This includes many trips since 9/11 and since TSA and
TSA-comparable changes in security regimes at other international
airports.
I have never once checked my LowePro Adventure Trekker gear bag,
with D30 (now D60), 100-400, 100 macro, 16-35, 28-135, ST-E2, 1 or
2 550EX, lens hoods, TC-80N3, batteries, and miscellaneous
fiddlybits.
Of course I look like a backpacker with that forest green LowePro
pack on my back, but what the heck.
Security has
never once given me any problem . They occasional ask
"Are you in town for the {fill in event name here}?" To which I
respond "No, I'm headed to {fill in city name here} where I do
mostly art & archeology photography."
And until two days ago, in perhaps 7-8 international trips since
9/11, I have nearly always had my Manfrotto Carbon One 3443
(without BG grip head) strapped onto my LowePro pack.
Yes, I had a
big black metal complex menacing-looking object strapped to my pack
and it has always passed security at all of those airports without
special scrutiny. Pretty amazing, actually.
Until Friday that is, when security (at Tokyo Narita, T1/S4/G44)
insisted on my tripod being taken away and checked into baggage.
That's the first time. They were very nice about it. Evidently some
airport staffer had to have carried it to T1/S2/G25, about 7-8
minutes away.
The gate staff tolerated my inquiries checking to see if it had
arrived to the gate, and my request that it be handled specially
(they didn't have a box but promised to put it on last with special
attention). And the purser even had a text message sent to BKK and
it was hand-picked first off the plane in manual cargo (we landed
at a bus gate) and it was handed to me as I deplaned before getting
on the shuttle bus. Now that's service! (Thank you Northwest!)
Note to self: never carry-on tripod again, not worth the hassle.
But this example is indicative of the experiences I have had with
airport security and airline personnel in dealing with my
equipment. The x-ray screeners are probably impressed or even
intimidated by a big bag 'o' expensive camera gear, which they
probably encounter fairly often with photojournalists. I am hardly
ever asked to open the gear bag for manual inspection.
Not only do I always carry a fully-loaded LowePro gear backpack, I
also have a student-type book shoulder/backpack which contains my
Dell Latitude laptop and anything else I want to carry on.
It just isn't worth the possibility that I might arrive at my
destination and find that my gear had been damaged or stolen due to
its having been checked in baggage.
The dramatic temperature, pressure and humidity changes associated
with airplanes and checked baggage are simply not something to
which I will subject my lenses and gear. "The horror, the horror."
-- Colonel Kurtz
- - -
I realize my experiences above are not relevant to everyone,
specifically those persons who wouldn't ever walk around airports
and planes with 35+ pounds in gear strapped to their back, looking
like a pack mule.
Just my $0.02.
In the few instances where there has ever been any question from
any airline gate staffer about the necessity of carrying on two
bulky packs, I simply tell them that it is all expensive and
sensitive camera, lenses and laptop computer and cannot be
subjected to the environmental stresses and potential loss
associated with checked baggage. That answer has always quelled any
inquiries or challenges to my carrying on the gear.
Two final notes: (1) arrive early(er) so that you will find
adequate overhead storage to contain your packs, and (2) I must
confess that I'm usually (not always) in business class where they
are generally more tolerant of passenger foibles like bulky
carry-ons.
Regards,
--David H.
I can just see cameras and equipment disappearing left and right
with the new rules that "Checked" baggage must not be locked.
Geesh, I never quite trusted my checked bags even when it WAS
locked.
D60, BG-ED3, 16-35L, 28-135 IS, 100-400L, 100/2.8 macro,
(3)550-EX, ST-E2, TC-80N3, 2x1GB MD
also Sigma 14, Canon 20, Canon EF2X-II
Past 18 months: 30,000 exposures (mostly D30)
The people as individuals are wonderful and the hospitality in places such as Lebanon is outstanding (not to mention the food). The governments in most are not. I would say the same applies to the US. Some of the nicest people on Earth. Government questionable.