[cotedenuits]

Hi folks,

I'm a diver who's recently decided that I need to carry much, much more gear around the world, so I've acquired a 20D, various lenses and a UW housing setup. I’ve made a couple of trips with Pelican and Storm cases doing much of the heavy lifting, and that’s the problem ― both brands make wonderful cases but even the empty weight of each is too high for my needs.

For my next trip I plan to use a Hartmann semi-hard rolling carry-on, for my housing, ports, strobes, strobe arms, adapters, chargers etc. I‘ll fill it with foam and use a hobby knife to customize these inserts. Weight will be an issue as much as size, though I’ve never had a carry-on forced into the hold based on weight. It’s likely this setup will change a bit with any upgrade to camera (and therefore housing) but with luck it will be evolutionary. I’ll hope this will be permitted as a carry-on as far as possible, though the last air legs in smaller planes may be unlikely. Depends on local conditions, carrier rules and rigidity, etc., etc.

A larger version of the Hartmann will be full of dive gear, batteries, and a toothbrush. These are OK suitcases if stuff inside is well-packed (the zippers could be better), and they don’t scream “steal me” in airports big or small (v. recent arrests in SJU and various FL airports – divers are always paranoid about places like these, with reason).

My question is about packing the camera and lenses themselves. I’ll probably use a camera/laptop backpack, a Kata RS101, for these, and wear it as a “personal item”.

Do photographers who travel like this wrap or encase their lenses and camera bodies before fitting them between the divider inserts in situations like these? I have a selection of RoadWired wraps for mine but they take up a lot of space. Should I just put in glass and bodies all naked, so to speak?

I’d be grateful for any comments.

Jake