How to Pack Your Gear for Airplane Travel

In this useful video by Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens he walks you through how to pack your gear to be ready for airplane travel whether it be within the United States or overseas. Jay explains the proper paperwork you should have for your gear when traveling internationally and what gear he typically packs when flying and most importantly why. The video and the advice that Jay gives you is very detailed and extensive. It's a great resource to watch every time you're about to fly out to your next location and might just save you a headache or two.

Via: The Slanted Lens

Rebecca Britt's picture

Rebecca Britt is a South Texas based commercial, architectural and concert photographer. When she's not working Rebecca enjoys spending time with her two daughters, playing Diablo III, and shooting concerts (Electronic Dance Music). Rebecca also runs the largest collective of EDM (electronic dance music) photographers on social media.

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22 Comments

This is the first video where I like Jay.

good to see him not reading from a script.

"Who are these people?" - That's exactly what I think when I see people in resorts. I was backpacking all over the world for one year. Small budget, way less gear than Jay (only one bag with camera, 2 lenses, laptop and all the other stuff) and I still got some descent shots. On my way I did a lot of couchsurfing. It's so different than staying in a hotel and I absolutely love it.

Remember guys, it's not all about the gear. Improvisation and creativeness help a lot in getting good shots.

Great video!

...professionals?

You probably didn't pay attention to the video... Jay asks that question himself regarding people in resorts because they don't see anything of the actual life that is going on outside the walls of their holiday temples.

Bit excessive imo

What this guy does is high end commercial photography and video. His productions (in terms of technicality) are often on par with independent films. He is not a hobbyist. Nor your average portraiture or wedding photographer. I have no idea what project this is for, but I imagine there is quite a bit of money changing hands with high expectations for the outcome.

When tens of thousands of dollars are on the line, I would think this is about right.

Exactly, I travel much the same way. Lots of great tips and a lot of neat film/gaff tricks in there. Great vid. 90 Pounds of gear is what i travel with too, i now know how to cut down on bags tho.

Can I get 10% of his equipment? he have enough

You would not get that first bag on a ryan air or easy jet flight! (in fact maybe in any European flight over head bin) :O

Ryanair would let you try..... for the low, low price of £140.

Carry on sizes are based on the gap under the seat in front of you - not the overheads.

You haven't haven't got a plan in the UK, with Ryan air or easy jet. They have a cage your bag has to fit into or else it goes in the holdholde an extra fee. And it's a pretty small cage, I was amazed at the size and numbers of bags the flights in the USA have and are allowed on the plan. I once saw a women with 2 wheelie bags a massive hand bag thing and then another sports bag....it's crazy over here

That cage, is the size of the under-seat storage area - I haven't flown with Ryan Air for about 3 years, but I did with Easy jet 6 months ago. The carry on size checker for ALL airlines, is the cattle class under-seat storage area size.

He didn't say where his tripod(s) packed. Or did I miss that?

10:45

Ah yes, I must have been distracted for a second! I'm surprised with all that gear he only carries one pod!

Jay P. Morgan...more like J. P. Morgan.... :-p Lots and lots of gear to haul. This video isn't for everyone, but if you want to know what it takes to do this job professionally....it takes a lot of crap that you have to haul or rent all over the world. Kudos to having all that stuff, but my back and my budget will have to pursue alternative ways of transporting gear.

Every time I click on these "how to pack for travel" types of articles, I'm disappointed that they're not a little more...realistic and geared toward those who don't want to bring their whole kitchen sink with them. That's why I wrote my own blog on it!

http://blog.suzi-pratt.com/packing-photography-gear-for-travel-deluxe/

He would never get that 20kg bag on a flight originating in Australia, where the limit is 7kg. I was given a hard time for a bag that was just 10kg.

Sure he would. So long as the bag fits the "Carry on size" - the conversation goes like this. "The value of this bag is over your max carrier insurance per item limit and there are items in here that are not allowed in checked luggage. Are you willing to sign something personally accepting financial responsibility if this bag goes missing?" Air lines are only insured for between $2,000 and $4,000 max per item of checked luggage - as soon as the bag is worth more than that - they won't force you to check it (QANTAS is $2,500).
All they can ask you to do then is place it under the seat infront of you (the way carry on size bags are actually measured) and not in the overhead due to the weight.

I've used this technique with varying degrees of success. Bottom line: they can (and will) stop you from flying.