Recently the restrictions on carrying on small amounts of liquids onto airlines have been lifted. As of this writing, drinks purchased after clearing security can be carried on to a plane. Larger quantities of liquids, checked in carry-on luggage, are not allowed.
However, things may change again, which leads to this Tip of the Month. Recently, and just before the 'small quantities' of liquids ban was lifted, I almost had my CAMERA LEVELS confiscated as I went through security. Fortunately, the camera levels I normally use are not the expensive Hammon's hotshoe-style levels but are, instead, very inexpensive 'key-chain' levels I purchased for a few dollars from a chain hardware store.
These levels are attached, via a loop ring, to my camera straps so that I can place a level on top of a hotshoe or on the side of my Really Right Stuff L-bracket. They work just as effectively as the hotshoe-style level, but unlike a hotshoe mount, it's virtually impossible to lose one since it can't fall out of a hotshoe! My first hotshoe level lasted less than an hour, before it slipped off the hotshoe mount as I walked through the tundra in Denali NP. The keychain style is permanently attached and can't be lost.
It never occurred to me as I packed that I had a liquid in my carry-on, as my levels were a part of the camera by this time. Now, I suspect, a level may be allowed, but I'm not certain of that, and I'm going to play it safe and pack mine in my checked luggage before I fly again.
One other point - When British Air had their recent terrorist plot foiled - the one involving liquids - BA prohibited carry-on luggage, requiring all to be checked. If you were a FILM SHOOTER, this could have posed a very serious problem because of the high intensity scans that checked luggage is subjected to, and, if film was checked, it'd be zapped and ruined. I don't know how BA handled that issue, but if it comes up again, film shooters must beware.
Finally, although I've addressed a 'work-around' for those flying small planes where a carry-on piece might be taken at the gate and stored in the luggage compartment, I've got to reiterate this message again. If you have a carry-on piece that you hope to take onto the plane with you, but it is taken from you at the gate, and handed back to you when you exit the plane, DO NOT ASSUME that the carry-on luggage will be handled gently. Last year, on a trip to Africa, a friend had his new 200-400 Nikon zoom broken when they took his bag, and this year, before a Yellowstone trip, another friend had his laptop broken - it was stowed in a backpack designed for camera gear and a computer.
My solution - I remove all the valuable equipment from the carry-on case before they take the bag. I carry a nylon stuff sack to put my camera bodies in, and I'll carry my big lens over my shoulder (via the lens strap), and take these onto the plane. The issue on small planes isn't space, it is dimensions - and a long lens and some camera bodies will fit into a small overhead, or beneath the seat in front of you, if they are not in a big carry-on case. For more on this, please read one of our previous Tips of the Month on this subject.
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