Hello. I'm traveling on a regional jet within the US for the first time with all my camera gear. When flying on a regular airliner, I put my 2 cameras and 5 lenses (from 17 mm up to 500 mm) in a rolling bag and carry it on. This bag will not fit into the overhead compartment on a regional jet. Unfortunately it is not padded enough to risk checking it at the gate.

How do you travel with your gear on these small regional planes? Should I take everything but the 500mm in a smaller backpack which is likely to fit into the overhead and then door check the 500 in its travel case? Put it all in a Lowepro Pro Trekker and check it at the door? Any thoughts will be helpful.

p.s. I can't leave the 500 behind as this is a birding trip.