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Pelican makes great cases, I have several, but they are reserved for gear that has to be checked or might be checked at the last minute. If you are flying in small regional jets, island hoping, or traveling to obscure locations, this is a great case when they hand you the gate check ticket and take your bag from you. I recommend the 1510 in this situation above all others.
Put some unique marking or stickers on it though, as once in Paris, myself and two other photographers had to compare gear to determine who's case was who's. What a coincidence, three identical (and nearly brand new) cases on the same flight!
However, if you are not in this situation and weight is an issue (traveling overseas) I can also highly recommend the Airport Security bag from Think Tank photo. Think Tank I have been using this bag since February and have found it is well designed and can take a bit of a beating.
I hope that helps!
Mike
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Thank you Mike. I am quite convinced at this point that the P 1510 is the one that I need for the kind of trip we are planning. For other trips I am currently using the Moose Peterson MP3 and I love it for how light it is and the amount of gear that you can fit in.
Raul.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
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Is this pelican useful to be used as carry on? I mean, being as heavy as it is when empty, it will be very easy to surpass the weight limit for carry on luggage.
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How often does carry-on gear get weighed? I can't remember anybody ever checking mine. I understand that on small planes weight is a much more serious matter and you may want (or need) to weigh all your gear.
Doug
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Hi Doug,
Not often, but in my last trip to Iceland they actually weighted my MP-3 and wanted to check it. I had to call for the supervisor and explain that I was carrying expensive photographic gear and she understood. But maybe another not as nice supervisor wouldn't have been so understanding. So I want to be ready.
As for small planes we will be flying on those, but we are making sure that we won't surpass the weight limits on those ones.
Raul.
Raul.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
I think I will get the 1510, and then get a nice vest full of pockets, in case I need to move some gear from case to vest to avoid checking the gear.
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Raul, do you know about Vested Interest? I haven't used (or seen in person) any of their gear, but it sounds great and I've heard people who own it speak very highly of it.
Doug
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Thank you Doug. I just took a look at those vest and they look great. I didn't know them. I think I will make a habit of having one with me while traveling by plane with heavy gear, just in case, even if I travel with the light MP-3.
Raul.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
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Have you used the Airport Security bag on small Regional Jets?
Has the bag and equipment been gate checked?
How did the equipment hold up?
Also do you travel with a 500MM and the Airport security bag?
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Sometimes I feel like I could write a book about traveling with photogear! There is just not one all purpose solution.
We have two of the Airport Security bags; they hold a lot of stuff. We put the 500 mm/f4 in one, the 300 mm/f2.8 in the other and then fill around them with bodies (3 total), lenses, teleconverters, extension tubes, etc. (The bag with the 300 also has a 70-200 mm, a 180 mm macro, a 24-70 mm, a 16-35 mm and one 1 series body, plus two flashes. Take the flashes out and there is room for a second body.)
Given this, the bag fully loaded reaches maximum carry-on weight (usually 40 lbs, but on some airlines less) pretty quickly, so you have to be careful.
We just came back from a two week international trip (UK - US - UK) and used one of these bags as carry-on. On an American Airlines 777 it just fit in the overhead. In fact it could not go "end to end" in the overhead without catching on the bag when the bin was shut; we had to put in the bin sideways (not to popular with the others around you, as that takes much more overhead room.)
Fortunately, we did not fly on any Regional Jets this trip. Given the experiences on the 777 we probably would have had to gate check the Airport Security bag. While the bag is well built and very durable, I would not want to gate check it as I just don't feel that it offers enough of "that kind" of protection for gear. The Pelican case would be much better for this. Just my opinion, YMMV [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
As to the question about weighing carry-on baggage:
In our experience, we have never had carry-ons weighed by any US airline, even when flying Regional Jets. (But, the experience with Regional Jets, seems to be: if it has wheels, you are going to have to gate check it). The situation in Europe however is quite different and it is unusual for them not to weigh your carry-on. Many of the European airlines have different and varying weight limits for carry-ons, some as low as 20 lbs. One, BA, limits your checked bags (both number and weight, I believe) and carry-ons depending upon the class of ticket you have bought. Sometimes, you get a nice gate agent, but you can't count on it. As with anything, it is usually best to plan for the worse case and then be happy if it doesn't happen. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
I have traveled with the Airport Security and have had it gate checked six times on small jets. Twice I was seated in the rear of the aircraft and told the overhead bins were full, when the fact was the airline was late and wanted to get moving and gate checking was faster than having passengers stow their own bags overhead. On two other occasions the bag would not fit in the overhead bin and the last two occasions the overhead space was filled by the time I boarded.
The reason I purchased this bag was for these situations. The bag packs well, and the locking zippers leave little to chance if your bags go through the luggage carousel upon arrival. It often must be placed sideways in the overhead bin as it only fits "wheels out" on the newest planes with large overhead bins. As for protection, I have never had a problem and find the protection to be quite good in these instances.
I hope that is helpful
Mike
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
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