Travel with gear abroad

[Pierce Cook]

Hey guys-

I'm looking for some advice on traveling with gear. I tried searching threads but nothing quite addressed what I'm looking at.

I believe things may be panning out for a project coming up in Africa and I've not travelled abroad with equipment before. Once we get to Africa we'll have a private plane taking us to our locations, but the commercial flights there, which include a number of stops (or maybe just one, in Amsterdam) concern me.

Besides personal luggage, we'll have camera, sound, and support gear. It's a small crew - we'll all be traveling together. I have seen the thread about TSA and other organizations being problematic, but terms of actually choosing how to move the gear are my immediate concern.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be most appreciated!

Best-

 

[Rob Gardner]

First, never put the camera body and primary lens in the hold, no matter how good your cases are. If you have a camera, lens and battery, with you, you can still shoot something no matter what happens to everything else. Cases get lost and smashed and stolen. We always hand carry the camera bodies on the plane.

Investigate a Carnet from the US Council for International Business. This will allow you in and out of countries that might otherwise require a bond to cover the import duty on your equipment and will confiscate your equipment if you can't pay it (this has happened to me).

Be very careful about leaving equipment in hotel rooms. The desk man can tip off hotel thieves that you have valuable equipment in your room and give them a key (this has happened to me). Less of a worry in big western style hotels, but still a worry.

If you will be shooting in severe dirt or dust, consider some kind of camera cover, a rain cover or whatever. Dirt is amazing in the third world.

Bring equipment so you can be very flexible with whatever power systems you are faced with, regarding battery charging. Talk to people who have been in the specific countries for advice regarding power.

Go to a travel clinic and make sure you are given every shot they recommend for that part of the world.

Never, ever drink the water and try to avoid eating food that has not been really well cooked (this is sometimes very hard). Often people, out of kindness and hospitality will offer you food or drinks that you will really not want to put in your body. There is nothing worse than food poisoning when you are far, far away from a western doctor (this has happened to me). If you do not have access to bottled water, bring tablets so you can disinfect the water.

That's by .02 cents...
Rob Gardner

 

[Fredrik Callinggard]

Less of a worry in big western style hotels, but still a worry.

Had a whole film crew of 20+ get their bags stolen at a western hotel in the UK. It was the last day and everybody had checked out and therefor put their bags in the hotel luggage room.

 

[Ed Watkins]

Just a note, but I just flew internationally (on Virgin) and the airlines have started weighing hand luggage bags that look heavy.
The limit is 13lbs for hand luggage, it is doubtful that a RED will weigh less. So you should check the company you fly, and be prepared to have to check your red in a hard case.

For the last year I flew with my RED in my hand luggage, but I'd hate to turn up to the airport and have to jerry rig a way of putting the camera in checked if it was refused as hand hold.

 

[ericyoung]

Just a note, but I just flew internationally (on Virgin) and the airlines have started weighing hand luggage bags that look heavy.
The limit is 13lbs for hand luggage, it is doubtful that a RED will weigh less. So you should check the company you fly, and be prepared to have to check your red in a hard case.

For the last year I flew with my RED in my hand luggage, but I'd hate to turn up to the airport and have to jerry rig a way of putting the camera in checked if it was refused as hand hold.

That's a worry as I'll be flying to Spain soon! What route were you flying?

 

[Pierce Cook]

Thanks everyone for the great feedback! I had considered the medical preparedness, but a welcome reminder no doubt.

I assume getting insurance should go without question for this, too, and that it's important to know your policy covers working abroad. A threads on that subject can be found here.

Thanks again. I look forward to any suggestions others may have.

 

[Dave Blackham]

Robs comments are good.

Im not sure if you can hand carry the Red and lens. On some airlines you can book an additional set to put the camera on and strap it in but its rare these days.

When you mark each flight case label each one with its destination address and phone number also you US address and phone number. We make small laminated labels for this. Also use cable ties on each Pelican case lock os small padlock. Put the cable tie on after customs inspection as they will only take them off.

