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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Regional Jets and Rolling Camera Bags/Cases
G.M. Andrews, Photographer
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Mobile | AL | USA | Posted: 2:03 PM on 08.23.10 |
->> I've got several games to cover this football season which require traveling by air.
Unfortunately, most if not all my trips will be on the various regional jets the carriers are using instead of the usual full-size Boeing or Airbus offering.
Past experience with flying Canadairs and Embraers has shown that the overhead bins are pretty small.
I'm looking for any experiences that any Sportsshooter may have had with traveling on the smaller jets with a rolling case the size of an Airport Security from Think Tank. I think that I would have to "Gate Check" a rolling bag that size.
I need to bring a 400, two bodies, 70-200, 16-35, flash, chargers, batteries, cards, etc. My laptop will go in a backpack.
Thanks for any advice you guys can throw my way. |
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Jonathan Roberts, Photographer
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Louisville | KY | USA | Posted: 2:32 PM on 08.23.10 |
->> Most of the time I'll have to fly the first leg of a trip on a regional jet with similar equipment that you've described.
I've had really good fortune using the combination of the Airport Security with an Urban Disguise 50.
Before boarding a regional jet, I'll take out the two camera bodies and place those in the two front pockets of the Urban Disguise bag. It holds the laptop as well. The Airport Security gets locked and then placed on the cart for the gate check. No amount of pleading will get those rolling bags on some of the regional jets. There is simply no room for them.
The Urban Disguise gets placed in the overhead compartment. It's a tight fit, but usually works so keep the stuff in the front zippered pocket to a minimum. |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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| | | Posted: 2:53 PM on 08.23.10 |
->> The only full-sized backpack I have ever gotten on board a CRJ or Dash 8 with relative ease loaded with long glass a full kit of bodies is the Gura Gear Kiboko Bag (http://bit.ly/LWXld)
The 'full-size' Think Tank Airport International does not always fit under the seats of most CRJs.
Not all airlines use the same width/depth of seats on the regional jets, even within airlines such as Delta, ComAir and ASA aircraft are the same, interiors may have minor differences in the depth under the seats
For your kit, try loading the bodies, 16-35, 70-200 in a non-photo backpack pack (I now use a 5.11 Tactical Rush 24 - http://bit.ly/4a3YgI) or smaller photo backpack (I love the Mountainsmith Borealis AT - http://runkit.notlong.com) and then use a separate bag for the 400f2.8. The Lightware long lens cases do fit in the overhead bins of most CRJs, but can be challenging in the EMB-135/145. The long lens bags will not fit overhead in the Dash-8-1/2, but will fit in the overhead of the Dash-8-4 (Q400 NextGen).
Happy Flying! |
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Andrew Fielding, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Los Angeles | CA | USA | Posted: 3:43 PM on 08.23.10 |
| ->> You can usually get by with an Airport International but, as Steven says, not always. Steven's advice is the best, the other option is to put all your gear in to a belt system and throw that in the overhead bin and get something else to protect the 400. |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 6:54 PM on 08.23.10 |
| ->> Think Tank Shape Shifter and attempt to carry the 400 in the smallest bag you can as your personal item...The shape shifter bag carries your computer two or three bodies 70-200, 16-35 and some other stuff. It fits in all the overhead compartments of every commuter jet I've been on. |
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Robert Seale, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 7:08 PM on 08.23.10 |
| ->> I've managed to get the Think Tank Airport Addicted backpack into the overhead of the Continental Embraer RJ's several times recently. It doesn't look like it will fit, but it does (obviously, with nothing in the outer pocket). |
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David Manning, Photographer
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Athens | GA | | Posted: 9:26 PM on 08.23.10 |
->> I have the same problem.
