Packing for Adventure Travel

 

After extensive experience packing for corporate meetings, and years of trips focused around our nature photography, I have come to the conclusion that it is almost impossible to truly pack light for photographic adventure travel. Clothing and personal effects are a miniscule component of the overall luggage that we take on our adventure trips. We bring multiple layers of clothing to deal with varied weather conditions while simultaneously reducing bulk, and make heavy use of quick-dry clothing, such as that produced by Ex-Officio, to reduce the number of outfits we need (e.g., typically no more than 3 shirts for a multi-week trip).  However, a successful trip requires being flexible and having the right gear easily accessible.  We always have hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, and at least a simple first aid kit (for our most extensive first aid kit, see the comprehensive first aid kit we used when we went to Tanzania). Depending on the type of activities we are planning, we could also be bringing snorkeling gear (mask, snorkel, fins, wetsuit), winter clothing (thermals, sweaters, gloves, parkas, snow boots), hiking gear (good boots, poles, refillable water bottles, bug repellant), rain gear (for us and our camera equipment), or any combination of the above.  All of this adds up quickly and we find that we will often be checking one moderately full bag each with just this. 

 

The real weight starts when we bring in the photography equipment. For domestic travel, we have a very large Pelican Case. It is an extremely useful container, because it is practically indestructible, is waterproof, and holds the equipment securely in place with customizable foam padding (important if you have ever watched a baggage handler toss / drop a box marked fragile).  You can also lock the case using TSA approved locks to prevent snooping – since Pelican Cases tend to attract attention. Finally, it comes with wheels and a handle that make moving it around, at least in the open, a lot easier than you would think.

 

This huge container will carry everything we typically bring, including our tripods, but can easily top the scales at about 70 pounds – more than most airlines will let you pack without an additional handling charge.  To get around that, we also have a LowePro Super Trekker backpack. This backpack is large enough to carry all of the lenses and camera bodies we need for a trip, including the large 600mm lens, and will fit in most overhead bins on the larger planes. We then check the tripods and monopods in our normal luggage.  If we are not taking our largest lens, we use a much smaller backpack from Tenba.  It is much easier to carry and maneuver, yet still holds all of our gear, including a tripod.   Note: while the Pelican Case is sturdy enough to adequately protect our gear when checked – and it is lockable --, we never check any backpacks containing camera equipment.  Though they may provide good protection for normal bumps and thumps, when it comes to our camera gear, we only subject hard-sided containers to the rigors of checked baggage.

 

What we bring on any specific trip depends a lot on the nature of what we expect to see and whether we will have a vehicle or will be carrying everything on our backs. Typically, for a longer trip, we bring the following items, and select a smaller subset to carry with us for day-trips:

-          Primary camera body (Nikon D300)

-          Backup camera body (Nikon D60)

-          Water- and shock-proof point and shoot camera (currently a Fuji – yes, we take snapshots, too, plus Jodi needs something that will survive her kayaking!)

-          Waterproof shoot-through dry-bag (note: we do not trust this bag enough to submerge it, but it works well to protect the camera and a smaller lens while shooting in wet, misty, or drizzly conditions)

-          Quick set-up tripod (QSX DigiPro 8500 with a Joby Ballhead)

-          Heavy-duty tripod (Gitzo tripod with a Wimberly head)

-          Monopod (Gitzo)

-          Nikon Nikkor 600mm lens

-          Nikon Nikkor AF VR  80-400mm  4.5-5.6 lens

-          Nikon Nikkor AF-S  18-200mm  3.5-5.6 lens

-          Quantaray  28-200mm  3.5-5.6 lens

-          Quantaray AF  19-35mm  3.5-4.5 lens

-          Nikon AF-S 1.7 Teleconverter (TC-17EII)

-          Quantaray 2X DG Teleconverter

-          Kenko Extension Tubes (12mm, 20mm, 36mm)

-          Nikon SB-600 Speedlight (flash)

-          Sekonic Flash Master L-358 Light Meter

-          Expodisc

-          Circular polarizing filter for each lens size (except the 600mm)

-          UV filter for each lens size (except the 600mm)

-          Graduated neutral density filters (Lee .3 and .6)

-          Solid neutral density filter (Lee .9)

-          Lee filter holder and lens attachment rings

-          Lumiquest Mini Softbox

-          Big Bounce light reflector

-          Two collapsible light reflectors

-          About a dozen memory cards

-          Cable release

-          At least 2 spare camera batteries (charged)

-          Spare AA batteries for light meter and speedlight

-          Sanho Hyperdrive Colorspace (for backing up memory cards; smaller and more convenient than a laptop)

-          Cell phone

-          Battery chargers for everything (including the phone) as well as power adapters

-          Double axis Spirit Level

-          Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly (for cleaning lenses)

-          Visible Dust Sensor Loupe

-          Lint-free towels

-          Lens cleaning fluid (note: if carrying my gear on a plane, this must be in my one-quart liquids bag)

-          Small multi-purpose tool (similar to a Gerber tool)

-          Small container of Krazy Glue

-          Gloves that can fold back to become fingerless

-          Bandana

-          Scrunchy and clips to pull back Jodi’s hair

-          Assorted Ziplock bags

-          Instruction manuals

 

 

 

Terence

City Escapes Nature Photography

http://www.cityescapesphotography.com/