Hard Cases for Protecting Your Gear

When it comes to traveling with your camera gear, backpacks and traditional camera bags only go so far. When we need to travel with several pieces of big glass, multiple camera bodies, and lots of accessories, this is simply too much gear to bring on a plane as a carry on. Likewise, when working from boats, when on location for weeks on end, when traveling on dusty washboard roads that seem purpose built to dislodge kidney stones, you have to be able to protect your gear from the elements, from the knocks and bangs, from the spray of water and anything else Mother Nature can throw at us. For this reason, hard cases are a key component to the way in which we transport our gear around the planet. Yes, we use camera backpacks. However, when in transit, those packs are placed inside hard cases for protection - whether checked into the belly of a plane or tossed onto the bow of a boat.

Nanuk 963

Best All Purpose

This is Jared’s go to hard case for almost everything. He has several of them stacked up and ready to go at any given moment. Some are used for video equipment. Others are used for lugging mounds of accessories around. But most importantly, the F-Stop SHINN 80L camera backpack that Jared uses fits perfectly inside of this case. We don’t use foam or any other purpose built cushion inside of this case to protect gear. Instead, we place the camera bag into the hard case and then stuff clothing around the bag to help support it. A simple letter to TSA is then placed on top of the bag explaining the contents are camera gear and then we tape 4 zip ties to the letter and ask TSA to please use these to re-secure the case. On the outside of the Nanuk you will find two loops for attaching locks. We use two zip-ties in each hole to secure the case and have found this to be a much more secure method than fiddling with TSA locks that are prone to breaking.