Travelling equipment Q's

[ddr]

I'm heading to Asia at the end of summer and wanted to be prepared for traveling:

1a) I currently own an Optech Pro Loop strap which I really like, but I'm interested in a quicker system such as the R-Strap. Someone in my local forum said he modded the R-Strap to use with his Crumpler strap. Has anyone had any experience with incorporating both straps?

1b) I was also interested in a hand strap... particularly the Camdapter one. Any chance I can use the Manfrotto adapter from Camdapter with the R-strap?

2) the 190XB I own is way too heavy to travel on foot with for long periods of time. the 682B seems to be the obvious choice but i've read more than once that it's not very stable. Plus it doesn't seem all that light. Recently I came across the Horusbennu MP-4500ST which CheesyCam has claimed to be quite sturdy from a glance at the trade show. This seems to be a good weight for traveling. I plan to use the 498RC2 on either one. Any suggestions?

3) the KATA bag I have is great for slinging around 1 body+ lens, maybe an extra lens and a flash, but anything over that is quite demanding on the shoulders because of the straps. I need a weather-proof one with a laptop compartment and a tripod holder but light and comfortable. I won't be carrying the laptop with me except for on the plane/train. I'm looking at the:
a) Kata DR-466I-BB
- concerned about tripod on the side; (the Kata's Bumblebee-222UL was just too $$)
b) Tenba Shootout Medium
- not too keen on the looks
c) Tamrac Aero 80 + S-113 Cinch straps
- concerned about the cinch strap tripod holder system; love the weight
d) Tamrac Evolution 8
- easy access from both side; double the weight of the Aero 80

4) What are some good portable card reader+hard-drive transfer devices? They seem kind of expensive for what they are housing... I guess I am looking for an enclosure that can offload pictures from an SDHC (or CF if possible) card but pick the 2.5" hdd myself? At least I will have 3+ warranty on the 2.5" drive.

Also looking to add a grip, two more batteries (have two), and 1-2 extreme 16gb SDHC. Your input is greatly appreciated. TIA

[jdepould]

Are you certain you need a tripod? At that point, I'd probably give up on trying to travel light, and just bring what's going to work best.

I'd skip the HDD and just buy more SD cards, you can get 8GB for like $15 each (4GB are under $10) on Amazon. They aren't immune to failure, but they're more rugged than a hard drive with moving parts, and you can write-protect them.

How long is the trip going to be? If you're bringing a laptop, I'd just dump the cards to the internal drive, and keep the SD as a backup in case the laptop fails.

[ddr]

I'm going for just over a month ...

upon searching a bit more, it seems that purchasing more SD cards is the way to go, and it's cheaper as well. thnx for your input.

so far everyone has told me to give up the tripod ... i can see why that is but that's exactly why i was looking at the standing monopods for the occasional night shots.

[jdepould]

Originally Posted by ddr

so far everyone has told me to give up the tripod ... i can see why that is but that's exactly why i was looking at the standing monopods for the occasional night shots.

I think that's a better compromise than a crappy tripod