Carry-on dilemma -- what would you do?

<p>I think you will do just fine with international leg of the flight. Be careful with domestic flights within India. Domestic airlines kind of enforce the 1 bag rule and I had a pretty bad experience with a small bag (20D, 17-40mm, 75-300mm) along with rather lightweight carry-on.</p>

<p>Plan A: Its a good airline, but their rules are the same as all the other airlines across Asia and here in Australia. If you that much camera gear then I would get a solid, lockable pelican case, label it fragile and insure everything. India is not a terribly dangerous place and the police there are ruthless with theives.</p>

<p>Plan B: If you are trying to wing it through the boarding gate, there will be a chrome steel measuring slot that your bag has to fit into. If it doesn't, it will be taken from you and checked in to the cargo hold. As it and the too-big bags of a handful of other passengers will be last into the carho hold, they may be first onto the carousel, so be quick getting to baggage claim.<br>

Put it over your shoulder and look like its light as a feather. Other than that, back to Plan A.</p>

<p>I travel 130 days a year, this year a bit more. I have flown half a million miles with SQ, mostly within Asia, in the past ten years. I have never got in trouble with them. I have been asked to weigh, or size up a bag, or got complained about more than one carry on bag, in Hong Kong airport, in Xiamen China, in Sydney/Melbourne and in Auckland New Zealand and in the UK. India is pretty strict with one bag on board rule. Most other countries seem to now accept one bag plus laptop bag without any questions or comments and without starting to weigh any of them.</p>

<p>Since you are going to India, this is what I foresee. Unless you fly from London, you will not be hassled regardless of what or how you carry into the plane. On the way back, or on any domestic flight, departing in India, you will not be able to carry more than one bag no matter what you say or do.</p>

<p>I would do one of these</p>

 

<ul>

<li>Turn up at the airport with a bag and contents that comply with the rules so you don't run into trouble anywhere on your trip. This might involve changing your bag or leaving one of the bigger lenses.</li>

<li>Get a Pelicase and pack some or all of my equipment in it, carrying on another bag that i could use to carry the gear at the other end, because a Pelican is just about the worst camera bag you could imagine. Possible problem here is that increasingly airlines are allowing only one free checked bag. I've travelled many times this way without incident- in fact I did it twice today.</li>

<li>Turn up at the airport with a carry-on thats a bit overweight but where you can quickly and easily transfer some of the weight to a pocket or a checked bag if you meet with refusal. </li>

</ul>

<p>The thing I would not do is to turn up with a significantly overweight carry on and rely on multiple check in desks and security guards to let you get away with it. </p>

<p>I am anticipating a trip to the Republic of China this April. The trip will include the necessary intercontinental flights and about six flights within China. <br>

I have been haunting travel and travel photography seminars regarding this subject and the general consensus seems to be, at least with China Airlines, that rolling luggage (even if it is within the size parameters for carry-on) is usually checked for weight and that backpacks are seldom checked.<br>

My Lowepro Mini Trekker AW backpack weighs in at about 2-pounds empty while my Lowepro Mini Roller Case is over 10-pounds empty.<br>

My plan is to use the Mini Trekker and cut down my equipment as much as possible. I will be taking two 1.6x cameras, 15-55mm f/2.8 IS, 12-24mm f/4 Tokina and 70-200mm f4L IS lenses plus my flashes and accessories such as filters, CF cards and stuff.<br>

This will be pretty close under the requisite weight but, if push comes to shove, I'll carry a camera and lens around my neck as I pass through baggage check and replace it into the Mini Trekker before I board the airplane.</p>

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