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I am due to fly out of Heathrow in a few weeks' time. I'll be taking my camera gear, so I am curious about how officious officialdom is these days. Are they really strict about the 7kg weight limit on hand luggage? My LowePro bag is just under half the allowance which leaves little room for the important stuff. I haven't flown for a year, but have always been overloaded without ever being bothered. And I have always avoided Heathrow till now. Anybody any recent experience?
Thanks,
Charles

My recent (last week) experience at Heathrow (Terminal 5) was pretty positive, (I had a LowePro polar, containing Ebony SW45 with three lenses,film and holders and the usual LF bits and pieces, plus Nikon D300 with several lenses) total weight I guess about 12 Kilo (Tripod was in hold baggage). However I was flying with BA who don't have a specific hand baggage weight limit, just a requirement that it fits a standard overhead locker, and that you can lift it up there unaided. It's really down to who operates the flight rather than the airport; from the rather low limit you quote I surmise it's a budget carrier; these vary in what they will allow. My experience with Wizzair and Easyjet is that they police the dimensions of hand baggage to some extent, particularly if its obviously larger than it should be, but they don't seem to routinely weigh it provided it doesn't look blatantly over sized; So as long as it will fit in the measuring frame you should be OK. I've certainty been a bit over Wizzair's limit on several recent trips to Poland, but got away with it so far. If they do make these checks it's at the gate, not check in, so if they make trouble there isn't much to be done except pay for an extra hold bag at the swinging airport rate.
Good luck with your trip.
best wishes
Robin

Hi Charles,

Like Robin, my experience is that it all depends on the airline. Different airlines have different hand baggage allowances. BA and Easyjet are both pretty generous and go by size not weight, as long as you can lift it into the overhead locker. But they sometime check the bag is not oversize. You may want to put some items into checked luggage. I had my rocket blower confiscated from security at Gatwick this summer - a security man by the name of Nigel Mansell decided it looked too much like a hand grenade and decided I might scare people if I started threatening them with it in my hand! Ludicrous!

Anyway, good luck and have a good trip. Hope you're off somewhere nice.

Jenny

Charles, I'm assuming that you're flying on 'a full service flight' (not sure entirely what that is, though....)

and not.....................

with a budget airline, since none of those fly out of LHR, as they prefer the cheaper cost of using 'the bucket and spade airports', such as Luton

andrew

Yes, I'll be flying a "proper" airline. 7kg seems to be the number usually bandied about for various airlines, but it still ain't much. I'll take a lighter bag and make sure I have plenty of pockets to fill.
Hand luggage may be weighed at check-in by the airline or at security. So depends on both.
EasyJet are good for not having a weight limit, only a size limit.
I was a little peaved to find out that athletes (amateur or professional) can get special treatment for hold luggage, but photographers can't get special treatment for hand luggage. An extra 4kg would be very welcome and considering the variation in passenger weight, not very much actually.
Well Jenny, what about the Bishop who was not allowed to take his crook with him in to the cabin, even though it unscrewed in to 3 parts which all went in to a padded brief case?
Thanks,
Charles

No-one has ever asked to weigh my bag but on occasion, they have asked whether it can fit in to the cage.
Occasionally, they glance at the bag during check-in, but I just try to look like it doesn't really weigh much.
I did get on a surprise a couple of weeks ago when the bag didn't actually fit in to the overhead locker. I had to take a load of junk out and hide it at my feet. The plane was a smaller one than the usual ones that I'm on.
Going forward, I'll take one of those 'bag for life' things to put excess gear in. I figure that's just the same as stocking up at duty free when you have already gone through security.
I do worry about the day that they want me to put my camera or lenses in the hold.

Marizu wrote:I do worry about the day that they want me to put my camera or lenses in the hold.

Why? I do this routinely and have never had a problem. I pack the lenses and other gear tightly in the camera bag with clothes to make sure they can't jiggle about and then dump the camera bag in a fairly anonymous-looking, and rather tatty, soft-sided bag. Any baggage thieves (and in the developed world, at least, I can't see any airport risking its reputation with inadequate security) will go for expensive-looking bags or anything that might contain expensive goodies. And packing everything tightly within a camera-bag within an outer bag mitigates any damage careless baggage-handlers are likely to do.

