Lenses stolen from baggage - British Airways say 'tough, not our problem'.

[Bob Gundu]

On occasion I have put a locked pelican inside regular luggage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUdUQO5QuWI

 

[Brian Merlen]

I wonder what their cut off is on mass produced gear. I mean if it were canon or nikkor glass it would be covered because its mass produced? Red sold a ton of glass too. I could see them balking at a Cabrio getting stolen but Red glass isn't 100k a lens so I am surprised they are so sketchy about it and just write it off in their TOS. maybe whoever runs their legal department has a collusion with the thieves, its great to have a TOS that permits insider theft for their bottom line...kinda like web hosts that drop you if you use even a tenth of the space your paying for. At least insurance can help you out but its stupid that they won't insure the gear thats beneath the plane with an additional policy. I mean every stupid skatepark in the world carries a million dollar policy (I happen to work at one). Why would an airplane not also just get insured if stupid things like swing sets get insured in this country? Just seems crazy that they can effectively just lose anything with no implications, ever

 

[Bob Gundu]

This story was pretty recent of a bust in LA

Luggage workers at LAX accused of theft:

http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/28/local/la-me-lax-luggage-theft-20140328

 

[Tom Hamilton]

I've thought about putting stickers like these on my checked bags:

Certain types of hazmat may not be carried on passenger aircraft, that is at the top of the list, you might find yourself being interviewed by some serious uniformed types. But point taken, a friend packs his gear with dirty underwear, that seems to put most curious bag rats off.

 

[Mark Deeble]

50+ trips to Kenya/Tanzania, nothing taken. But yes, If I left my gear, it would grow legs.



Mark, nice to see you weigh on this thread, and good hear it's only BA. I'll be through Kenya a lot in the year and half.

Nice to see your next project is on Epic. For the non-wildlife people on this thread, Mark and his partner Viki have made some incredible beautiful films over the years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUdilWPBR6o

Thanks for the kind words, Michael We are just into our third year of filming in Tsavo...
I am not sure it is only BA, but they were the carrier in the two most recent cases I've heard of. We always lock our cases and sometimes put 2-3 pelis in a BIG hold-all, and then lock it. We've never lost any gear at JKIA although long ago BA lost the entire stock of exposed negative from a 3 MONTH shoot and would only perform a perfunctory search. Thankfully we can now hand-carry hard drives!

 

[Paul Leeming]

I remember reading somewhere that a seasoned traveller used to put a starter pistol in his high value checked luggage and declare that it had a firearm inside at check-in.

He said it was never ever opened or stolen as it would be watched like a hawk from hand-off to pick-up at the other end.

Airlines might not care about stolen cameras etc, but a missing firearm gets serious real quick and brings down a type of heat they can't afford.

Never tried it myself but it could be a good suggestion if you're travelling somewhere high risk for terminal theft.

Cheers from Tokyo,

Paul

 

[Tony Lorentzen]

Philip Bloom wrote a great article about flying with camera equipment: http://philipbloom.net/2012/02/13/flying-with-gear/

 

[Tony Lorentzen]

On occasion I have put a locked pelican inside regular luggage.

That would be a pretty bad idea as TSA personnel would be authorized to force it open if they wanted to. Last two times flying out of the US I've found a TSA notice inside the bag because they've performed an inspection. And I always have a TSA approved lock on my carry-on.

 

[Zeb B]

My test over the last couple years:

Check large Pelican = 8 out 10 times searched by TSA

Check large Pelican wrapped and taped in ugly black trash bag = 0 out of 10 searched by TSA

Conclusion: TSA is run by simple meatheads that watch too many Bond movies so believe scary things only come in black cases. Also works to fool thieves. Real simple solution - bring an extra bag / tape for the return trip

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

I remember reading somewhere that a seasoned traveller used to put a starter pistol in his high value checked luggage and declare that it had a firearm inside at check-in.

He said it was never ever opened or stolen as it would be watched like a hawk from hand-off to pick-up at the other end.

Airlines might not care about stolen cameras etc, but a missing firearm gets serious real quick and brings down a type of heat they can't afford.

Never tried it myself but it could be a good suggestion if you're travelling somewhere high risk for terminal theft.

Cheers from Tokyo,

Paul

Airport Employee Busted With 10 Guns Stolen From Baggage
Delta contractor allegedly snatched shotguns, revolvers and a crossbow from passengers.

http://www.usnews.com/news/newsgram...loyee-busted-with-10-guns-stolen-from-baggage

 

[Dave Blackham]

I always used to travel with a Globetrotter suitcase. Looks like a 1950's cardboard suitcase, Mine was very shabby deliberately so. In fact they are very, very tough being some sort of vulcanised fibre board. Every plastic suitcase Ive tried since got broken in some way, inspected, stolen or some other fate became of them. The Globetrotter suitcase tip was given to me by Red Denner who was a cameraman at BBC and traveled extensively, was very good advice. The Globetrotter is still serviceable after 30 years, never inspected and never gone missing or attracted unwanted attention. There might be something in it using seemingly none descript cases.

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Not quite, it's a courtesy to allow batteries to be carried in hand luggage. They don't have to accept your hand luggage if the plane is full & not legally required to to let a bag on board.

They aren't legally required to do anything. They can refuse you onto the plane for any reason. But they generally have sympathy for people who are legally required to carry something on and in my experience have absolutely no sympathy for everyone just trying to dodge luggage fees with their underwear and sunscreen. If it comes down to explosive batteries and a passenger not being able to board legally or some random cheapskate having to pink tag their carry on--the batteries are going to win.

 

[Jake Wilganowski]

Well I guess I'll share too. Flying from Dallas to Alaska, short layover at LAX, opened up the c300 pelican 1510 case in the Alaska airport, camera gone. All TSA locks were gone from all the baggage, but the camera body, batteries, monitor, and cards were the only things missing. This was right before that LAX bust mentioned above. Same week.

 

[Zeb B]

They aren't legally required to do anything. They can refuse you onto the plane for any reason.

Finally - someone who understands that Airlines can throw you, your batteries and your overweight / special high value needs off the plane or just randomly ban you from the airline completely if you are a bother to them. They are not "legally required" to do shit much less give you a special Movie/Media welcome. They are a private company that can (and do) make up rules as they go.

Be polite, crafty and know their posted policies better than they do before getting to the gate. That's my point is requesting links - rather than just anecdotal stories

 

[Ketch Rossi]

... Be polite, crafty and know their posted policies better than they do before getting to the gate...

That goes without saying... Always... No matter what.