[Leica] Best practices for carrying camera gear on long-haul trips

[Duane Birkey]

The only photo gear I will ever put in checked luggage is a tripod... or a light stand...  Having watched how suitcases are handled and looking at the wear and tear inflicted on my checked luggage on every trip...  there is no way I would put any gear in a suitcase or checked bag.

I usually use a Domke satchel full of my primary gear that goes under my seat as a personal item.... and a roller/spinner carryon filled with spare gear/extra batteries/ chargers, my laptop and a couple sets of clothes/padding.   My carryon bag usually pushes 30+ pounds... When I am working my whole kit is typically 2 or 3 bodies, 6 or 7 lenses, two flashes, and audio recorder/mics/cables...  I don't take that much gear on vacation....

If packing camera gear into two bags, I do recommend packing things so that you have everything you need together in each bag, charger, extra batteries/ cards, lenses etc...   so if you were to lose one bag....  you have enough gear in the other bag for your trip...

If you are taking more gear than what fits in a camera bag and a carryon...  you are taking way too much gear...

I don't carry liquids in my carryon, and I rarely ever have any issues going through security even with all my gear...   and I when I do have issues it is when I'm entering some countries that are not fond of people bringing in that amount of gear...   I tell them that I always carry extra gear in case I am held up and my whole bag gets stolen.... they usually say something like oh no,  you won't have to worry about that here... and then they let me through....

The only time I do have trouble in security is when I travel with a Leica table tripod and the large ball head....  I've learned to separate those two items as together it looks too much like a gun/silencer...  I've lost track of how many times I have been flagged for those... whether in carryon or checked luggage...  ( I stopped putting it in checked luggage)

Either way... I have had no problems traveling with lots of photo gear in my carryons...  a laptop-size shoulder bag and a regulation size spinner carryon doesn't attract much attention....

Duane



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