On a recent trip to Canada, including a layover at Heathrow both ways, all my digital gear (camera + two lenses) and tripod went in the hold as did my LF lenses. Only my precious Ebony and one lens plus ancilliary gear (and film, obviously) travelled as cabin baggage. Needless to say, everything survived the four flights intact and with zero damage as I expected it would.

I've never had hand luggage weighed, I juct make sure it meets the dimension requirements.
I did have some odd looks last time with my wet plate gear and brass lenses though. They passed them through the xray/scannera few times and eventually opened up the bag to check it all.

joolsb wrote:Why? I do this routinely and have never had a problem.

I have had my luggage go missing following a couple of flights. In both cases, the luggage was returned a couple of days later but there was a period of uncertainty.
If anything goes missing from luggage, the airline will take no responsibility for its loss and then you have to run the gauntlet of your travel insurance, assuming you have taken some out.
We all have slightly different attitudes towards risk.

Fourtoes wrote:I did have some odd looks last time with my wet plate gear and brass lenses though. They passed them through the xray/scannera few times and eventually opened up the bag to check it all.

I had the same experience last time I took the Sinar through. The guys on French customs simply didn't recognise it as a camera. I had to build it up.

I worry less about theft or loss than damage, because the latter is far more likely in my personal experience. I have had hard bags dented by the gentle handlers. What worries me most is the effect of jolting on fine mechanisms. The hair-springs in my old Compur would regularly jump out of their position, so goodness knows what would happen when whacked from one conveyor belt to another - even with newer shutters (old shutters with chunky gears are less of a problem actually). A non-rare barrel lens would be fine in the hold, IMO.
Thanks,
Charles

Hello Charles,

I've been bouncing around Europe a lot this summer with Easyjet and Ryanair from Luton Airport, (oo are they!?). I didn't get stopped myself but I did witness people in front of me getting stopped and checked on more than one occasion. My last trip was from Luton to Lisbon then on to Toulouse then back to Stanstead via Lourdes, to which I took the whole kit and caboodle ( digital and LF) My Kelty backpack went in the suitcase along with clothes and tripod. I used one of those luggage scales that you can get from the travel section in Boots to get the weight right. All my cameras, lens's and tripod head went in a Photo Trekker Classic as hand luggage which was just under the weight limit. For film, I wore one of those rather fetching photographers waistcoats along with all my filters in my walking jacket. Surprisingly,I didn't get stopped or questioned once

Hope this helps,

Sean

via Lourdes ... Surprisingly,I didn't get stopped or questioned once

Lourdes (France) is a place well-know for miracles

and.......................

perhaps we should 'rename' this thread, as 'my travels with an Ebony around the World' ??

as there seem to be a plethoria of Ebony's taking to the skies

ooooo, it would be so good to hear that folks on here, tote Cameras other than Ebony's, just a bit of variety imo....................................

so what do the rest of us travel with?

and since I've kicked this off/resurrected this thread, a fav of mine is the KB Canham 5x7 woodie with a non-KBC 4 x 5 reducing back, and c/w more movements than you can shake the proverbial at

regards

andrew

Well said Andrew. I feel that by now all the Ebony owners on this forum must have mentioned it so many times that we all know who they are now.
Now did I brag to everybody about my newley aquired Sinar Norma...............It's got 4x5 & 8x10 backs..........and bag bellows.............and a Sinar/Copal shutter...........and extra bellows..............and extra rails......and lots more?
Now you all know that I've got a Sinar I promise not to bore you all with the information again.
What camera have you aquired recently Andrew, something light that folds away and is made of mahogany would be nice?
Vanman.

well thankyou 'Vanman'

................this certainly seems like a very impressive kit that you've put together here.........good to know what others are using................and no, you haven't won any 'bragging competition'

well I have recently picked up some interesting wooden chaps, they're of the 'continental design', one is a size larger than 4 x 5 and the other is 13 x 18, both come with universal irises (hooray), I've also modified an unnamed 5 x 7, probably British Tailboard to take a 'standard 5 x 7 universal back'

not as cultish as le Ebony's but all very fundamental, of course your Sinar kit, Mr VM is extremely functional too

so it'll be good to hear what the other folks on here are currently backpacking with

regards

andrew
(who has never yet fondled an Ebony nor is likely to until the price falls
through the floor but well done those who can afford them)