Travelling with your camera gear.

[Owen H]

The reason for the weight limit for your carry on is the weight limit for the overhead lockers, and for your safety if you hit turbulence and they go flying around the cabin.

I'd rather not be decapitated because someone loaded a significantly overweight bag into the cabin. It isn't a "because we want to be a pain" rule, its a safety rule.

Maybe carry the bare essentials in your backpack, and thoroughly wrap and protect the heavy lenses for the suitcase? If the suitcase is full, it is unlikely to move even with the roughest bag treatment.

Do you have a travelling companion you can load a lens or two off to?

And Geoff - the rule for "as many as you want" is a dangerous goods one - I'm sure a carrybag full of batteries might have some people raising eyebrows as to why . They aren't prohibited, but you might be asked why. 4 packets for your camera would be a reasonable one I'd have thought. 40 packets and you might need to produce a suitcase full of, erm... battery driven... um... toothbrushes