Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/07/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I have just returned from Spain, where we visited Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada, in addition to numerous small villages around Andalucia. The Lonely Planet guide says that Sevilla is second only to Rome regarding the high occurence of theft, but we did not experience any problems. However, we did plan ahead: Money, credit cards, etc., were carried in the Eagle Creek zip wallets that have two loops for going around your belt. The wallet is normally carried inside your pants and you simply flip it out to access the contents. It has compartments for credit cards, passport, and paper currency and a soft lining on the side that touches your skin. Very secure. My wife carried her Canon EOS A2E with 17-35 f2.8, 50 macro, and 70-200 f2.8 in a black Eagle Creek "Bedouin" daypack with lockable zipper compartments. The lenses were contained in soft pouches. I carried an M6 body with 21/35/50/90 lenses in a Domke F803 satchel. I had planned to use the backpack technique like my wife, but found the satchel much easier to use. It was comfortable to carry all day across the chest, and easy to work out of. For walking through crowds or more questionable areas, it was easy to lock the top flap, and hold onto the clasp with one hand. The satchel also held the day's film supply, a flip polarizer, Vivitar 2800 flash, Lumiquest pocket bouncer, a Bogen tabletop tripod, extra batteries, a cable release, and Leica compact binocs in an attached Lowe pro pouch. For security at the hotel, we used a "Porter Case", which is super useful when traveling. For those of you who haven't seen one, it is a carry-on legal wheeled hard case box, that doubles as a hand truck capable of carrying up to 200 lbs. I keep extra equipment in it, my computer, etc. We left things in it in our hotel room like passports, extra cash, equipment, etc., and could lock the case, then use a pair of Eagle Creek retractable combination cable locks to secure it to something like a wrought iron bed frame of headboard. Never had a problem... More on the trip when I recover from my jet lag... Cheers, - --Jim Laurel