sandbags

B

Bruce Watson

Veteran
Yet another dumb newbie question: what's the best thing to put in a sandbag? Yes, it did occur to me that sand might be the ticket. But yellow sand from the sandbox? Builder's sand for making mortar? Sand from the beach? Fine sand, coarse sand? How clean is clean?

How about pebbles (Lowes has 'em in 25 / 50 lbs bags) -- any advantage? I can think of one perhaps, that if the sandbag leaks you don't get sand everywhere. But do sandbags leak? And I see there are special bags for shot -- why can't I put metal shot (stainless steel?) in a sandbag? Not strong enough? Make the bag too heavy? Can a sandbag be too heavy?

As you can guess, I've never played with a sandbag before, but I'm about to need to use some. So please give a sandbag newbie a clue.
 
I've got a few sandbags with pretty large pockets and one time in a pinch I put a 2 liter of soda in each pocket. Not really as much weight as I wanted, but was quite a bit better than nothing and we had something much more refreshing to drink than sand after the shoot.
 
Any sand should do. I would want it to be 100% dry before sealing them up in a bag though. I don't think I would want to use pebbles since they would seem more likely to break the bag when they get thrown or dropped (which we do all the time).

Shot bags are nice since they're much smaller and more dense (which is why you can't load up a bag meant for sand with shot, a 25lb sandbag would probably wind up weighing upwards of 75lbs filled with shot instead). You just have to watch out for rain with those. The little bits of steel can rust together.
 
I created my own style. The big single fold rectangles are great for C-stands and big stands but a lot of my location shooting is with lighter lights and stands. So I had my l
ocal seamstress make up some double walled sausages about 6"diaX20" long. lots of slack in the middle so I wrap these around the bases of my lightweight stands. I'll do a pic some day :(
Sand cheap construction grade or highway sand is best. You know. the type they fill those construction signage ballasts with ;)
Don't use play sand, It's too fine (goes through pourous fabrics) and clumps together too much
 
Zephyrnoid said:
I created my own style. The big single fold rectangles are great for C-stands and big stands but a lot of my location shooting is with lighter lights and stands. So I had my l
ocal seamstress make up some double walled sausages about 6"diaX20" long. lots of slack in the middle so I wrap these around the bases of my lightweight stands. I'll do a pic some day :(
Sand cheap construction grade or highway sand is best. You know. the type they fill those construction signage ballasts with ;)
Don't use play sand, It's too fine (goes through pourous fabrics) and clumps together too much
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Bruce Watson said:
Yet another dumb newbie question: what's the best thing to put in a sandbag? Yes, it did occur to me that sand might be the ticket.
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Most of my bags are filled with sand from Home Depot (same stuff as Lowes) from the concrete aisle. I put my sand in a zipper style, I think quart bags then into the sand bang. Over time I guess the plastic on the zip bags have busted, I do see a little sand sometimes.

Bruce Watson said:
How about pebbles (Lowes has 'em in 25 / 50 lbs bags) -- any advantage?
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The last 2 bags I bought I filled with (probably this) Pea Pebbles. I washed and let dry then weighed out for each side. I got 10 lbs in one bad and 15 in the other.

Bruce Watson said:
why can't I put metal shot (stainless steel?) in a sandbag?
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I am actually looking at some businesses in the area to see about getting some steel shot. I think it will work fine, just don't oveload the bags. Obviously you don't want to ship it, get it local. I have one bag I filled with BB's from walmart. Like the bag but was expensive to fill:laugh:
 
When I use sand, I pour it in a plastic grocery bag, tape it shut, and stick that in a 2nd bag & tape again. it keeps dust from working its way out of the bags, and is nice when you work in damp or rain - keeps the sand dry.
 
I would really just try and buy sandbags prefilled. Much more durable than those with a resealable opening...I'm sure you can find someone in the area who sells them to avoid shipping costs.

Maybe you've got a reason why you're looking for resealable ones though, just a thought.
 
It depends on what you're shooting. If it's a western, you should use sand from a desert arroyo, preferably in a box canyon in Utah. If a mafia film you need construction sand such as might be used in cement shoes. For shark or surfing films use sand from an ocean beach. And note that it's bad luck to use the wrong kind of sand.
 
