Im not usually this stressed getting ready for a dive trip. But for various reasons, our last dive trip was this time last year! I dont count a weekend trip to Dallas or our weekly trips to Twin Lakes. Im talking about a trip requiring passports and plane rides to another country.
Packing dive gear and a few clothes is easy and requires maybe 20 minutes, unless I need to wash my favorite shorts. Whats stressful to me is packing camera gear and this trip is turning out to be a doozy! In the last 3 weeks I discovered my strobe is broken and needs a new switch. Ryan from Underwater Camera Pros has generously offered to loan me an Inon D-180 strobe and a bunch of other stuff to try out. It works great in the pool but at home the focus light cap comes off. 4 days before we leave and Im back to no strobe and hoping the old one gets repaired and back in time. Ive taken a deep breath and realized that I can still take some great photos with the internal flash only; we see them on the board every day. I will NOT let this ruin my trip!
Now, back to the packing stress. In the past, Ive always packed all the camera gear in a photo backpack as my carry-on. Its stuffed to the top, weighs about 30# and Id still have to carry the laptop separately. This year Beast has his own camera set-up, my old C-4040/PT-10 rig, so weve got almost twice as much stuff. This is on top of the normal things we have in carry on, such as logbooks, my RX mask, 1 set of regs, etc. Were both tired of traveling like pack mules! This year we started thinking about sending the camera gear through as checked baggage. Do I dare? All of it is insured except the laptop. I cant say the trip would be ruined if I didnt have my camera gear but it would definitely put a hole in it. We have one of the big Pelican 1650 boxes. My one experience with checking gear packed in it resulted in an attempt to pry off the locks, probably at Houstons airport. However Beast has never had his messed with. Of course hes all for shipping everything and Im scared to death! I took the big Pelican box and plucked the foam to fit everything. It was a nice complete package and I didnt sleep a wink thinking of all that COULD happen to it.
Back to the drawing board for a plan we could both live with to save our aching backs. Once again I laid out everything on a big table in the garage. Were taking just bare necessity photo gear. In Beasts backpack hell carry the laptop, C-5050/PT-15 and both cameras. In my backpack Ill have our logbook (Ill add pages for Beast in my logbook), mask, 1 swim suit each and personal necessities. All other camera gear will go in checked baggage in the Pelican. Im going to ass-u-me that my old strobe will be repaired and delivered before we leave, so Im taking the stuff needed for it. Well each have a gear bag, which will include our few clothes. I think I can live with this.
Lets see, where is that old bottle of Valium should I initiate that new credit card should I just get a grip, leave the camera stuff at home and enjoy the first clear salt water Ive tasted in a year?
Packing dive gear and a few clothes is easy and requires maybe 20 minutes, unless I need to wash my favorite shorts. Whats stressful to me is packing camera gear and this trip is turning out to be a doozy! In the last 3 weeks I discovered my strobe is broken and needs a new switch. Ryan from Underwater Camera Pros has generously offered to loan me an Inon D-180 strobe and a bunch of other stuff to try out. It works great in the pool but at home the focus light cap comes off. 4 days before we leave and Im back to no strobe and hoping the old one gets repaired and back in time. Ive taken a deep breath and realized that I can still take some great photos with the internal flash only; we see them on the board every day. I will NOT let this ruin my trip!
Now, back to the packing stress. In the past, Ive always packed all the camera gear in a photo backpack as my carry-on. Its stuffed to the top, weighs about 30# and Id still have to carry the laptop separately. This year Beast has his own camera set-up, my old C-4040/PT-10 rig, so weve got almost twice as much stuff. This is on top of the normal things we have in carry on, such as logbooks, my RX mask, 1 set of regs, etc. Were both tired of traveling like pack mules! This year we started thinking about sending the camera gear through as checked baggage. Do I dare? All of it is insured except the laptop. I cant say the trip would be ruined if I didnt have my camera gear but it would definitely put a hole in it. We have one of the big Pelican 1650 boxes. My one experience with checking gear packed in it resulted in an attempt to pry off the locks, probably at Houstons airport. However Beast has never had his messed with. Of course hes all for shipping everything and Im scared to death! I took the big Pelican box and plucked the foam to fit everything. It was a nice complete package and I didnt sleep a wink thinking of all that COULD happen to it.
Back to the drawing board for a plan we could both live with to save our aching backs. Once again I laid out everything on a big table in the garage. Were taking just bare necessity photo gear. In Beasts backpack hell carry the laptop, C-5050/PT-15 and both cameras. In my backpack Ill have our logbook (Ill add pages for Beast in my logbook), mask, 1 swim suit each and personal necessities. All other camera gear will go in checked baggage in the Pelican. Im going to ass-u-me that my old strobe will be repaired and delivered before we leave, so Im taking the stuff needed for it. Well each have a gear bag, which will include our few clothes. I think I can live with this.
Lets see, where is that old bottle of Valium should I initiate that new credit card should I just get a grip, leave the camera stuff at home and enjoy the first clear salt water Ive tasted in a year?
