Travelling by air

[Colin]

What is the best way to take scope, tripod and binnies when travelling by commercial airlines? Is it best to carry the scope and binnies as hand luggage and pack the tripod in the main bag to be put into the hold and thus in the event of damage/loss, only the tripod gets it.

I would appreciate some advice on this.


Thanks.

Colin

[Reader]

Colin

I have travelled by air many times and have always carried my bins in the hand luggage, in fact on a few occasions, on my flight out, I have actually gone through with them hanging from my neck and they haven't been weighed. My scope and tripod are split between two cases as I always take my camera equipment with me as hand luggage as well. The scope, for me, would be too much weight with the other hand luggage I need to take. Now that my camera appears to be U/S I might consider taking the scope with my hand luggage when I next go abroad, that is if my camera still isn't working.

Does all that make sense??

[Andy Bright]

I used to try and take my optical gear as hand luggage, 'pod in the hold..... a lot of that was my mistaken belief that the holds were uncompressed and would blow the seals on nitrogen filled scopes/binos. I'd still feel happier with the scope beside me (fragility?), but the binos can definitely go in your suitcase.
Perhaps Steve can enlighten us..... though hand luggage restrictions seem to vary from carrier to carrier, rarely enforced with much vigour.
Andy B

[Colin]

Thanks John and Andy.

I think the pod will have to look after itself in the hold. The binnes will go around my neck and the trusty scope will go as hand luggage.

If the worst case scenario happens and the luggage is lost, I can still do some birding with the binnies and I shall have to rest the scope on anything to hand. I will sort out the lack of clothes later....lol

Thanks again


Colin

Sorry...just noticed a pun.......'worst case scenario'....get it!! case=suitcase.......groan:king:

[Steve]

The golden rule is take anything that can Break in the cabin with you. The handlers at airports are always in a hurry and EVERYTHING gets thrown onto a flatbed lorry and then onto the belts. If your on a large A/C your luggage wil be loaded into a tin but this is no guarantee of its safety, as the luggage is thrown onto the carousels by the handlers at your destination.
so take it in the cabin and put it in the overheads.

[Reader]

I must admit that I have always taken my scope in my suitcase, and that must be roughly about a dozen times. I make sure that it is well surrounded by clothes and is situated in the middle of the suitcase (that means in the centre of everything for maximum padding). It would need some absolutely temendous force to damage it under those circumstances and as yet, touch wood, nothing has gone wrong.