In the "old days" we were all able to get away with carrying quite an amazing amount of kit onto international flights: a 600mmF4 over the shoulder, a camera backpack and a plastic bag with duty free, books and magazines. The current security restrictions at Heathrow have changed all that. Today you are only allowed one piece of luggage 56cm by 45cm by 25cm.
For our recent Botswana expedition Julie and I decided to give Peli cases a try. Prior to this trip we had not been that keen on them, possibly because of their weight. However, Peli cases have another big advantage, they are completely waterproof. When we were in Botswana in January we were caught out in an open landrover in a torrential storm and were lucky to get away with no damage to our kit. (Julie did lose an ipod unless anyone has any ideas on how to resuscitate a drowned ipod.)
So we went down to http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/company/London.html by the Thames in London where they have a good range of the cases in stock. We opted for the 1510 which had dimensions of 56cm by 35cm by 23cm and so are within Heathrow's restrictions. The 1510 has a handle and wheels, handy for the long walks at airports!
The cases are really fantastic. Taking all the padding out I was able to fit in the 600mm F4, two Canon EOS1Ds Mark II bodies, a wide angle lens, two JOBO storage devices and various chargers and adaptors. I planned it that the contents of the Peli would give me everything that I needed photographically so if I lost the check in baggage, I would smell, but could take lots of photographs!
Another advantage was that in the Kalahari there was lots and lots of very fine dust. Keeping the cameras in the Peli cases really helped reduce the nightmare of dust on the sensors.
So a very genuine thumbs up on Pelis - (unfortunately we are not being paid for this!)
Adam
Peli Cases - June 2, 2007
