Let us talk bags - BAGS!

O

OldCorpse

Rockin the Boat
Scott wisely observed, in another thread I started:

"You will need a bag. Not sure who said you wouldn't but... You will need one."

Well, then, what about a bag? What bag do you use? What bag do you advise I should get?

I read this long, long, long thread over at jwsound:

Show me your bag

Unfortunately, the conversation over there is in the stratosphere, and way above my head and my budget. Everyone over there has dozens of Lectros and Zaxcoms, sport mics like Schoeps and booms like Ambient and some of those bags and carts are worth more than my car. Sorry, but I can't afford to hang a Mercedes from my belt. I don't even have a single wireless mic, and for now I'm not planning on one. Now, as to bags I've seen various names tossed about, like petrol, portabrace, kortwich, but I have no idea what is practical. Basically, I intend to use the Tascam DR-60D, for which there is a dedicated bag made:

Strut STR-DR60D Field Case

I've linked to it before, but while it'll hold the Tascam, there isn't any easy way to hang additional cables, headphones and various knick-knacks that sound folk use, so I'm not sure that's going to do the job... or is it? The other thing is that I would hate to have to hang stuff around my neck - I'd prefer something more ergonomic around the waist.

So, I'm looking for a starter bag, minimalistic, with the Tascam DR-60D in mind. What do you recommend, and what do you favor personally or use? Thanks!
 
Well, you basically purchased a recorder that isn't very bag friendly due to its shape. And most of the inexpensive recorders fall into the same non-bag friendly shape. If you step up to the DR680 or the HD-P2, it gets a lot better. Even the 680 has a bunch of buttons on the top, but at least the ones that are on top usually wouldn't be switched much once they are set.

On to bags, which mostly won't work too well with a DR-60. I have a pretty strong preference towards Petrol for the bag itself. Petrol audio bags just have a little more mojo than portabrace IMHO. K-Tek has a new line out, but I haven't seen one yet. Petrol has a bunch of models large to small, so you just have to look and see what might work best. There is a whole industry (a small one) that specializes in audio bag harnesses. Check out the Versa line, they are top shelf.

Grant
 
Bags...

Well back when I was using the beast mic preamp "Black Audio" 9 9V batteries, going into the Dennon version of the Sony Walkman DAT, I built a wood sled that everything slit onto and that went into an over the shoulder hiking bag I got at REI.

As budgets and equipment went up I sprung for a Portabrace bag that I got at B&H designed for some other setup, but it was on clearance so in my budget.
Moving to the PLD671 I managed a "deal" with the store and got the portabrace bag for it at a "package" discount. At the time it wasn't designed to be added to like most PB bags are and I did some modifications my self. But I talked to them and I believe that bag now comes with the ability to add on. I have the added bag to hold the trusty MixPre. and also has a pouch to hold the various other extras you will want with you. There is enough extra that I could stick a pair of receivers in if I need to.

that is the one I cary while recording.

For hauling to the site I bought a PortaBrace carry on case (SZW-3). It has stiff sides and such and can be wrapped up tight enough to pas as carry on luggage.
Depending on where and how long I will often put the fragile things in it with cloths and pack things like cables in the checked bag. Less chance of loss and even if they lose your luggage you have something to wear. Packed up it's about the most you would want to carry on your shoulder. But great to bring to the location full of all the might needs. So recorder in case usually live in the bigger case when traveling to a place and the big bag is home base in the car or wherever I set up as home base.

For shorter trips or as an extra I bartered for a smaller TEK series bag from Tamrack from a photographer friend. It has tons of pockets and places to stash stuff and is about 2/3 the size of the PB bag so easier to cary around. I use it the same as the PB but when I don't need to cary as much stuff.

Then there is a bag I got many years ago in Yugoslavia (when that still existed as a country) to fit my then portable kit of a Marantz cassette deck. I use it to toss the DR-40 and accessories in. It's not really a good "working bag" for a handheld, but then I'm not sure what would be. But it's small and protects stuff with out looking like an equipment bag.

