Carrying camera question

Just bring a daypack (small backpack) for the bus -- keep your wallet, camera, etc in it and hold it on your lap while riding the bus.

I like the Stowaway daypack (see LL Bean website).

Just don't get one of those Photography daypacks that scream "Steal Me! I have expensive camera equipment in here!".

If you have an old school dayback (i.e. from college days) - that's even better. Less chance of a thief targetting an old ratty bag.

Also - just wrap the nice camera in a T-shirt to give it a little padding.

It would help to clarify what size pack we are all talking about here. If someone is traveling around for a week or more, living out of their pack, it is unlikely that it would be a small daypack. I think of a daypack as +/- 1,000 ci and a travel pack as 2,500 to 3,000 ci. Anything larger would not fit in an overhead rack anyway. Sure a daypack can sit on your lap all day but this is not very enjoyable with a carry on travel pack. Which brings up the question of where those who don't put their larger packs in the overhead racks do put them. Now I guess we can debate the risks of putting your gear in the outside storage compartments on buses. Personally I keep my carry on travel pack small and light enough that I can insist on bringing it on board with me.

good points mesacrow. I think most experienced back packers have the type of pack that have a removable day pack that seperates from the main larger pack. That is what you should keep your most important and most valuable items in and keep on your person on the bus. As you mention, it is not practical or possible to put a larger pack inside in the over head storage. You can easily put a cable lock on your packs or even suitcases in the underneath storage area. There are metal supports under there that a cable lack can easily be attached to.

Oh Poor Quicksand. Getting a nice dose of TT bickering. By the way that is the word dose, the word "doze" refers to a nap.

Anyway, to answer the question, we just returned from Guat with our brand new digital. The case I bought was made for it (a Canon) and had no shoulder strap, but a small loop presumably for a belt. We used a small carabiner to hook the case to our belt loops and it worked like a charm! The camera was always right there to grab for a quick shot and secure in the velcro-closed case. THere was no way for it to be taken without our knowledge. When on a chicken bus, no matter how crowded, we hugged our pack on our lap. But valuables were always kept on our person. And when I did carry a tote that I bought there in Guat, I carried it across my body, not over my shoulder. It was interesting to see that most (the smart ones?) tourists carried their packs on the front not the back when in crowded areas.

Don't ever put anything in the overhead rack. It's a risk to either (a) get swiped when you are not looking and/or (b) fall off and hit someone really hard on the head.

NYC_Girl_115, sure, a cable locked and zipper locked bag on an overhead rack stands a chance of disappearing when the traveler is not looking or even falling and hurting someone! The sad thing is that I don't think you are joking. I think you are serious.

My guess is (b) ......still recovering !

Cute, scoot, but possibly even correct. In time she will have gotten better.

I had a medium-sized backpack with my clothes and incidentals and a small daypack for valuables. I wore my passport and bank cards under my clothes and kept my camera in a pocket with the neck strap secured with a button (as much for dropping as risk of theft). I always kept the day pack on my lap in buses and clipped the clothes bag to the overhead rack with the waist belt. I always close the zipper with a small zip-tie for buses and planes, too. We never felt threatened or had anyone poking around our stuff. I took nearly 1400 photos (4 separate storage cards which I kept with my passport once full) and I'm having a BLAST sorting through them.

well I just flew to Yucatan and other travelers complained how digital camera battery chargers were taken by security and also cell phone chargers. So many problems now I just stuff everything in checked luggage except my film camera itself and money and hope for the best.