Travel restrictions and Ikelite strobe!
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I have a backpack in which I pack my camera, housing, strobe arm and strobe and numerous rechargeable batteries and memory cards. It is quite amusing when they decide to get a little extra inquisitive.
One TSA lady pulled me to the side and dug everything out of my backpack and then asked me, "What is this stuff"? It was very tempting, but I told her the truth and she very politely packed it all back for me and sent me on my way.
Once in Tampa, FL on my way to Little Cayman an old guy with TSA pulled me out of the line and dragged me over to some table. I think he had a sniffer for gun power or explosives. He waved a magic wand over my camera gear and then shoved it back at me for me to repack. I always appreciate that move.
It is truly an individual thing. Overall, I have not had any bad experiences with camera gear and TSA.
One TSA lady pulled me to the side and dug everything out of my backpack and then asked me, "What is this stuff"? It was very tempting, but I told her the truth and she very politely packed it all back for me and sent me on my way.
Once in Tampa, FL on my way to Little Cayman an old guy with TSA pulled me out of the line and dragged me over to some table. I think he had a sniffer for gun power or explosives. He waved a magic wand over my camera gear and then shoved it back at me for me to repack. I always appreciate that move.
It is truly an individual thing. Overall, I have not had any bad experiences with camera gear and TSA.
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This was pre-TSA: I got on a plane in NY headed for Iceland with six of the first ORCA EDGE computers. They were packed carefully, in foam, in a single briefcase sized Zero Haliburton. The inspector gave me rather a hard time.
I was flying out of Quito after a Galapagos trip a few years back and after checking in and proceeding to the secondary security check at the gate, we were informed that I was being detained for security with an officer on his way to meet me. When he arrived, I said what I thought might be my last goodbye to J, then followed the officer down a dark stairway behind an unmarked door in the terminal. Stairs led down to the tarmac inside a hangar where I thought for sure I'd be facing torture, then the firing squad, after hearing earlier reports of unwitting passengers being used by airport personnel to smuggle drugs: surely they found a couple kilos of something stashed in my dive gear. Flashes of Midnight Express ran through my head along with scenes from Missing.
Nope, they just had my video camera case sitting on a table and an inspector graciously asked if they could have my permission to open and inspect it (it was unlocked, but unlike TSA the Ecuadorians apparently have scruples). I wasn't about to say no. A quick rifling through the case to make sure the hunks of glass and metal and plastic were just glass and metal and plastic, then repacked with my doting assistance, and I was escorted back to the terminal a free man. Fortunately we were in business class and I was able to get a drink upon boarding since I never needed a pre-flight cocktail so badly in my life after that experience. I'm much happier when TSA does their thing in the background without my permission, especially when everything arrives safe at the other end.
Nope, they just had my video camera case sitting on a table and an inspector graciously asked if they could have my permission to open and inspect it (it was unlocked, but unlike TSA the Ecuadorians apparently have scruples). I wasn't about to say no. A quick rifling through the case to make sure the hunks of glass and metal and plastic were just glass and metal and plastic, then repacked with my doting assistance, and I was escorted back to the terminal a free man. Fortunately we were in business class and I was able to get a drink upon boarding since I never needed a pre-flight cocktail so badly in my life after that experience. I'm much happier when TSA does their thing in the background without my permission, especially when everything arrives safe at the other end.
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