I don't travel with a lot of gear all that often. I really jonesed for a nice tough Pelican case but I had this big old hard plastic suitcase so that is what I have used. It's tough and well I had it.

I also have a little over the shoulder small padded bag designed for folks to put a small camera in for hikes (back when small cameras were the size of a DSLR with out a lense). It's a good fit for a handheld but you can't really use it because the controls are in the wrong place. It worked for the Dennon DAT because the controls/display were on the end. But it is still OK for a to the location protection kind of thing.

Good bags cost $$ but they last forever, so it's a bit like a preamp. Get something cheap that is OK and save up for something really good because you won't regret it. Or bite the bullet and skip the cheap phase all together.

BTW another option we looked into and then for some reason it didn't happen? There are folks who build bags for stuff, Usually custom hiking bags or ? We found this guy and showed him what we wanted, it was for a Nagra V and was to hold the mics and a bunch of other stuff. Actually maybe we did have it made? Was a friends gear so? Anyway it was a bit lower than what the PB would have been but the big deal was it fit what we needed it to fit and the PB version was going to need a bunch of modifications to do what he wanted. PB BTW will do custom alterations, but they were a lot more money than the local guy.

If I were in your shoes I would probably build a box that the recorder would sit on top of (held on in some way...velcro?) so that it would end up a bit more like a larger format recorder and you could get to the controls. That would then fit any number of PB bags designed for things like old DAT recorders. You might well find a used PB bag designed for a DAT pretty cheap on eBay. I have seen PB bags with a LOT of years on them, as in 30+, that are still fine. So used is not a bad option.
 
Another Petrol PS602 user. I would also recommend getting a harness. It really saves your back.
 
There are lot of bag choices lately. PortaBrace has re-deigned many of their audio bags and can now be ordered customized. The new Orca and K-Tec bags are worth looking into for sure.
Due to most hand-held type recorder's design, conventional bags may not be the best choice... but there aren't many alternatives.
I would recommend a harness as well if carrying any kind of weight.
 
'Back in the day', Porta Brace was the only real choice. Now, there are lots of choices and I'll give Petrol another recommendation. All three of my mixer set-ups are in Petrol bags. My only real complaint about Petrols audio bags is that they are heavy even when completely empty.

But because of the competition out there now, PB has started to step their game back up and they will do customization. When they were still basically the only game in town(still into the early 00's), they wouldn't do custom. I wanted some mods made to a shoulder case for one of my Betacams around '03 and they refused. Three years ago they customized the covers for my 2700's exactly the way I wanted. Competition is a good thing for the consumer.
 
I was talking to them in '05 about the PMD671 bag so they had already opened up to the idea of custom alterations.

I'm not a big bran booster in general. PB make a great product but the price is pretty high. I have heard Petrol bags are in the same league, I just haven't used any. The Tamrack bag is one I had never heard of and was made for still photographers, but also great construction.

For the bigger haul around bags it probably doesn't make a lot of difference as long as they were built for professional use. For the more specific over the shoulder "working" bags you really want something designed for what you are doing, so that would narrow you down to the bags built for sound. You need some rigidity in the bag or things will flop over and get awkward which is why most generic bags are a problem and of course you need to be able to get to things so lots of flaps and openings that you can seal around cords etc is kind of essential.

that said the wood frame I built to fit in the small backpack was modeled after a fellow FX recordists rig and it is still usable. And it's not even all that awkward to change batteries and such. A much better choice for FX recording than for production though.

The up side to your search is that you will probably not get any bag that you don't use for something. I really don't have any that are being wasted, they always get repurposed to something else.
 
The phrase "you pay for what you get" holds especially true in the audio bag world. The only people that make a dedicated DR-60D bag is Portabrace. You might be able to get stuff to strap on to it to hold gack and stuff, but honestly, that recorder is designed to be integrated into DSLR rigs and doesn't do well in a bag. It's so small you don't need a harness. A shoulder strap will be just fine. A harness is WAY overkill for what you are talking about and would just be silly. If you were running a 664 with 6 to 12 wireless receivers...that's another story.

