Any of you ship camera gear instead of carrying on flights?

I am considering packing up some stuff to send to the other coast instead of flying with them.
I don't mind the expense of doing this as long as it shows up on the other end.
Any experiences with Fed-X for this?

Only one leg of flight from Dullus to San Jose, so I would first attempt to get everyting down to one carry on bag and a laptop would be part of this.
Or just travel with the laptop and ship the rest.
With three boys and wife, I want to keep things as simple as possible for the flight.
I think if I ship, there are couple of additional gear I would love to have while on the west coast, such as my QTVR rig....

I'd ship FedX before I'd put any camera or laptop in stowage.

Good thing about traveling with your family is you can carry on more bags.

Last year I traveled from Portland and the flight crew both got sick so they substituted them all. It took about two hours to locate a complete crew. They switched planes for some "unknown reason" and I ended up in a small plane where they had too much luggage. They stuffed the plane so much you could here them pounding on the luggage to make it all fit. Then they brought some into the cabin and spread it out on the floor front to back.

All my cameras, portable lights and laptop were checked in and all I could do was sit there and listen and watch.

Everything arrived OK but I was a nervous wreck the entire flight!

I would utilize your family's carry-on allowance as already suggested. You can carry on a laptop bag and a camera bag. Your wife can carry on a camera bag and her purse. And each of your boys can carry on a backpack with one of your lenses or strobes in a padded sleeve.

I usually check my tripod in with no problems. If I had a QTVR rig, I would probably also check that in. But that's just me.

I don't know what your family is like, but if your wife can handle them while you board and you can handle both camera bags and your laptop bag, it might not be so bad. Plus, it's only one leg. Just get there early and take your time disembarking.

But back to your question, I have shipped stuff on a couple of occassions with no problems. Not my main gear, but like lightstands, tripods, and a couple of lenses. Just make sure you carry your essentials with you (body, primary lenses, and laptop).

Thanks for the replies!

These days when carriers are getting cheaper by the minute, are they still not counting the laptop bag as part of the carry on allowance?
Not sure how strict they are about the 'one' carry on per person rule when it goes to briefcase/laptop.

I will go to airline's site and check but these days things are never 100% clear.

One time a ground crew person demanded my camera case and stuffed it in the belly of a connecting flt plane - it was the same size as others' who were carrying theirs on. Something was fishy about the deal and I protested to the flt attendant. The pilot, bless him, personally went into the hold and retrieved the case and brought it to me. I wasn't worried about the potential damage - just suspicious about the way the dude chose my bag over others. It wasn't too far fetched to think the bag would somehow disappear before the flt departed or after arriving.

quote:

Originally posted by RD3F:
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Not sure how strict they are about the 'one' carry on per person rule when it goes to briefcase/laptop.
[/qb]

I travel quite a bit and I love this bag. Works as carry on and I can fit two bodies a bunch of medium sized lenses, batteries, Cf cards, my MacBook and accessories. I have even crammed in my lifesavers.

quote:

Originally posted by RD3F:
[qb]
One time a ground crew person demanded my camera case and stuffed it in the belly of a connecting flt plane [/qb]

How does a ground crew "demand"?

re - How does a ground crew "demand"?

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we were boarding via one of those tent tunnels and then out onto the tarmac to the plane.

he was at the end of the tunnel as we were out in the open headed to the plane.

he said i can't board the plane with my bag and said i need to check it in the cargo hold.
kind of gruff and rude, which set off an alarm in my head.
(this did not happen at the usual place just outside the plane where i've handed over bags in the past.)

this was in the U.S. at a major airport, not in a third world country.

anyway, regardless of what might have happened in the end, the pilot helped prevent a 5+ hr flight of me being pissed over the rude jerk, without me having to deal with him directly which may have made matters a lot worse.

re - I travel quite a bit and I love this bag.

thanks!
amazing Tenba is still around.
my brain's over loaded with a dizzying array of travel bag selections out there on top of a handful I already own.

re - I have even crammed in my lifesavers.

