Advice for equipment transport

[Ursus1]

Hey everyone. I'm heading for the middle east for three weeks to shoot a behind the scenes documentary of a band touring there for three weeks. I've got the transport cases for all of camera, support, lighting and grip stuff figured out - I think. But I'm wondering what to do about transporting 75 or so mini-dv tapes.

The courier is delivering the bands equipment to Kuwait by Nov 2. The stuff could be sitting at a military base there for a few days before we arrive. I'm worried mostly that the tapes may be exposed to 100 degree plus heat if they sit on a tarmac or in a warehouse somewhere for that time. Not sure how the batteries will fare either though I'm not really worried about the cameras.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Johnnyfive]

Indeed NoNoob!
Remember you have to bring back the tapes with you. I wouldn't want anyone but me bringing them back! I've traveled with up to 50 tapes. What I do is carry the important ones with footage with me at all times and any leftovers I check so I don't have to carry extra weight... If those get lost it don't matter.

[Ursus1]

Thanks for the advice. Really seems spot on! My brain is turning to mush right now getting everything worked out including (or especially) workflow and security. This will also be the first time on a project this big where I won't have a pro-assistant watching my back. So anything else you can think of would, again, be greatly appreciated.

[MasterP]

If you have the time - back the footage up onto an external HDD (~1TB would just about cover 75 tapes) and have someone else look after it - that way, if anything does go wrong, you'll be covered

[Ursus1]

Yet another good idea. Thanks. Keep 'em coming.