How do you transport gear/keep it safe?

Supertramp

Supertramp

Member
I'm just wondering - what sort of vehicles do one or two man operations drive when they have cameras, lights, tripods, mics etc to bring with them? How do you deal with the risk of theft? I'm guessing advertising video services on your car is a big no-no right?
 
We use trucks like the one pictured. We also have smaller trucks. We do have a logo on the door but it does not say what we do.
 

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Very nice - that's a bit too large for what I have in mind though! I like the idea of keeping the logo, but not the text. I guess I'm thinking more along the lines of something like this:
VW_Caddy_Sportline.jpg
 
I rent a cargo van or a U-Haul truck or a minivan with seats that fold into the floor. Avoid any kind of advertising. If you have to park a truck with gear in it overnight, try and back it up close to a wall so the rear doors can't be fiddled with and definitely never leave camera gear in a truck overnight. Thieves tend to only want stuff that looks valuable, so they always go for cameras and generally leave everything else. Try to park in the open, preferably under lighting when it's not working.

5 door cars and SUV's work well for smaller amounts of gear but always go for tinted windows (if that's even an option anymore). I have a RAV4 that's been working really well which has a roof rack for dolly track or whatever. Try not to get too short of a vehicle as it'll give you fits trying to fit stuff into it.

Enclosed trailers are handy and cheap and can be outfitted with shelving and alarm systems.
 
I've got a 2000 Eurovan MV with tinted windows for my gear. Turns into a bed, all the seats come out to make it totally flat inside and only 16" of the ground. Easy to shoot out the side door with a full sized tripod and the back door shields any rain while setting stuff up ... or getting your wetsuit off in the winter.
oh and I've shot on the roof many times. Once with a 12' ladder to to some panoramic for a client.

If you leave the bed in the storage under the bed is 6' long and 4 1/2 feet wide, very well hidden.

bed_420x278.jpg

handling_420x274.jpg
 
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all good advice but the best practice is to not leave your camera gear unattended, as in, either have a PA/driver stay with the vehicle, park it in a secure (guarded) garage, or unload the gear to a secure location. a few years back, a friend of mine left his minivan (honda) full of prototype camera equipment parked by yankee stadium. we were shooting 30 meters away from the van, but it was still stolen and emptied before the cops caught up with them 45 minutes later. we were lunky that we were using the camera system at the time, or it might of been in the van and lost as well.

another story involved some sport shooters who parked outside a bar for around 2 hours, came back to find their van broken into and all the gear missing. they lost a few HVX's , dslrs, lenses, ect.

A buddy of mine out on a euro trip parked on a mountain for a hike, got back and his camera pack was stolen (no sign of forced entry) and he lost about $10,000 of gear right there.

I've kept all my gear in check following this rule, as well as never leave all your eggs in one basket.
 
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