Ha! I have two of those for sharing between my three sons and myself. Bought from Amazon at around $130 each and it's now on sale at $99, so two more will be ordered soon.
Was using a set last night for editing some field recordings.
My usual lifesaver are sleep eye patch (not sure what the proper name is) and a set of ear plugs on a string from the drug store.

Burton makes a helluva sweatshirt specifically for air travel. Blow-up neck support and fold down eye mask are built into the hood. Lines available to run earphones from a pocket. There's also a "stash" pocket for earplugs(included!).

Besides that - I Fedex a small location lighting kit every time I fly anymore. I pick it up at the closest Fedex spot to the airport - or send it to my hotel.

re - Blow-up neck support and fold down eye mask are built into the hood.

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now that's a great idea.
not sure why i never thought of wearing hooded jacket, which would help muffle some of the ambient noise.
and obstructing my peripheral vision with the hood would offer me a false sense of privacy, which is fine in a plane seat.

thanks for the fedx feeback.

I used to ship things air cargo. It only makes sense when you have a lot of stuff packed in good cases. They put it on a pallet and wrap it in plastic wrap. Problem is that you have to ship it a day or 2 ahead. It was cheaper than FedEx

was at the airport couple days ago to pick up some friends and got a chance to observe the security line routine.

more than a few biz types had both a regulation-sized carry on rolling luggage AND a laptop briefcase.
some folks had backpacks AND a laptop case.

is this still a generally tolerated combination as allowed carry on in your experience?

last time we flew cross country was in 2006.

When I was shooting a ton of fashion, we'd travel a lot.
Garments, props, lights, supplies and equipment would all get shipped to the hotel via UPS. I lost a couple of Magliners to the UPS drivers. The shelves would always show up, but not the carts.
Everything was insured. UPS did reimburse for the lost carts.
Basic 35mm kit and the laptop would always go with me.
On one trip to Miami I was still shooting everything with the Hasselblad. I shipped it to the hotel with the rest of the "stuff" in a Tundra case. It wound up in Hawaii. I was sweatin' bullets for 3 days until the case arrived. That was the worst. Most of time a box or 2 would come in late after shipping 35 pieces.
But the only thing that got ripped off were the Magliners.
Just make sure you INSURE everything. The tundra cases had a special rider and Max insurance.
Now the laptop and digital bodies and my favorite lenses go with me.

I'd recommend using Fed Ex ground. Surprisingly they are reasonable. Also look at Hardigg Storm cases or Pelican.

http://www.hardigg.com/index.htm

http://www.pelican.com/

Chris Lawery
Sales Manager
Capture Integration
www.captureintegration.com

quote:

Originally posted by RD3F:
[qb]
more than a few biz types had both a regulation-sized carry on rolling luggage AND a laptop briefcase.
some folks had backpacks AND a laptop case.

is this still a generally tolerated combination as allowed carry on in your experience?
[/qb]

Most airlines describe their carryon limit as one bag and one "personal item". The personal item is generally described as a purse, briefcase, or laptop bag. I have done a fair bit of traveling this year on several different airlines. My standard carryon is a LowePro backpack with the cameras and a laptop shoulder bag. Never a problem. Either one can fit under the seat. One goes there, the other goes up in the luggage bin.
Here's the catch though: with airlines cutting back flights, the planes are more and more often 100% full. That means luggage space can and does run out. At that point, something has to get checked. I try to book window seats near the back of the plane to guarantee earliest boarding and best access to bin space.

Thanks to all for the report on the current state of affairs in flying with camera gear.

It's good to know they still allow one additional 'personal item', which was also confirmed by others who flew recently.

I'll see what I can cram in a rolling hard case (carryon size) and also have a laptop case.
Spread out some items in the boys' bags, such as the SB-800s or a short lens, etc.