It is now official: the FAA has instituted new regulations
stating that passengers will now be limited to one carry-on bag
plus a personal item on all flights. It seems unfortunate to me
that the FAA is using the 9/11 tragedy to do something that the
airlines have been dreaming of for years, but it is a pretty
much a dead issue now and we will have to either deal with it
or stay home. And I for one am not staying home.
As many of you know, a standard
flight attendant rolling case has been the foundation of my
carry-on strategy for years and I plan on continuing that
practice under the new regs. Here is my new strategy: I will
place the Canon 600 f/4 L IS lens in the rolling bag with only
the leather hood cover in place. (My old Domke long lens bag
will be packed in my checked luggage.) 40-60 rolls of film, a
single camera body, a flight lens, and my daily supplements will
round out the items in the rolling case. I will carry my laptop
in a briefcase-sized case as my "personal item." It is that
simple.
On trips where I need to bring
both the 500 IS and the 600 IS, I will ship one lens via US
Priority Mail (as I did previously). On various trips I often
send the second long lens as well as assorted items as follows:
I put 6-8 inches of foam balls in the bottom of a large, sturdy
cardboard box--computer boxes work extremely well. I wrap
the big lens in several layers of bubble wrap and then put the
whole caboodle into a large plastic garbage bag (to keep the
foam balls from getting into the lens bag). Then I cover the
lens with another 6-8 inches of foam balls. Additional items
such as auxiliary lens, spare camera bodies, etc. are padded for
protection and placed into the box atop that well cushioned
lens. (An option is to first place the big lens in the carrying
case but in my opinion this affords no additional protection and
adds about $20.00 to the cost of the mailing (because of the
extra weight).
I seal the carton securely with
both plastic and ribbed carton tape. I re-use the cartons and
after a few trips they are totally covered in tape. This makes
them pretty much indestructible. In most cases I send the
parcel via Priority Mail/Certified/Return Receipt Requested to
myself via General Delivery. You need to call the receiving Post
Office to make sure that the station that you have selected
accepts General Delivery—not all Post Offices accept General
Delivery. When you call, be sure to ask for the correct General
Delivery address. It generally looks something like this:
To: Arthur Morris c/o General
Delivery The
Postmaster
Street Address of Post
Office City,
State, Zip Code
When you reach your destination
simply visit the Post Office, show your driver’s license, and
drive off with your gear.
An option would be to travel
with a third checked bag with a well-padded long lens packed
inside. The big danger here would be employee theft,
especially when traveling to a foreign destination. (X-ray
the bag, see the long lens, and “borrow” it permanently…” I
routinely travel with intermediate telephoto (and other)
lenses packed in my checked baggage, but have pretty much
refused to put a big AF lens into a checked bag… I have
heard all the horror stories. (The temptation might just
prove to be too much.) Do let me know of your personal
experiences in the next few weeks, especially with regards to
the acceptance of cased laptops as “personal items.”
Neither
the Post Office nor Fed-X replied to my e-mail inquiries with
regards to the X-raying of parcels... So much for customer
service. (Do note the reassuring statements from Anchorage
Fed-X Station Manager Steve Freno as noted in the BIRDS AS ART
NOTES dated October 5, 2001.
Many
Bulletin subscribers have written stating that they have
mailed their film either to photographic locations or their
out-of- town labs without any damage to the film. While I
appreciate the information, those folks are missing the point:
many post offices are stating that parcels may be X-rayed...
All that it would take would be a single 70-roll disaster. Do
you wish to take that chance? There must be a way of getting
a definitive answer from the Post Office; I am open to
suggestions. In the mean time, go ahead and save a few bucks
by using the post office... I, for one, will spend the few
extra bucks for Fed-X until we find out for sure.
