Traveling with a Tripod

[BecM]

I am trying to decide if it's ok to pack my tripod or not? I already have in the back pack I take on the plane with me, my laptop, camera lens and two books (need a spare book I have a thing about being stuck on a plane with no book to read). My tripod would make the whole thing VERY cumbersome and heavy but...... I am worried about my tripod being in my luggage. I have thought about surrounding it with clothes so it would be well padded.

Thoughts anyone??? What do you do??

PS It's a long flight with a change of planes.

[Koko]

I packed mine in suit case with my clothes around it . All was good but it was a short flight..

[Dylan & Marianne]

Bec, Marianne and I travelled a world trip last year with our tripods packed - we made sure they were in their padded covers with our goretex outers around them as well as other padding from clothes, shoes etc. We took off the ball heads and carried them in hand carry though. I would strongly advise against marking them as fragile (and checking them in individually) as I suspect they dont' get treated any differently - on our previous trip, the padded bags ended up getting ripped and there were dents in our ballheads :(

[BecM]

Thanks guys, dtoh that is REALLY good to know. I don't have a padded bag but do have lots of clothing packed in pods so I will surround it with those. I nearly decided to leave it behind but a self slap to the head changed my mind back to taking it again.

[Patagonia]

Or you can buy a cheap and lighter tripod for travelling...and change the books for PDF versions if you are taking the laptop, just ideas...

regards

[BecM]

Hi Patagonia, I want a really good tripod to use while I am OS, I've had too many blury photo's from the cheaper tripods :(

PDF version very good idea :)

[jim]

What do I do? I keep one in Australia, one in New Zealand and one in Thailand.

I hate luggage...

[junqbox]

I bought a smaller, lighter tripod to take to Japan last year and packed with my clothes. I'll do this again when I go to Lord Howe this year. I made a hardshell roadcase for my larger tripod when I went to Tassie a couple of years ago and will do this again when flying domestic with a car at the other end.

[BecM]

Thanks junqbox, my tripod is actually a carbon fiber monfrotto so it IS light, I was just worried about it being safe in my luggage. I'm glad to hear yours traveled well :) I feel much better now about it's safety.

[William]

For what it's worth Bec, I just packed mine in the luggage , Surrounded by clothes etc, No Probs :th3:

[Geoff79]

Fiji this year was the first time I took a tripod with me. It was a crap tripod, but it had served me well for a while. During the first photo I took in Fiji it literally completely fell apart, screws and the top part trickling into the water where it was standing. Luckily I saved the camera before it hit the ocean.

Point of the story is I just assumed the tripod had gone as far as it could, after having a hard salt-filled life. But I don't know, maybe I just packed it poorly and that sped up it's demise?

I just packed that in the middle of my suitcase, but what about just bringing it on the plane with you as carry on luggage? Would that be allowed through okay?

[BecM]

After you packed it William - did you go anywhere :lol:

Geoff I was trying to no take it on board, I already have my backpack filled with my computer, camera and lens and other paraphernalia. This is me traveling light lol.

[Geoff79]

After you packed it William - did you go anywhere :lol:

Geoff I was trying to no take it on board, I already have my backpack filled with my computer, camera and lens and other paraphernalia. This is me traveling light lol.
Whoops. Sorry mate, I did read that but got distracted and forgot. :D

Regardless of my story above, I do think packing it in a suitcase sensibly (with clothed padding) should do the trick. :)

[BecM]

Regardless of my story above, I do think packing it in a suitcase sensibly (with clothed padding) should do the trick. :)


Thanks :)

Bec :) :)

[Dylan & Marianne]

They wont' let you take a tripod on board anyway ( at least they wouldn't let me) because of its shape and potential for being used as weapon??
Dunno, maybe it was just me - anyone here been able to take one on board as hand carry??

[BecM]

Wow dtoh I never thought about that aspect of it! I tell you what it would make a good weapon, I reckon I could knock a robber flying with my tripod lol. I am going to NY and the security there at the moment is very high, so whilst Sydney might not be a problem, checking through at LA could be! My last flight from NY to LA we were told that nobody was allowed to 'congregate' anywhere on the plane and this was before OBL in January.

