Traveling with a tripod

How do you guys travel with a tripod? Do you ship it with the luggage or carry it on the plane?

I packed it in my luggage.

Umm if its a long enough trip where I can get some serious photography done I pack both:
1) 3021BPro legs in checked baggage
2) And my Slik Sprint Pro + camera stuff + ballhead as cabin baggage.

Tripod goes into checked in hard case luggage for me. Camera and lenses go with me.

I carry a Gitzo 1258 and a RRS BH40 ballhead. It is either strapped to my backpack or in the backpack and carried on with the rest of my gear. Never had a problem even traveling internationally.

J.

Check it. It's not as fragile as your camera and lenses, and every bit less to haul around the airport helps.

right now, I'd avoid checking anything. Lost baggage is at an all time high because everyone is checking their stuff because of the liquid/gel ban. I've traveled around the planet 17+ times (when I stopped counting) so far and never checked anything. It is all about learning how to keep it simple.

J.

I check mine and carry the camera and lens's. I just got back from a trip and nothing lost or damaged.

Put the tripod in checked luggage. If it is too tall you may have to take the head off and remount it when at your destination.
Mike K

JohnJ80 wrote in post #2367483
I've traveled around the planet 17+ times (when I stopped counting) so far and never checked anything. It is all about learning how to keep it simple.

Whoa. I think you'd be clearly in the minority.

I guess as long you carry on a bag of credit cards with you, you're all good.

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #2369122
Whoa. I think you'd be clearly in the minority.

I guess as long you carry on a bag of credit cards with you, you're all good.

Nah, not that tough or expensive. You just need to think through versatile clothing and what you really need to carry. Once you make several trips and realize all the stuff you carried with you that never got used, you start deleting things.

I do that with a wheelie for clothes etc.. plus I can get a few other things in there. Then I carry one other thing - either a backpack with photogear and laptop or a briefcase. That's it and its all carryon. I can go two weeks like that easy and more if I stop and do laundry (or do it at the hotel). That includes sport coat/business attire and casual clothes too.

The same goes for photo gear, most people carry way too much. You don't need as many lenses as you think (which are heavy too).

I've also done a 6 week bike trip (camping most of the time) through the UK and Ireland and I did it with less than 25lbs of gear per person for two of us including a camp stove for cooking, tent etc...

ANY traveling is much more enjoyable if you keep the gear down and under control. After lugging an extra 20 lbs for an hour, you start to appreciate the sentiment.

On top of that, the airlines do not have a great track record on getting your stuff to where it needs to go. As well, there is quite a bit of thievery on international (and even domestic) flights, especially when they now get a look see at everything that goes by either with X-ray or by inspection. I know quite a few people that have had stuff stolen from their luggage. Since most of it has to be unlocked now or have those useless TSA locks with readily available keys, anything valuable should either be shipped (as in UPS or Fed Ex) or carried on. Leaving to the airline baggage guys is about the same as leaving it just sit out in the open unattended in the terminal - valuables are highly at risk.

J.

J.