Travelling Abroad (1 Viewer)

How do birders carry their heavy tripods and large scopes when travelling abroad by air?

Scopes usually ok in hand luggage. A lot of airlines won't let tripods go in the cabin as they're pretty lethal weapons unlike glass duty free bottles which are perfectly harmless!!

JP

Well as I have been to America twice to go to Florida on family holiday's I don't usually take my scope with me I bring my bins with me and when I was there I bought a birding guide on Florida just to se what's what and I do knew what the species were on my 2nd visit last year eg the Rosette Spoonbill they are fantastic birds I'd reccomend you birdwatch in Florida and you must go to Bush Garden's anf Animal Kingdom because they have great bird shows.

Hi there, i've only flown abroad with mine once and that was with KLM ... i attached my tripod (Slik D3) to my rucksack with a some (think i used 4) bungee cords wrapped right round the bag and the tripod, which went in the luggage hold. As they are about the same height it worked well.

Bin's and scope (65mm) went in my hand baggage.

I've been lucky to visit several places birding but i never take a scope on a tripod. Carting one around places like Indonesia or Peru etc is just too onerous. They're not much use in several situations and in hot climates are simply a pain. Plus they can attract unwanted attention and look valuable.

However, a shoulder pod and a small 60mm scope are an alternative and can fit into a day rucsac easily and are allowed in the cabin as hand luggage.

I agree with Tim about the risks of carrying a tripod and telescope with you to many locations throughout the world, though on occasions it can be very useful. My approach is to carry a small tripod that will fit into my bag. This makes travel on planes easier, but, more importantly, you can walk through a town on the way to a birding sight without flashing your expensive equipment. In tropical forests I have generally found telescopes to be a major burden and of little use.
Tom

I always pack my telescope, along with binoculars and camera, in my hand baggage, which is a medium size rucksack. I have never had any problems at all on any of the sixty or so foreign trips I have been on. Very few airlines do more than have a brief look at your hand baggage at check-in, and only once have they weighed it. Allowances vary from as little as 5kg up to 8kg, and more in the higher classes. Security staff rarely show any interest in optical gear, especially if there is a bird book or two in the same bag.

My tripod goes in my case. I do not see the point of carrying it separately or stuck to your hand baggage, unless you feel that you might want to use it at the airports, which I would definitely not recommend.

I have only once not taken my scope/tripod on a foreign trip, and regretted it. Even when you are doing a forest trip such as Borneo there are times when a scope is invaluable. Tim's idea of a shoulder pod and small scope makes sense if you are on your own but a tripod is a must if you are sharing a scope with your partner.

Steve

When I went to India I took a microscopic Cobra tripod that was...

...A) tiny and very light and B) worth so little in value (£25 I think) that I didn't care what happened to it in transit.

My girlfriend has a lightweight Kowa 62mm scope so it was fine for that, but I think an 80mm would have been impossible on it.

I always wrap my scope up in the towels I take with me.

If you want to keep it safe take it in the cabin with you!!

Thanks for all the advice. I guess my situation is a little different from the above posts in that I will travelling back to the UK. There I'll just be one of the thousands of birders lumping heavy scopes and tripods around the bird reserves!! Having covered my local patch for the last ten years, I am yet to bump into anyone carrying even a pair of binoculars!
Many thanks
Kevin

Best to take everything as hand luggage but if the airline won't allow this ask for it to be put in the "fragile" hold. This will involve putting stickers (supplied by the check-in desk) on it and taking it to a special desk. I did this with Singapore Airlines and had no problems but with Air France, when the tripod went in with all the other luggage, I saw it fall from a conveyor belt six feet to the tarmac at Charle de Gaulle. It was a bit wonky afterwards! I've put my scope in my case several times and no damage.

Whats a "fragile hold" ?

Steve said:

Whats a "fragile hold" ?

Click to expand...

I think it means the baggage handlers just throw it from the plane onto the floor. As opposed to throw from the plane onto the floor, jump up and down on it, open it up, steal anything vaguely valuable, urinate inside, zip it back up, play "piggy in the middle" with it then set it on fire, before finally putting it on the conveyor belt for you to pick up

Or at least that's how it looks at times

Have not gone on any birding trips by air, but for air travel, I bring my 7-15X Bushnell cheapo zooms. They work for casual birding, and I don't mind putting them in the suitcase.

Equipment and cameras on carry on..what a headache!

Ok here is how it happens, take T3 at LHR as an example, your baggage is bar coded before it is sent down to the spur, on its journey the bar code is scanned and a buffer rather like a large boxing glove "punches" it down the correct tunnel thus down to the handlers who are working your particular airline. british midland handles Virgin. Alitalia, Iberia, SAS and aerlingus handles air India, Cathay, Thai, For Example. On long haul flights the bags are packed in tins (containers) a 747 takes 7 usually one upper class one premium and five economy. These are already on tugs and bags are loaded according to the class your travelling in. A part of the sticker on your bag is taken off as its loaded into the tin and placed on a clip board in the order in which it came down to the spur, this tells staff which tin your bag is in so it can be off loaded if your asked to leave the aircraft or you dont make it from the duty free shop before they close the gate. If you request a "fragile sticker " a handler will come up to check in 30 mins before the flight is due to depart to pick these items up. I assure you we have no seperate hold for these items, they are either packed at the top of the last tin on the train, or loaded onto a flatbed truck with the mail and crew baggage and then loaded into the tail section, Push chairs wheel chairs and the like (unless your travelling upper class ) are also loaded here, some netting is hooked over the "pile" so it doesnt shift to much. all items here are still "chucked "on and off a belt to and from the hold and indeed "chucked "off the truck onto the belts for your collection. If it looks like you really do have a few quids worth, an agent will pick it up off the belt Airside, and you will collect it from the agent. Hunting rifles, fishing rods etc are also stored here, but they(the Guns) are taken and examined by customs long before you get them back.

The claims for "fragile" items broken every year are staggering BUT they only pay about 20%,(which is loaded into your ticket) So as I said take it into the cabin with you.

Anybody have any well traveled gear, so we can figure out which optical equipment stands up to abuse, inside a case?

I had to collect my "fragile" tripod from a desk on arrival, it didn't come out with the cases.
It's only at Heathrow that checkin people have said I couldn't take a tripod as hand luggage. In my, limited, experience other airports are more relaxed about everything.

Oh and by the way if you are going on holiday with friends/family try not spend the whole time staring through bins as family may not have the same intesrst so early morning or late evenings is the best time that way you xcan enjoy activities with your family. I'll be doing that in Darby