carrying and protecting expensive electronics on tour
 

I've got a short 10 day cross country credit card tour of Korea coming up next Friday and I was thinking of bringing my new Macbook Air (it has a solid state drive instead of traditional, more fragile hard-drives) and my Lumix LX5 camera, for sure. I'm worried about three things that could possibly damage my electronics.

First, the sun. The sun here is merciless and I think the inside of my Wingnut backpack or Ortlieb panniers may become a sauna on wheels. I suppose I could crack open my backpack or panniers a bit to let the heat dissipate. Would that be enough, though?

Second, the rain. If it isn't blazing hot, it's pouring and still warm. I think the Ortliebs got that covered, though, right? The Wingnut cycling backpack, though supposed to be waterproof as well, is more like water resistant. I'll be using that, though for things like my iPod, credit cards, water bladder, little bits and pieces including my camera which I have protective Kata case that can attach to the waist strap. It also has a rain / heat reflecting fly I can pull over the case.

Third, the poor conditions of the road. I think the steel frame, fat tires (38s), sprung Brooks, and my body (if I carry the Mac on my back), can help absorb the shock. I mean, the roads are pretty crap here in the metropolitan Seoul area. I can only imagine how bad country roads are.

One complication is that I'll be carrying a Hiplock chain lock on my waist. If I put the Mac in the backpack and the chain lock on my waist, both of which have protective cases, could the vibrations be damaging?

okay, sorry for the long post but this is important to me. Any input would be appreciated. If it is too risky, I can just leave the notebook at home.

aw, crap. I thought I posted this in the touring subforum. Mod?

I wouldn't be overly concerned about the heat. The panniers (and backpack) are opaque, so you don't get the type of greenhouse heating that afflicts the inside of a car left in the sun. The outer fabric of the panniers will get pretty hot in the sun on the upper surfaces, but the interior temperature won't be much hotter than the ambient outside temperature.

Concerns about vibration can be alleviated with a little cushioning foam placed underneath delicate items. But note that most such damage comes from very sharp, hard raps against the electronic items - such as when they fall directly onto a hard floor. Bumps within a pannier tend to be much softer in character since the bags have quite a bit of give in response to the bike hitting a pothole. I'd be most concerned about items in the pannier bouncing around and hitting each other - so pack in such a way that various items are held in place and there's no loose heavy item that could bump into anything fragile.

The Ortliebs should be completely waterproof, but it's easy enough (and light weight) to add an extra layer of protection from a sealed plastic bag. That way you're also still protected from water damage if the panniers were damaged in some way and got a hole in them.

As mentioned in another thread about laptop protection, Rowan and I have been using small, light neoprene sleeves for our laptops which seem to be doing a good job providing an extra layer of protection for our laptops (and doubling as a mouse pad). I have dropped my laptop once already, with no damage, and I suspect the fact that it was in its neoprene sleeve helped.

We also have Sea to Summit dry bags which could be used if we needed extra protection from rain.

A couple options you might consider. :)

Personally, I don't think the OP has too many concerns. Laptop, notebook and netbook computers generally are built to take a bit of knocking around. I think the need for a solid state drive is also overstated these days, and particularly with the problems of wearing out that have been mentioned in other threads here; the hard drives on our computers are designed to "park" to avoid damage from vibration.

It's a bit like the issue of carrying eggs. It seems a lot more difficult when someone hasn't done it, than when it's actually being done on a bike. The OP has nice fat tyres, and that is a major plus in damping out the big hits.

As to the heat, check out the temps most laps tops generate, and it's likely that it will be on a par with what can be expected inside a pannier.

The pannier situation does worry me, however, simply because if anything damp or wet is put in the same pannier as an unprotected computer, the water will evaporate and make its way into the electronics. I know people love their Ortleibs, but they do have their weaknesses. A dry bag to put the computer into and seal it off is a simple, cheap solution, along with a neoprene sleeve, and the combination can be carried in the backpack or pannier without fear.

The other issue is the power supply. I don't know what the Macbook Air uses, but we have a transformer, and that needs as much protection as the computer itself, in my estimation.

For what it is worth - I carried a small laptop wrapped in foam cushioning and in waterproof pannier across Russia including some fairly poor roads and some weather - without problems. Also had Canon digital camera though at some point the shutter open/close started to jam and also pictures got blurry for a while. I blame that more on the dust on the road and continued heavy use than being carried in pannier.

If it's really valuable , wean yourself from the addiction
to always having that stuff at hand, and leave it home.

you said 10 days, surely you can cope with i-tech withdrawal ,

that long.. :roflmao:

prathman, machka, rowan, and mev, thanks that's all I needed to know. I've just never taken laptops anywhere with me on a bike but I think it'll be all good with the light neoprene sleeve, sprung saddle, fat tires, etc. For additional protection, I'll take plastic market bags. =]

oh yea, my touring partner dropped out of the ride unexpectedly this morning. Looks like it's just me which I guess is all right. I did it by myself last time except last time I had really detailed maps in English and everyone me spoke English. This might prove to be a bit of challenge but it's only 10 days.

Otterbox.

If internet access is what you need it for there are many internet cafes in every city/town of any size. If its just to store photos etc I'd just pack a bunch of memory cards and sort them out when you finish. As for directions, you might want to ask on "Han river riders" on facebook. There are a quite a few people who tour often.

As others have said, heat inside an opaque compartment should not be an issue. Heat and humidity can create other problems, however. When you enter or leave an air-conditioned space, water can condense inside the electronics. To be on the safe side, you might give your gear a bit of time to dry out before powering it up. OTOH, clearly no one worries about this with cell phones, and they do ok.

You can also get fungus inside your camera lens if it is kept in heat and humidity for an extended time...

I go on tour in get away from that stuff.....I see alot of neoprene sleeves in my travels around.Seems like a good idea.

Pelican case is sort of heavy but if you MUST be sure......