Going through airport security, what to do?

I travel from St.Louis to New York City almost monthly. I carry two carry ons. My camera bag is a Kata which has my body with lense attached, and maybe one extra lense. Plus flash, ext rings if needed. Ipod and cell phone. The computer compartment has recent magazines inside for reading. My other bag is an essentials kit if I carry two bags!

Never check your camera equipement! Never EVER!!!! Had a fellow Photog from this area that checked her kit, and put camera equipment on the outside of the case. Her kit arrived, minus most of its contents! I will only carry my gear with me from then on!

DigitalSpecialist wrote in post #5761204
Never check your camera equipement! Never EVER!!!! Had a fellow Photog from this area that checked her kit, and put camera equipment on the outside of the case. Her kit arrived, minus most of its contents! I will only carry my gear with me from then on!

+1, have you looked at what those luggage people do!, I would not want that happening to my gear, even in a super hard case

What on earth makes you think that someone will lift your gear after it has gone through the x-ray? Aren't you with it all the time (or very near)? That's just paranoia.

Roy Mathers wrote in post #5764208
What on earth makes you think that someone will lift your gear after it has gone through the x-ray? Aren't you with it all the time (or very near)? That's just paranoia.

In us uk aus etc... it is quite unlikely with the overparanoid security there, but in other countries it is a problem.

pendulum15 wrote in post #5764285
In us uk aus etc... it is quite unlikely with the overparanoid security there, but in other countries it is a problem.

In every country that I've flown from and to, you actually walk virtually alongside the stuff on the conveyor belt, so I can't see that it's a problem.

There have been a few cases of people finding their valuables gone after being delayed by the metal detectors. In at least one case the TSA screener was seen on video tape taking the valuables and putting them in his bag. Traveler beware.

Rob

Roy Mathers wrote in post #5764544
In every country that I've flown from and to, you actually walk virtually alongside the stuff on the conveyor belt, so I can't see that it's a problem.

You obviously don't watch enough of those CCTV real-life footage shows on TV. There was one on recently about thefts from airport security line checks. Here's how they do it:

Two guys work the queue as a team. They spot someone (the mark) in the queue whose stuff they want to steal (big bag, laptop etc).

One of them gets ahead in the queue and the other gets in front of the mark. The one in the lead goes through the walk-through xray thing no problem and stands next to the conveyor (pretending to wait for bags, which he doesn't have).

The one in the front of the mark has something in his pocket which he knows will set off the alarm (coins, keys, whatever). He then times his walk-through perfectly; he waits until the mark has put his bag on the conveyor behind, then walks through. The alarm goes off and he gets asked to be searched which he willingly does. This holds up the queue and the poor mark has to wait in line whilst his bag goes through the xray machine and is collected by the awaiting accomplice.

I was absolutely amazed that people would have the balls (stupidity) to do this in the one place where there is more security and guns than any place on the planet.

My answer to that is that my wife always goes through security well in advance of me and watches the bags!

My usual procedure is to have my stuff in a LowePro Mini-trekker backpack. My expensive stuff doesn't go through until I do, I send shoes, jacket and if I have a second carry-on with overnight stuff, that all goes first, then I send my expensive stuff through. If at the larger airports I will wait until the person in front of me clears the detector before sending through. And I watch my stuff as much as possible still to make sure it doesn't walk off, a lowepro backpack that weighs in around 20lbs is rather easy to follow, and since about half the time it gets tagged for visual check that fairly well insures it doesn't go anywhere as the TSA are not supposed to touch the bag until they have identified the person who it belongs to. If I see ANYONE grab it, I go "hey!" followed if necessary, by "STOP, Thief!!!"

And as to airplanes themselves remember;
Landings are always mandatory, it is takeoffs that are optional.

When traveling alone I let my stuff go into the machine and then I get myself through the metal detector. I don't talk to people. I have had a quite a few times where people want to chat with me at this point for some reason. I flat out totally ignore them and get my stuff back in order. You know get dressed again and repack the bags the security people opened. So just keep an eye on your stuff and try to keep it organized. It would be very easy for a bag to walk away at this point in many airports. People do take things accidentally as well but camera bags usually look differently from the bag they got at costco so that is not as big a problem. My bags will usually have a clip on badge or patch or something that makes it easy to spot from a distance. The security people are not there to take care of your stuff.

On a recent trip I left a jacket on the plane and another passenger lifted it. I found her in the immigration line and relieved her of it. The immigration folks had their eye on me but didn't say anything to me. So if something happens try to figure out where the folks that might have taken it would go at that point (it is nice if you already know this as in you have some clue as where you are going to go next) and get there and be assertive but not belligerent.

Invest your money in Airport AirStream;http://www.thinktankph​oto.com.

Buy yourself an el-cheapo non camera bag at the airport to tote your new gear around in..You can even scuff this bag up a tad so it doesn't look new..Take a couple of shirts out of your check in luggage as padding for your new gear.. Carry it on as cabin luggage..

Just keep an eye on it as its going through the scanner..

Roy Mathers wrote in post #5764544
In every country that I've flown from and to, you actually walk virtually alongside the stuff on the conveyor belt, so I can't see that it's a problem.

Bingo Roy..IMHO people are becoming too paranoid..

I've been flying in and out of SE Asia from Australia since 2004 without any hint of problems.. I carry most of my camera gear on as cabin luggage including my laptop.. I often pack my heavier lenses etc well padded into my check in luggage..

cdifoto wrote in post #5751280
Flying doesn't bother me. It's the crashing and/or exploding part I'm not too fond of.

Funny how perceptions work...

Most professional pilots will tell you (off the record) that flying is great except for the passengers and schedule part...