dwward said:
I will second Gene's comment. I don't see the need for a Pelican for ordinary air travel. In fact, I think it's over-kill.
I have the Lowepro wheeled backpack that fits in the overhead compartment. The Lowepro can easily accommodate two bodies with large lenses, the odds and ends, a separate padded laptop compartment (up to a 17" laptop) and space to spare for the misc stuff you want to carry on the plane with you and meets the 45 linear inch requirement for carry-on luggage.
The Lowepro roller bags do not fit under a seat. The OP is looking for a bag to carry 2 bodies and a couple of large lenses, and I really doubt that any bag sufficient to carry those will fit under a seat.
For that reason, I strongly recommend a hard case for air travel. Almost all airlines charge a fee for checking even one bag on a domestic flight, so many people try to avoid checking luggage. Airlines have also cut the number of flights on most routes. What does that all mean? Fuller planes and more people carrying on rollerboard luggage. Overhead space is limited. I fly pretty frequently, and on most flights (I'd guess 12-15 of the ~20 flights I've taken so far this year), the overheads have filled up, and people with carry-on bags that won't fit under a seat have been forced to check those bags (and they aren't 'gate-checked' in the sense that you get them at the destination gate - they come out on the baggage carousels like other checked bags). So, unless you fly first class or have an elite membership that allows you early boarding privilages, your carry on soft bag full of your expensive camera gear may very well end up as checked luggage. If you've ever watched the exposés on how airlines handle checked bags, you'll know that with your gear in a soft bag, while you might have usable equipment after the flight, or you might have bent metal and glass shards, or you might not even see your gear at the other end...
Bottom line - get a carry-on sized hard case for air travel. Plan to carry it on. Be prepared in case you are forced to check it. Personally, I recommend the Storm im2500 (equivalent to the Pelican 1510, but Storm latches are easier to open). Get yourself a pair of locks for the case - I use
these.
I agree that a soft case is easier to deal with (altough not necessarily easier to carry, unless it's a roller case). But given the very real possibliity that you'll have to check your gear even if you planned to carry it on, a hard case is the way to go.
Now, while a hard case is best for the flight, one big downside to hard cases is that once you get to your destination, a hard case is not a very convenient way to carry your gear. Tough to take on a hike, for example, or a walk on the beach. Also, if your gear is in the hard case, and you want to bring a more convenient case for use at your destination (a backpack, for example), what do you do with/put in the photo backpack for the flight? My solution to that problem is to put the backpack inside the hard case. I use a Lowepro Flipside 400AW to carry my gear - a great bag with sufficient capacity for a gripped body, two big white zooms (70-200 II + 100-400), 3-4 more black L lenses (or a second body and 1-2 black lenses), and a flash. The loaded Flipside 400AW fits inside the Storm im2500 hard case (snugly, with the padded dividers removed, obviously). That's another reason I went with the Storm over the Peli - both are carry-on sized, but the dimensions are slightly different, and the Flipside is a better fit in the Storm case. With that setup, I have the best of both worlds - the protection of a hard case during the flight (if necessary) and convenience of a backpack when I get where I'm going.