You probably won't see many bag manufacturers make a bag specifically for the DR-60D because very few people use it over the shoulder and it isn't worth making a big run of bags to sell just a handful. If you are looking to actually build up a bag rig, then I'd look at a more bag friendly recorder. Maybe something like a Zaxcom Maxx or Sound Devices 633.
 
Well, one of the manufacturers who do make a bag specifically dedicated to the DR-60D are the folks in my link in the first post:

Strut STR-DR60D Field Case

Now, I'm not sure that the DR-60D qualifies as "handheld" exactly, though it can be held in the hand, and true, was designed mostly to go underneath the DSLR on a tripod or the like, but that doesn't mean it simply cannot go into a bag. There are scenarios where a bag might be appropriate. What if you are booming and using a dual system to record sound, you are away from the camera and using the DR-60D as a mixer-recorder, what, are you supposed to boom and hold the DR-60D in the other hand... that's just silly. Note, that the manufacturer in the link includes a harness when selling the bag (it comes with a harness). It may seem ridiculous overkill to use a harness, but two points. First, yes, as suggested you could hang it around your neck or on your shoulder, but when you are booming, and moving and leaning, you don't necessarily want your bag to swing and flop around your neck while you are leaning or sliding off your shoulder, and two, note that the bag in the link has an extra pocket and you may even add more rings if you want to hang cables with rip-tie carabiners, or headphones and the like - now it's getting a bit much for just hanging around your neck, and a harness might be just the ticket. Again, I'm not saying you can't do without a harness, but if a harness makes life easier, I figure "why not"... as to looking stupid and ridiculous, I never worry about stuff like that - the results you get always trump appearance (I hope!). But again, I take everything you guys say very seriously, since you are pros and I'm an idiot, so I really try to see the logic of everything that you guys suggest and take it under strong consideration... now, if I do buy (as I'm leaning) that bag in the link, it'll come with the harness, and if it's overkill, I don't have to use it, but it's nice to have as an option just in case.
 
My DR-60D is heavily integrated into my DSLR rig, so I don't even remove it from there, as that would be a pain. When I go over the shoulder I use my Maxx or 633, but that's just me. Depending on where you like the bag to sit (I like it high and tight, right at the bottom of my sternum) you may look at a waist belt, which you already mentioned. Even with one or two Sennheiser G3 receivers and the DR-60D it will be very light weight, and a waist belt would be great, but then the bag is more down around your waist, like where a regular belt for your pants would be, and since that rig would be really small, and since I am a tad rotund, I would experience what I like to call "spillage" of my belly over the bag, which covers up half the recorder. That's a no-go for me but some people swear by using a waist belt only. If you like it high and tight either a neck strap or a harness would be in order. If that bag you linked to comes with a harness, and the whole thing is $110, that's a bargain, even for cheaply made stuff (which I don't know if that is having never actually used it).

If you really want to bag your DR-60D and rock out that way, there is no good reason why you can't. There's the "most people don't do that" argument, but whatever. It's a pretty capable machine based on my extensive experience with it, but I only do one or two tracks with it, which is all I need for doing product videos, and I have it integrated into my DSLR rig with my Norbert DSLR frame. I'd be interested to see pictures of your setup once you get it dialed in. I'd also be curious if there are a lot more people bagging their DR-60D out there that I just don't know about.
 
How you work with a bag is really personal. Some people love to have them strapped to their chest like one of those baby carriers, I find that hard on the back (with a 60D that would not be a problem). I like it over the shoulder, but if you look at most folks doing that you will see that they go over the head and have it on the opposite shoulder, so "slipping off" is not an issue. Generally a harness is used to spread the weight which is why using one with the 60D seems silly. But you do have a point and in fact it's going to be more of an issue with the 60D because it weighs so little that it will have a tendency to swing around. When your bag is closer to 15lbs there isn't a lot of swinging going on.

If the case is designed well it could make using the 60D a lot more practical.

If you are using it to boom you could probably just zip tie it to the boom pole. Easier to see and handy to adjust. That would also look weird but might work really well.

Sound people, well FX recordists anyway, usually look weird so that is no crime.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top