Does anyone have experience traveling with a VG2? I am going on a multi week trip soon and considering whether or not I want to take mine with me. Aside from the obvious issue of weight and the limit most airlines have of 50lbs for checked luggage. I’d assume if I did this, packing it in the bag, inside a hard shelled case would be a must.
Anyone else done this?
I fly with my VacuGlide to trade shows in LA, Las Vegas, and to the Netherlands. Sometimes I have taken it to China with me as well.
In many of those cases I have put it into my carry-on suitcase because when I’m traveling with it for business, I need to display it at a show. It would be disastrous if I got there and something wasn’t working, so I treat it as if it was a Faberge egg, even though we ship them all over the world in their regular boxes, and they don’t break.
I also have also traveled with them in a pelican case, but there is some foam support in there.
Additionally, I have put two of them in luggage and just used clothes for protection, and they were also fine.
But honestly, for me, the easiest way to transport them was to put one into my carry-on I found that to be the least risky way of doing so as well.
I have explained to every single TSA person and to multiple security people in Europe and China as well exactly what it is. After it goes through the X-ray, there is a 0% chance they will let it go without pulling it aside. My favorite reaction was in Korea during a transfer from China back to the US. Whereas the security people in the US and other countries tended to be a range of ages from young to old, at this particular security checkpoint in Seoul, the security people were all about 20-22 years old, men and women.
Once they pulled it to the side and I told one of them what it was, you could see probably four or five of them trying to be respectful but they were giving each other very discreet side glances and trying not to smile but I detected it I was watching the group.
The guys in the U.S. sometimes want to talk about it and ask what the brand is called, etc., so I’ve experienced a range of reactions.
One of the thoughts I had been considering is placing the camera bag inside the original box, which I still have, and then putting that in a close to form fitting hard shell suitcase. A pelican case would be optimal, but I can’t imagine I will travel with it so often I will need a specialty case for it. I’m not in the position that I need to take it to a trade show with my livelihood depending on nothing going wrong. It would take one hell of an accident for a hard shell case with that padding to cause an issue. (And the airlines have accident insurance for damaged property.)
I’d expect curiosity if you carry it on, given that it won’t look like anything they are expecting. But it also looks like a vaccum, more or less. They aren’t against the rules. On the plus side for leaving it in the box in checked baggage. If TSA decides they want to open it and have a look. It will tell them what it is without any need for anyone to guess. I’ll have to consider which way to go. In an ideal world a case with a custom foam insert would be superior. I’m also flying soonish. Annoying to source on my timeline.
Thanks!
Putting the camera bag inside of the cardboard box would be overkill, and it would make it huge.The camera bag by itself could just be taken as a backpack on the airplane as well.I think packing it into the backpack and placing the backpack inside of a larger suitcase padded with clothes would be more than enough.
The reason I think it always gets inspected is because they’ve never seen that particular shape with the particular components and motor inside, so it makes them curious.The entire body is metal, which is also unusual because normal electronics have plastic casings around them.