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10/30/2008 05:40:41 PM · #1 |
Hey there,
I have not been on an airplane in over 10 years!! I am hoping to visit a friend in Washington and I really want to take my camera and a couple lenses.
What do I need to know? Do I put all the stuff through the xray machine?
I keep all my photo equipment in a safe with all my guns...so I need to worry about gunpowder residue if I have touched my camera after touching the guns?
Thanks! |
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10/30/2008 05:42:14 PM · #2 |
Gear is fine, it goes through the conveyor with everything else and nothing bad happens. Memory cards don't get erased.
I have on two occasions been pulled out and my backpack swiped with that explosive sniffing wand, so yeah the gunpowder residue might cause you a headache. |
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10/30/2008 05:50:09 PM · #3 |
| ....Always heard and believed that its best to pull batteries out of the camera itself though. |
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10/30/2008 05:54:05 PM · #4 |
I went on 10 different flights back in May/June from Australia through singapore and many countries in Europe. The batteries in the camera are fine. But loose batteries need to be in individual plastic containers. Many times my camera & computer bags were opened and searched, X-rayed and examined. None of my equipment or photos were effected. I carried all my main gear on board with me and had backup cameras and accessories in the main luggage. I made sure my back up camera was well packed with loads of clothes around it. Make sure you onboard bags are within the required size and weight or you may find them being moved to the main luggage.
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10/30/2008 05:54:49 PM · #5 |
When I went to Arizona they pulled my camera equipment off to the side rub some tissue around everything inside the bag. That was on the way there. On my way home they didn't do anything.
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10/30/2008 06:17:31 PM · #6 |
Unless you are sifting gunpowder through your hands and handling the camera bag as you go, or storing storing raw gun powder in your camera bag prior to reloading shells, I doubt you will have a problem.
I target shoot, and know many others who shoot and reload their own bullets. I don't know of a problem getting through the airport. |
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10/30/2008 06:27:19 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by Judi:
But loose batteries need to be in individual plastic containers. |
I didn't have to do this on any of my trips, not within Canada, to the US or to England.
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10/30/2008 06:31:47 PM · #8 |
| Good to know all this! Thank you! |
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10/30/2008 06:34:42 PM · #9 |
| Sort of on-topic, what is it with airports and camera bags? I've had mine swabbed for residue twice in a year and have never had anything else swabbed. They didn't look twice at hubby's backpack or any of our other carryons. |
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10/30/2008 06:52:20 PM · #10 |
as long as the batteries have that plastic piece covering the terminals i think its ok.
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10/30/2008 07:05:38 PM · #11 |
When I traveled in Feb (for the first time in about 15 years), the Richmond, VA airport not only chose me for the extra-special almost strip search, they also EMPTIED my very full camera bag, then just threw everything back in all in a mess and left me standing there to sort it all out. I nearly missed my flight, and guess what they said? "Not our problem".
When I finally got to AZ, I discovered that they had lost my Wacom pen - a real PITA since I couldn't get one in time to do the work I needed to do. (I called to file a claim for it, but they refused to pay for the loss. "Not our problem" they said.)
I hope I never have to fly again. |
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10/30/2008 07:13:11 PM · #12 |
Ha, earlier this year I asked a TSA agent bout what I needed for the batteries, he shrugged. Apparently they hadn't been informed yet.
I've never had an issue, but I do keep the plastic covers over the spare batteries. I believe that they want the batteries IN the camera to stay in the camera. The idea is for the batteries contacts to NOT touch each other. You can put each spare battery in a plastic bag by itself too.
I have been on no less than 8 flights this year alone. My newer camera bag went on 4 and on the way home last time it got SUPER SWABBED. It didn't pass the x-ray, nitrate residue supposedly. They swabbed the entire bag with some chemical to look for stuff. They looked through everything, and then they did it again, including swabbing in front of a senior officer (I got a trainee the first time). Nitrates..... one of them was helpful and said it can come in hand lotions. (I don't use any) I wonder if it came from horse poo..... since my camera is constantly around horses! Or it could have been some sort of lawn fertilizer. I was crawling in nice grass on that trip!
so... I have to thoroughly clean my pelican rolling bag before it goes on another flight... yay, I can't wait. The good thing is, it's the first time I have ever had anything double checked since the madness in airports started after 9/11. Guess it was my turn finally.
Oh.. addendum.... I got a nice TSAs, they let me repack my bag myself. (maybe they saw me wincing every time they pulled something new out!) Glad I had plenty of time before my flight.
Message edited by author 2008-10-30 19:19:12.
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10/30/2008 07:15:53 PM · #13 |
When I flew to DC earlier this year, I had my camera and laptop in a backpack. The laptop I had to take out and send through separately, but the camera just went through.
Now, when I went to go in the US Holocaust Memorial, I had to take the laptop out, have it swabbed, and a thorough inspection of the camera bag. I suspect that was because photography is not allowed in most of the memorial. |
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