Hello all, I'm new to this forum although I've used it as a resource for travel questions in the past. I travel fairly regularly, certainly not as much as some of you, but more than the average person (~30,000 to 40,000 miles a year). Apologies if this question has been asked before, but a quick search didn't pull up any clear answers.

I'm packing my bags (three of them) for a flight in 36 hours. The best way to distribute weight among my bags requires me to strap a camera tripod to the outside of a bag. The bag is a camera bag, but I am using it to carry lots and lots of books. It has tripod straps and I am using a couple other straps of my own to make sure it stays on.

Is this a good idea? I'm concerned about a few things - that it's a thief magnet, for one. The straps are there so the tripod won't fall off, but it would be a simple job to cut the straps and make away with the tripod. Another concern is being asked to repack at check-in, which I'd rather not do - I'm probably going to be pushing all my bags to the limit in terms of weight and volume, and frankly, if that happens, there's stuff I'm going to simply have to toss out (books, mainly). Or that because of the odd shape, the bag might be considered odd or oversized baggage, and I'll have to shell out another $50 for it. My conservative measurement of the bag with the tripod strapped to it is 54 x 38 x 60 cm. The other bag which I've already packed is 46 x 28 x 62 cm, so technically with these two bags I've exceeded Emirates' limit of 273 cm total dimensions for two bags.

I'm flying EK, JFK-DXB-SIN, if that makes a difference.

It might be a moot question if I have room for the tripod in my final piece of luggage, but I figured I'd ask anyway and give some time for the responses to come in.