I will be overweight, anyone else had this problem?

[outofofficebrb]

I've been to Indonesia a few times and have flown a few airlines, including Garuda, Sriwijaya, and Batik, all with photography gear. From the US, I have flown ANA, EVA, United, Singapore Air. All except United impose weight restrictions for carry-on.

My photography bag with housing, camera, strobes, lenses, batteries, all the incidentals, was about 17-18kg. Then I had my tote bag as well. It is a photo-specific rollerboard so after I hand over my passport, the first thing I do is unzip it to show them the contents and ask if I can carry it on since it is fragile and expensive. I am very polite in asking and they have never hesitated to say yes. I think the photo-specific bag makes it more "serious" looking. They do still ask to weigh it, jot some notes down, and let me proceed. They also give me a tag with notes on it.

My insurance, in case I ever get pushback, or end up on a commuter jet, is my trench from Scott E Vest. They sell products that have a ton of pockets and my emergency plan is to stick the lenses and strobes in my pockets and carry the camera in the housing. These are similar to the photography clothing mentioned above but more street looking. SCOTTeVEST | Multi-Pocket Clothing for Travelers, Gadget Lovers, Photographers and People On the Go Don't buy anything full priced - there is always a sale, usually 30% off. Or you can find a code.

To date, I have not had issues. My Scott E Vest trench has merely been my airplane blanket.

I have also done the same in the Philippines with Cebu Pacific with success.

 

[aquacat8]

Maybe you could carry a lift bag for additional buoyancy;-)

 

[Wookie]

I've been overweight for years, but I'm paying more attention to what I eat now.

 

[mcpowell]

Every time I eat a cookies & cream milkshake from Chick-fil-A, I swear I’ll never do it again, but I can’t help myself...

My family always makes fun of my cargo shorts. I tell them it’s not embarrassing if you don’t care. Do you know how much stuff you can store in all those pockets?

Might be a bit uncomfortable if the pockets are full with 20 lbs of stuff, but they are great!

 

[borisphotosafari]

Being nice and showing the airline staff that you are carrying photo gear goes a long way. In small print on the airline tickets it says that you should not check in valuables, cameras and fragile items.
I do travel to Indonesia and Philippines 2-3 times a year. I carry a roller with my housing, cameras and ports packed in clothes. And a photo backpack with lenses, strobes and all accessories. Both fit in the overhead compartment even on the turboprops.