Time to buy shares in hardshell protective cases!
neil posted in Travel, Neil on August 29th, 2006
The airport is currently a traumatic experience for any photojournalists travelling through, to or from the UK. The current hand luggage maxima are not designed for the traveller who owns laptop AND SLR equipment and would rather lose a pint of blood than check them in.
The current restrictions are being rigidly enforced in triplicate by people who don’t really give a damn about how delicate/expensive/irreplaceable your items are. You can’t blag it, I saw many people try today and all fail. The restrictions are enforced not only at check-in (as before) but before security, in security and possibly at the gate. Each time you must fully fit your kit into a wooden box before you can pass.
The good news is that a lowepro micro trekker 200 WILL go into the new restrictions provided the front compartment is empty. No room for a laptop though, and you can’t carry it seperately.
My Crumpler “the shrinkle” bag has been on two flights crammed to the brim with SLR kit and has travelled well, but I’d still prefer to have stuff in a crush proof case.
My advice: plan in advance, you CANNOT fudge/blag/trick your bag onto the plane. You have been warned.
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