maybe a lame question....

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What's wrong with a large pelican case in checked baggage, and those TSA approved locks? I recently used my Pelican 1620 with my video lights, etc, and my wife's housing, strobe, etc for her digital camera. No problems with the TSA locks... Just watch them scan your bag at the airport (in the US) which they do right by check-in... In other countries, you are usually present for the searching of your bags. There is also something called INSURANCE?
 
howarde:
What's wrong with a large pelican case in checked baggage, and those TSA approved locks? I recently used my Pelican 1620 with my video lights, etc, and my wife's housing, strobe, etc for her digital camera. No problems with the TSA locks... Just watch them scan your bag at the airport (in the US) which they do right by check-in... In other countries, you are usually present for the searching of your bags. There is also something called INSURANCE?
The problem with pelican cases is they scream "steal me." And any sort of small lock you put on checked luggage (TSA or otherwise) only serves to keep the honest, honest - might slow down someone a little bit but if someone really wants in they're not that hard to break. It's widely assumed that the theives have the keys anyway.

They don't scan your bag right at check-in at all airports, maybe yours but they're all different. And it doesn't really matter where the bag gets scanned anyway, as far as the possibility of things getting stolen somewhere along the line.

Insurance is nice for replacing things later but is only so much consolation when stuff goes missing on the way to someplace and you don't have it on your trip.
 
Catherine,

Go ahead and use your pelican case. It protects the contents much better than most other options, and from Siberia to Okinawa to Palau I've seen some pretty harsh events involving luggage handling. I've also seen a Samsonite fall out of an aircraft being unloaded in Novosibirsk, hit the tarmac and split open, spreading its contents across the field...including two cameras.

But put the pelican case inside a humongus duffel bag. Strap it tight. Cabelas sells some good ones.
www.cabelas.com

Best,

Doc
 
Catherine, my carry on consists of the things I'll really, really miss... custom wetsuit, mask, regulator. And the most important items for that long flight: big fluffy slippers, Tempur-Pedic eyeshades, Bose headphones, contact lens stuff.

Everything else, including housing, camera bodies, dive gear... is all checked. It's too much of a pain to lug all that camera gear around, anyway; the 300mm f 2.8 weighs a ton.

I do use Hardigg cases, MIL-spec cases that are better than Pelican and weigh half as much. Locked with zipties; that's it, no locks. There is no lock in the world that can stop an experienced thief. I just use an odd color ziptie to know if the case has been opened when I pick it up at baggage claim.

I'd say, go ahead, carry on your housing if it's peace of mind. Eventually, after enough trips, you'll follow the same road and check it.

All the best, James

BTW, you might check this article that I wrote and am shamelessly promoting.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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