I'm putting the 400 in the shipping trunk & everything else in a Stealth backpack. |
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Andrew Nelles, Photographer
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Chicago | IL | usa | Posted: 9:40 PM on 08.23.10 |
| ->> Ditto on Chuck's idea, exactly what I was thinking. The shape shifter should carry your entire kit minus the 400 in a rather compact way. |
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John Howley, Photographer
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Circleville | OH | USA | Posted: 9:02 AM on 08.24.10 |
| ->> I've gate-checked my Think Tank roller a couple times when flying on regional jets and haven't had any problems. The bags are sturdy enough that even if they get a little rough treatment from the airline staff, they hold up. |
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Philip Johnson, Photographer
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Garland | TX | USA | Posted: 9:49 AM on 08.24.10 |
| ->> For the 400 you can fit it in the TT Glass Taxi. Along with an Urban Disguise you can carry on all the equipment you listed. |
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David Seelig, Photographer
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Hailey | ID | USA | Posted: 1:40 PM on 08.24.10 |
| ->> The Glass taxi will fit in a the think tank roller bag with the central divider out. You can roll your equipment around and take ou7t the taxi as needed. Furthermore put a chimp cage or speed changer on the glass taxi and put a body in it. Have a small back pack I use an airport antidote and put the rest of your gear in there. Till I get to transporting my gear I keep my clothes in the antidote that will fit in the overhead. At least that is my method. |
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Jeff Lewis, Photographer
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Long Beach | CA | USA | Posted: 1:44 AM on 08.26.10 |
->> I just befriend the pilot and fly Delta..... Really. I met a really cool pilot on a flight from Cleveland to Minneapolis who turns out to be a pretty good photographer.
If you show up early and explain whats in your bag and why its important they don't gate check it, they usually let you put it in the first class cabinet, especially when you tell them your job is to run around football fields. I'm flying to KC in the morning for a Friday night preseason game and expect my bag to make it on the plane. I use the Thinktank Airport Security rolling case.
Jeff |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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| | | Posted: 11:37 AM on 08.26.10 |
->> Jeff
Many regional aircraft do not have a first class, much less a first class locker. The interior configurations of regional jets vary widely, with a number of regional airlines not having any closest aside from a small crew closet.
Showing up early for many regional flights is not relevant as the gates simply aren't open. For example, if you fly out of Philadelphia's Terminal F with US they have a whole terminal for regional flights only. This terminal is US Airways Express, not US Airways, so you're dealing with Piedmont, Air Wisconsin, Chautauqua, Republic (who owns Chautauqua) and PSA.
These companies all operate independently, with the same uniform of US Airways Express. Showing up early at a regional gate will likely have you sitting at an empty gate since they don't tend to board more than 20 min before departure time (my home airport, HVN boards flights 10-15min before departure, average departure time, as in wheels up, is actually five minutes before the scheduled departure).
So saying show up and early and explain the contents does not always work. I have been denied many many times when flying with a bag that I knew fit under a seat, but that is up to the gate agent discretion, then flight attendant discretion.
Happy Flying! |
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Jeff Lewis, Photographer
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Long Beach | CA | USA | Posted: 12:01 PM on 08.26.10 |
->> Very true. I pretty much only fly Delta and with their regional jets, they all have had a first class cabin or a storage space in the back. US Airways lost a bag of mine a few years ago so I will never travel with them.
Every gate I have showed up early to has accommodated my needs. If I show up 40 minutes early and nobody is there, I wait for them to show up. I just really make sure I am there when they arrive to let them know the importance of my situation. Then, I ask to speak to the head flight attendant because the person at the gate sometimes has nothing to do with what goes on the plane.
The Canadair Regional Jet 200, 700, and 900 all have a small first class closet of a storage space in the back. I have used both and the flight attendant has always taken care of me..... but thats the benefits of flying the same airline and being a Medallion member.
Jeff |
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Ron Scheffler, Photographer
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Hamilton (Toronto area) | Ontario | Canada | Posted: 12:27 AM on 08.27.10 |
->> Pelican 1510 with dividers for the 400, two bodies, some other lenses. A medium backpack for the laptop and related accessories, toiletries and change of clothes/rain gear.
some photos: http://www.ronscheffler.com/blog/?page_id=388
While the Pelican might not hold as much as a TT roller, it's about the only case that I feel comfortable gate checking because it's hard sided. And for those flights when you're on a 737 or A319/320, it will fit in the overhead bin.
The 1510 will fit in the CRJ7 overhead, but it's an extremely precise fit that requires a bit of force... I usually gate check it instead.
It's also a practical replacement of the Canon supplied case for everyday use . |
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Mike Isler, Photographer, Assistant
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New York | NY | US | Posted: 4:38 PM on 08.27.10 |
| ->> FWIW, I fit an Airport International under the seat today of an American Eagle ERJ-135. Nobody was sitting next to me, so with the bag turned sideways it fit fine tucked totally under the seat. |
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