I love all of the Think Tank products I've purchased over the past few years, and this isn't an exception. The Airport International fit quite a lot of equipment, while remaining compact. I was pleasantly surprised how much I could put into the bag.
After purchasing it, I immediately used it on a 3-day convention I was covering. I hauled around 2 camera bodies, a 70-200mm lens, a 24-70 mm lens, 50 mm, 35mm, five flashes, pocket wizards, small portable HD, a monopod, a tripod, and an extra lightstand. (Not to mention all the small stuff: PW cables, off shoe cable, bungee cords, extra batteries, business cards, bottle of water, cell phone, chargers. etc.) Plus, I could easily have fit more equipment. I did take out a lot of the dividers provided by Think Tank (personally, I think they give too many dividers), and organized it to my liking. You can also purchase "half-size" dividers if the ones they give you are a bit too high (which I might do at a later date).
For the convention, I merely wheeled to a specific area of the hotel I was covering, got my gear out, and started shooting. I didn't have to wear out my back carrying all of my gear. And it rolled extremely smoothly. There was barely any "pull" from the bag. I did, however, carry the Think Tank Speed racer to carry small misc. items, while shooting. (Unfortunately, the Speed Racer is quite bulky even when empty so I couldn't store it inside the roller bag.)
Also, the ability to *completely* lock down the bag is an awesome feature. Think Tank provides two lock down cables with the bag (front and back), and the zippers have a special locking mechanism. Talk about secure! I locked down my bag in several locations and felt safe enough to walk away from it.
This bag is going to make my life easier while on real estate photography assignment; before I carried 2.5 bags: my camera bag, my strobes bag, and a small bag for all the light stands. While the setup was quite compact and efficient, it was still a handful. Now, I can fit all of the camera and lighting gear in one bag, and stack the light stands ontop of the roller.
Although, I have yet to bring this on a plane (I only recently acquired it two weeks ago), I have high expectations. My last two international trips had me carrying (non-Think Tank) backpack full of camera equipment through airports and city streets, which caused a lot of back strain (I have a herniated disc). I'm hoping to just be able to roll this through the airport without an issue.
(On a Tangent: I wonder if the Airport Antidote fits inside this particular roll bag? Then, I can store the equipment in the Airport Antidote, roll the bag through the airports, hotels, etc, and be able to take the Antidote for trekking through the cement jungle and leave the roller in the hotel?)
My only complaint about this bag is that while the entire bag feels rather sturdy and well made, the telescoping handle feels rather wimpy in comparison. Think Tank does warn you to NOT lift the bag by the telescoping handle due to weight. However, my Eagle Creek roll bags have exceptionally sturdy telescoping handles. I hope Think Tank will take notice.
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