You can get lead lined bags that don't weigh much. We used them in the good ol' film days.

Liam, do have any link for such a case? I might try and explore this a bit.

Greg, I've never had a problem with shot tape going through the x-ray, or being at 30,000 feet for that matter.

I wonder if the lead lined case would create problems with TSA...

yes, this is correct. When you are at that altitude, you (and your camera) are much more prone to particles from space. It has nothing do to with the x-ray machine.

Burk,

Can't remember the bags we used years ago, but I do know that Domke, Hama and Lowepro all make lead lined camera bags for stills. I'm sure other manufacturer's do as well.

I have never heard of this before

anyone know if tape is effected also?

My Mini DV tapes have survived numerous trips, the warnings are usually for undeveloped Film.

The cosmic rays are well documented for pixel loss, but I haven't heard of practical ways to block it. Lead sheeting (how heavy is needed) lining the whole case sounds both expensive and heavy for the degree of the problem. Maybe a localized removable sheeting for travel, like a small dental cape would minimize it?

Tapes (and cameras) are not affected by x-rays or cosmic rays - however, I would be very wary of metal detectors on recorded tapes, especially the hand models they use to scan your body - I've seen some inspectors also use them on bags and incidental items to scan after x-rays. These have enough of magnetic field to be a problem. Walk through scanners are probably not an issue, but I'd still be paranoid in some places where they have older equipment and probably pump it to the max.