mitesh Offline Upload & Sell: On
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plnelson wrote:
But even without the duplication how would I do it? Let's say that's my WHOLE kit... If the 600 broke, the 300+ a TC would at least give me some backup; if just the 300 broke I'd still have 200 f/2.8 and 600 f/4.
But it's still about 40 pounds, WAY over the carry-on weight limit.
This thread is getting very frustrating - the kit I described is a perfectly reasonable African wildlife photography kit. So people must be traveling to and from Africa every day with kits like this from all over the world! Thousands of people must do it every year. But I have yet to hear of anyone describing how they did it without depending on a great deal of luck getting a grossly-overweight bag past a gate agent.
So far I've contacted three tour operators - Pangolin, Nat Geo, and Piper Mackay who all said they THINK they might be able to arrange to receive shipping but they've never been asked before, like this is a completely weird request. But none of them have yet explained how their other guests managed to do it. (or even whether they did; I've been told Nat Geo's "photo" trips are filled with people shooting cellphones.)
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Peter, I think you're getting frustrated because you are in search of a definitive answer where nobody, at least not among those who have opined here, has such an answer. The reality is such that there is a level of inconsistency in airlines all over the world in how luggage and weight policies are enforced. Nobody on this forum can state that they have a foolproof method of taking an over-weight carry-on aboard any given flight. Only thing we can offer are our personal experiences and the methods we employed that we believe are the reasons why we were successful in getting our over-weight carry-ons aboard.
You have asked how pros do it. I don't think it is any different than the rest of us, in most cases. For example, I recently took a trip to the Falkland Islands. On the LATAM airlines flight from the Falklands to Santiago, Chile, I was seated next to Art Morris (Birds-as-art). He had a bulging Think Tank roller and an equally stuffed Think Tank shoulder bag. The carry-on allowance was 17 lbs. I'm sure he had about double that weight because I read on his blog what he took on the trip, and he had it all with him in his carry-on. So, here's a pro who's clearly taking his chances with an over-weight carry-on. If he had been told by a surly gate agent to check the roller, he would have been in the same position any one of us would have been in: appealing, pleading, begging, etc.
I understand why this is so important to you, and I hope you're able to find a solution that's acceptable to you and that you have an enjoyable trip.
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