at the top of the case), you can stuff it up, put clothes in between boxes etc, before the final closing... but I am not too confident about using a soft-shell case. Soft-shell is OK for my rebreather (the one that lives in a titanium case...), but worrying for photo gear.

So Option 1 sounds attractive (except its cost) BUT I think it might be very tricky to pack every moving element tightly, because such a case opens right in the middle, closing it down without half the gear falling over would be tricky I suppose.

Thoughts?

The suitcases sound like a good option, though I'm not sure if the samsonites you link are the best option.  They are hard sided but quite flexy.  I fly a lot (at least before Covid hit and soon to start again) for work and I've seen my share of beaten up luggage on carousels.  I bought Briggs and Riley cases for my travel - they are very pricey - The smaller bag was $US600 and the larger $US900 but my first one was purchased in 2013 and I would estimate has been on maybe 250 individual flights and still looks great, it has only just started to not look new.  The point is not suggest you buy B&R as they are not sold in Australia - rather that quality luggage is expensive and there are a lot of junky bags being sold so if you go that route do some research.  I think all the bags except ones like the pelican with rigid sides need to be packed quite full for best protection.

Good point from Chris but if you pack them full, the "flexy" cannot flex and is effectively a hard shell as your luggage becomes full. I have used my large samsonite without any issues multiple times (short and long hauls). Cinepouch look interesting, had never come across them!

Good point from Chris but if you pack them full, the "flexy" cannot flex and is effectively a hard shell as your luggage becomes full. I have used my large samsonite without any issues multiple times (short and long hauls). Cinepouch look interesting, had never come across them!

2 hours ago, Nicool said:

So do you pack housing / ports / strobes in your samsonite? Which model?


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Magnum Eco - On my last trip, I fitted backplate, wing and regulator on one side. And for the other my; ports, strobes, arms, chargers and clothes (incl a light wetsuit). The rest (Housing, camera, lenses; and anything else you can think of for a trip) was in my cabin luggage or backpack.

9 hours ago, Nicool said:

 

Now with this approach I saw 2 flavours:

Option 1: hard-shell fancy Samsonite, like the Samsonite Lite-Shock Sport 75cm, takes 98L, weighs 2.4kg.

 Option 2: soft-shell case, like the Samsonite 72 DLX SPINNER 71/26 EXP, takes 90L, weighs 2.5kg empty.

Hi Nicool

With this 2 options I would go with the hard shell. The housing is quite sturdy (if an aluminium one), specially if you takeout the handles. Dismantle the handles, keep the housing closed, use food tappeware to protect the ports and domes (special attention to protect the dome port, keep them with the neoprene covers and ), and use you cloth, towels, wetsuit, neoprene boots / sock and rubber fins to avoid direct contact of the housings and the ports and to give them a soft shell.

Be careful with metal d-rings form the bcd or other equipment inside the suitcase to avoid cosmetic damage to the housings.

The strobes take them with you on the hand-luggage. Do not send them in the checked-in luggage!

Avoid empty areas inside the suitcase to grant that the equipment you put there does not moves around during the travel, increasing the risk for damages.

2 hours ago, pbalves said:

The strobes take them with you on the hand-luggage. Do not send them in the checked-in luggage!

I don't disagree at all, but why do you think that?

13 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

The suitcases sound like a good option, though I'm not sure if the samsonites you link are the best option.  They are hard sided but quite flexy.  I fly a lot (at least before Covid hit and soon to start again) for work and I've seen my share of beaten up luggage on carousels.  I bought Briggs and Riley cases for my travel - they are very pricey - The smaller bag was $US600 and the larger $US900 but my first one was purchased in 2013 and I would estimate has been on maybe 250 individual flights and still looks great, it has only just started to not look new.  The point is not suggest you buy B&R as they are not sold in Australia - rather that quality luggage is expensive and there are a lot of junky bags being sold so if you go that route do some research.  I think all the bags except ones like the pelican with rigid sides need to be packed quite full for best protection.

hi Chris, I've got my fair share of travel in previous job (probably 300-400 boarded aircrafts in 10 years) but I have never seen one of the fancy hard-shelled Samsonites cracked (i mean these). Not advertising them in particular, I don't even own one (yet?) but they have a reputation for being one of the very lightest and yet very sturdy.

Have you ever seen one of these cracked/burst open? 

4 hours ago, pbalves said:

Hi Nicool

With this 2 options I would go with the hard shell. The housing is quite sturdy (if an aluminium one), specially if you takeout the handles. Dismantle the handles, keep the housing closed, use food tappeware to protect the ports and domes (special attention to protect the dome port, keep them with the neoprene covers and ), and use you cloth, towels, wetsuit, neoprene boots / sock and rubber fins to avoid direct contact of the housings and the ports and to give them a soft shell.

Be careful with metal d-rings form the bcd or other equipment inside the suitcase to avoid cosmetic damage to the housings.

The strobes take them with you on the hand-luggage. Do not send them in the checked-in luggage!

Avoid empty areas inside the suitcase to grant that the equipment you put there does not moves around during the travel, increasing the risk for damages.

Thanks, but wouldn't the housings be better protected with the handles on? Thinking of the levers on the sides.

With your last comment, I very much agree, stuff needs to be packed in the suitcase, but that's the exact reason of my question: I wonder how practical/feasible it would be to tightly pack a hard-shelled suitcase, give it opens right in the middle. 

I mean, picture it, the case open on the floor,

-either you stack-up your gear on the right shell, and hoping that you've maximized space/filled any holes, once you close the left shell, or

-you fill both shells to their respective thickness, but then what happens when you lift-up the left shell to close?

Maybe I am over-thinking it... or not  

If I end-up embarrassing myself by taking 20kg of UWP gear in a travel shop and actually try... I'll report my findings here