Paul Hudson said:
Play sand from Home Depot or river bed sand from any dry river in Arizona. Haha.
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Yeah, I filled my sandbags with Quikrete brand play sand from Home Depot. I first filled them with regular fill sand used for landscaping but found that the moisture content of the fill sand was too high and the sandbags froze solid during winter. The play sand is dried and I have never had a problem with the sandbags filled with it freezing.

I put the sand in two double zip lock one gallon sized plastic storage bags. The weight of the sandbags with two gallons of that sand is between 15 and 20 pounds, depending on how much you fill the plastic bags with sand.
 
Paul Hudson said:
Play sand from Home Depot or river bed sand from any dry river in Arizona. Haha.
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Yeah, I filled my sandbags with Quikrete brand play sand from Home Depot. I first filled them with regular fill sand used for landscaping but found that the moisture content of the fill sand was too high. The sandbags froze solid during winter. The play sand is dried and I have never had a problem with the sandbags filled with it freezing.

I put the sand in two double zip lock one gallon sized plastic storage bags. The weight of the sandbags with two gallons of that sand is between 15 and 20 pounds, depending on how much you fill the plastic bags with sand.
 
RyanT said:
I would really just try and buy sandbags prefilled. Much more durable than those with a resealable opening...I'm sure you can find someone in the area who sells them to avoid shipping costs.

Maybe you've got a reason why you're looking for resealable ones though, just a thought.
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Our company went this route after years of having the resealable bags leak. They had been double bagged, taped, sealed with love and tenderness but after a few years of abuse they all begin to leak. We dumped the sand, washed them, and sent the custom printed bags off to a company to be refilled and sealed. After 6 years of the same abuse not one has leaked or broken. I will never buy a empty bag again, it's just not worth the hassle in the long run for the little bit of money saved in shipping.

Shipping a pallet of sandbags isn't any worse than shipping a pallet of anything else that I get.
 
bclighting said:
Our company went this route after years of having the resealable bags leak. They had been double bagged, taped, sealed with love and tenderness but after a few years of abuse they all begin to leak. We dumped the sand, washed them, and sent the custom printed bags off to a company to be refilled and sealed. After 6 years of the same abuse not one has leaked or broken. I will never buy a empty bag again, it's just not worth the hassle in the long run for the little bit of money saved in shipping.

Shipping a pallet of sandbags isn't any worse than shipping a pallet of anything else that I get.
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It is pretty much a matter of degrees, ya know Ben. I do not have a pallet full of sandbags and don't anticipate getting one anytime soon. I have a LGE kit that fits (Barely) in a minivan. The twenty or so self filled sandbags I have was pretty much the way to go for me. While a film set, especially at the low budgets that I work at, is hard on gear but I am pretty anal about my stuff and leaking sandbags would be easily dealt with along the way.
 
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Y'know, filled or unfilled ain't the issue - I have a few older bags that have a clip-together strap with big hefty plastic buckles. Those are the sh*t. So easy to snap 'em around a stand.

I interviewed a former Dallas Cowboy a while back, had to hike a bunch of gear back into a park by a pond. He was a cool guy, and after the shoot, I looked up - he had three sand bags in each hand, chatted with the producer all the way back to the truck like it was nothing. His biceps were about the size of a Matthews sandbag, now that I think about it.
 
I've tried a few things for fill, steel rusts, lead (bullets) is an environmental hazard, and sand always seems to leech out and make a mess. Bagging sand seems unreliable to me. I've been using washed pea gravel (3/8" dia) for several years with good results; it is cheap and very clean much like rock marbles. Beg a bucket full from your local rock quarry, they'll probably just give you some or charge you a couple of bucks.

Grant
 
Yeah, I know having pre filled sandbags isn't for everyone. Heck, our company bags live in road cases so I tend to forget about that many people haul everything in vans.

I do know that if I buy any for personal use I won't buy unfilled. I also won't buy 30# bags either, I'd rather have a few smaller ones, like 15# and I can double them up when needed. Now if I can only find someone that will silkscreen them before filling them and I would be golden.

BTW, I'm anal about our gear too. Even my attempts at keeping the filled bags together didn't work when others got their hands on them. Part of the issue with also being a rental house.
 
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