[peterb666]

I took a tripod to NZ last year. I cannot recall if it was my Manfrotto or a lightweight Slik. Probably the latter.

Later I bought a roller bag for travelling and that was sized to take my Manfrotto tripod as they are no longer popular as on-board luggage. As for packing for air travel, certainly, inside a bag surrounded by clothes (i.e. in the middle of the bag). Gone are the days when you could take golf bags (with clubs), rifles in bags and large duffle bags as on-board baggage. These days you are lucky to get a pygmy's purse on board. Even then, won’t be long before they hit you with a $50 surcharge for something the size of a postage stamp.

Now of course, if going to NY, I might put a Gitzo Ocean Traveller on my shopping list to pick up from there. Even though it is a lot cheaper in the US, it would still become the most expensive bit of kit in my collection - oh, just dreaming. :o

BTW, the concept of not 'congregating' on a plane is fascinating. Must be a US thing. How do you not congregate when jammed into a small space with 500 other people? :confused013

[BecM]

Peter I do NOT need any more things to put on my 'to buy from B and H' thank you very much!!!!!! :lol:

They described congregating as more than one person standing and talking, have never had it on a US flight before, maybe there had been a fresh 'threat' that day or just a particular pilot? I never have problems with extra security. Though I did think it funny when C (my ten year old) was swabbed for explosives in Sydney, she is a suspicious looking character that one :lol:

[junqbox]

Our light tripod went into the carry-on back pack to Japan.

[peterb666]

They described congregating as more than one person standing and talking

Obviously you have to take turns so that only one person standing is talking while the rest are sitting down listening. I expect the pilot was a former primary school teacher in the 1950s.

[BecM]

Obviously you have to take turns so that only one person standing is talking while the rest are sitting down listening. I expect the pilot was a former primary school teacher in the 1950s.

:lol:

[BecM]

Just a FYI. My tripod traveled beautiful in my suitcase and survived the trip with nary a scratch. It however only got used once, making it a completely useless extra.

There is always a fine line between enjoying the moment and sort of missing it trying to capture the perfect photo. I took well over 1000 photo's but as I was never by myself and there was just SO much to do, coffee to be drunk and food to be consumed I did my old 'snap and pray' type photography there just wasn't the time to compose a 'better' shot. If I had been on my own it would have been a different story. So my perfect 'Kodak' shots are all in my head :)

ETA On the leg from NY to LA we were once again told that standing and congregating on the plane was forbidden over US air space!

[Patagonia]

Well I just went to the US for business so I only carried my camera and one lens...I had a spare weekend so I went to Sequolla National Park and Yosemity National Park, it was the day after of the peak of de-icing of mountains so waterfalls were roaring high, some 100 meters and the biggest almost 900 meters!!!...one of the most amazing parks I´ve been. Short story tripod was MANDATORY!!!! and I still regret not have packed it, never again!!!!

[BecM]

Oh bugger!!!! Shame I couldn't lend it to you, would have been very happy to do so!

PS You know when I go on another trip I'll still take the tripod cause as you have just learnt ..... you never know :)

[peterb666]

Compromise and buy a lighter, more compact tripod for travelling. Works for me.

[gerry]

There was another thread somewhere about tripod on planes and I can't find it atm, however tripod in the suitcase is usually the preferred option but if space is tight try a simple tripod case, see pictures below, quick and dirty and cheap, all supplies from bloody bunnings...

you can put some high density foam in there and this setup will take a fair amount of beating - that said have you seen some of teh baggage handlers at sydney?

http://gerry.avernus.com.au/slide/thumbs/large/785_kcgjj/DSC_9751.jpg

http://gerry.avernus.com.au/slide/thumbs/large/784_sfgl8/DSC_9750.jpg

http://gerry.avernus.com.au/slide/thumbs/large/786_g8qp4/DSC_9752.jpg

[sakvee]

I traveled all round Europe with a tripod in my suitcase, added a fair bit of weight to my suitcase. Was also a bit heavy carrying it around strapped to my backpack all day but it was well worth it. Also took my gorillapod but hardly used it.