I used to travel with a tripod and a large camera bag. The bag could store my EOS 650, three lenses, my Olympus OM-G with its 28-80 zoom (as a backup camera), a micro cassette recorder, a set of warming filters in two different sizes, and a partridge in a pear tree. On a solo trip I felt like I was married to it. The bag was constantly with me, and it filled the empty chair when I ate dinner alone. The micro cassette recorder let me log each picture I took, with description and complete technical details. Transcribing the recordings gave me something to do between dinner and bedtime.

Increasingly tyrannical airline restrictions on carry-on baggage forced me to reconsider my travel companions. 400-speed negative film made the tripod mostly unnecessary. Joining the tripod on the shelf at home is the 50mm f/1.8 that I originally got with the EOS 650. I keep it around for those few times when I know I’ll need it for available light.

While the micro cassette machine and logs were somewhat helpful for keeping track of where I had taken pictures, I found I had no use for all the technical information. It was easier to forgo the recorder and just keep a concise record of where I had been and what rolls of film I had exposed that day.

I bought a small Tamrac “Explorer 2” bag in 2000, for my trip to Provence. About the size of a handbag (I sometimes call it my “man purse”), it can be carried with a shoulder strap, with a handle on the top of the bag, or with a belt that goes around the waist. It held my Elan II (with the 28-105 lens attached), the 22-55 lens, and either the Minolta Freedom Zoom Explorer or the 70-210 zoom. There’s also room for spare batteries, lens tissue, and a circular polarizer (all my lenses took 58mm filters). I ditched the warming filters because I can easily adjust the color balance of any image after I’ve scanned it.

The “man purse” works just as well for digital (and fits nicely under an airplane seat as a “personal item”). I currently use two lenses, a Canon 28-135IS and a Tokina 12-24. The Digital Rebel XT fits in the top of the bag with one lens attached and pointing down into the center compartment. The other compartments hold the other lens and the SmartDisk FlashTrax hard drive. Unfortunately, the center compartment isn’t wide enough for an attached lens hood, so I have to remove it and store it with the other lens. The front pocket has plenty of room for a spare battery pack, an extra memory card, lens cleaning supplies, and two polarizers. There isn’t room for the chargers for the camera battery and the Flashtrax, so those indispensable items go in my carry-on bag.

The x-ray scanners for carry-on bags generally won’t harm film. But never put film in a checked bag, since damaging film seems to be the only thing those million-dollar baggage scanning machines can do reliably! A carry-on bag scanner actually subjects film to less radiation than it gets from natural cosmic rays during a flight. But since repeated “safe” x-ray scans (and flights) can cause cumulative damage, it’s best to avoid any unnecessary risk.

A federal regulation at 49 CFR 1544.211(e)(4) (you might have to search for it if that link has changed) gives passengers at American airports the right to a hand inspection of their film. It also requires the placement of a sign near the x-ray machine informing passengers of that right. Amazingly, this regulation remains in force even with “Enhanced Security.” But screeners sometimes ignore or deny it. That might be entirely justified when a crowd of passengers are waiting at a checkpoint. But sometimes, even if there’s no queue and you arrive early, they just don’t feel like being inconvenienced with extra work.

Some photographers carry a copy of the regulation to show recalcitrant screeners. But I think that’s the wrong approach. When screeners have the power to bar you from your flight, select you for “secondary screening,” fine you, or even have you arrested or detained, it means that the rules (and your rights) are exactly what your particular screener decides they are at that particular moment. Arguing about the regulations, or insisting that the screeners on your last three flights hand-inspected your film, is likely to be futile.

What might work is, first, to arrive extra early. Then ask the screener very politely if he or she wouldn’t mind possibly doing you a favor by hand-inspecting your film. Emphasize that you’ve got plenty of time and are willing to wait until it’s most convenient for him or her. Asking nicely for a favor (in full recognition of and deference to the screener’s absolute and unchallenged authority) rather than asserting a “right” may increase the likelihood that he or she may deign to grant your request. If the screener says no, resign yourself to having lost your one chance. Apologize profusely for having bothered the screener, smile graciously, and immediately surrender your film to the x-ray. The film will almost certainly survive unscathed, and you’ll have avoided unnecessary trouble.

Again, you’ll have the easiest time if you cheerfully submit your film for x-ray scanning and don’t give it another thought. If you’re going to a foreign country, that will be your only option on your return flight; most other countries don’t allow hand inspection. But if you can’t avoid worrying about the very small risk of x-ray damage (especially if your itinerary involves multiple flights), you can easily avoid the risk. Buy film at your destination, and have it processed there. X-rays can’t harm processed film. Or else regard airport “security” as your excuse to switch to a digital camera, since x-rays can’t damage memory cards or computers.

Whatever you do, keep a careful eye on your camera bag during the screening process. Distraction is inevitable while you’re taking off and putting on your shoes, and when the screeners inspect your clear plastic bag of toiletries, pat you down, or inflict the latest indignity they’ve added in reaction to yesterday’s threat. The TSA’s definition of “security” extends only to the threat of terrorism. When it comes to the far more common threat of thievery, you’re on your own.

Some professional photographers avoid airport worries entirely by shipping all their equipment to and from their destinations with an air freight carrier. They often have no other choice, since strictly-enforced limits on carry-on baggage mean that valuable equipment would otherwise go in unlocked checked bags. Even if you don’t have a lot of costly equipment, the peace of mind might make this option worth the significant cost.