Its useful to have a local fixer meet you at the destination airport who knows their procedures to get you through arrival and customs.

When you buy your medical insurance make sure it has a phone number of an on call doctor for emergency help. ie some one to talk you through a medical emergency problem. I've needed that twice now. We used Europe assist who were excelent. I hope you don't need to use it. International First aid kits are essential and make sure you have enough of them for the whole crew for consumables.

Dave

 

[Liam Hall]

Some good comments above, here's a few more:

Be aware of high charges for excess baggage and make sure you're covered in your budget.

Assume you can't carry your cameras on any flights, if you can it's a bonus. On smaller planes you can't get a a prosumer camera in the overhead, let alone anything bigger and on larger airlines they change the rules every other month.

Don't take too much kit! But do take two battery chargers and make sure you can work with the power supply in the countries you are visiting.

Enjoy your trip, Africa's not nearly as scary as CNN/et al make out

 

[Michael Murray]

Some additional thoughts on travel: Check with your airline in advance and let them know how much gear you are taking. Although baggage costs have changed dramatically, most airlines still have some type of film/media/news provisions. Some have discounts and some will guarntee that you kit travels as accompanied baggage - IOW if you have 15 cases of gear - they will all fly on your flights as opposed to the overages possibly being held back as cargo. That is key.

Go to US customs in advance and make sure you fill out a US customs declaration with a manifest. They will want to inspect gear. This will help you get it back into the US with your gear.

Definately make sure your insurance is valid for the country you are in. Also note that the insurance may not cover you if it is confisicated by a goverment.

Check with your airline at each connection and ask them to find out if your accompanied baggage is accounted for and is on your next flight.

Lock your cases with a zip ties - anything to prevent it from being easily opened.

Make sure your fixer has a list of everything you are bringing in and if he's good he should be able to have someone meet you an walk you throught immigration and customs.

Depending on where you are going in Africa - be very careful - items are stolen very often - even in airports. Don't leave anything of value on the top of a bag even going through an xray machine - watch your bags as they come out.

Consider medical travel insurance for your crew - often this includes repat emergency fees

Carnes are good but not all countries use. They are expensive but can be used over but only for the exact contents. If you use one - follow the instructions very carefully. its a mess if you don't execute properly or loose the document.

Health and Safety concerns are a whole other matter and very much depends what countries you will be in. What countries are you going to? I would definately consult a travel doctor who has has practical experience with infectious deseases in the countries you will be.

Good luck!

 

[Liam Hall]

The limit is 13lbs for hand luggage.

You were obviously flying at the back, at the front you can take one hand-carry and one lap-top case with a combined weight of 40lb.

 

[johannperry]

All good points raised so far.
I just got back from Tanzania this morning from a shoot up to the summit of Kilimanjaro (which is another story), but we had to pay a $10000 bond to customs officials to get our gear into the country. We got $9950 of that back at the airport last night but it was a bit of a worry handing over money which you are never always sure to get back. Customs went over our equipment lists with a very fine tooth comb so make sure that you very clearly put all your serial numbers down and that every item of equipment is listed no matter how trivial. An over zealous customs official can give you a real headache if your equipment list does not tally with what is in your cases. I number all the Peli cases and have a list of what is inside each case, this also helps to keep you organized as you travel around.
And as mentioned earlier the dust. I'm looking at a £1500 cleaning bill to strip and clean my camera and lenses after this trip. Even when everything is covered there are just some environments where the dirt gets into everything.
Best of luck and happy shooting

 

[Moir]

Rob's comments about medical / hygiene are great.

You should also research the malaria risk and recommended prophyllaxis for your destinations. There are chloroquine-resistant strains of P.falciparum in parts of Africa, and these can be fatal.

Some of the recommended drugs for these areas commonly have unpleasant side-effects (anxiety attacks, hallucination etc). I've experienced some of these and now take Malarone, which is unfortunately very expensive.