> Are most tripod bags suitable for protection when putting a tripod in > "checked baggage" when traveling by air?
I wouldn't do it with a good ball head, or with any sort of pan/tilt. The stuff gets tossed around.
Last month I dealt with this dilemma in the following way.
Somewhere along the way I came into possession of a triangular box about 5" longer than my tripod. It had been used to ship big rolls of drymounting tissue, and was, at one time, a product marketed by the US Post Office to ship rolls of paper, architechtural plans, blueprints, etc.
Between the flat side and the point was exactly the right distance for the ball head so the tripod stayed put in the box, but I filled in the empty space with socks, undies and other such items that I could use when I arrived.. On the way back I was also able to slide a road atlas down outside the legs, having bought a topo atlas in CA.
Carrying the box was the big hassle, it was at least 3 feet long and shiny cardboard and triangular in cross section. Eventually I worked out a rig with a couple of those straps that one can buy to carry cartons, with a special latch on it that makes it so tight around the box that it can't slip about.
Just the other day I bought some product that had an interesting plastic handle on it consisting of two flat pieces of moderately rigid plastic about 8" long with T shaped ends. The ends of one piece of plastic went through two slots in the carton, and the other piece of plastic went through two slots in the first one, so that one could lift the second piece of plastic up just enough to get the hand under, and the first piece wouldn't slip out of the carton without the Ts being turned and twisted to slide out the slots. I threw out the cardboard and kept the two strips of plastic.
Someday I'll find another time when I need a handle for a box and this might work, as long as I can find it when the day comes!
Some ideas to work on.
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Emily L. Ferguson
mailto:elf@xxxxxxxx 508-563-6822
New England landscapes, wooden boats and races, press photography http://www.vsu.cape.com/~elf/
