When is someone gonna put out a carbon lightweight stand for travel?

BrianMurphy

BrianMurphy

Veteran
Traveling more these days and with new airline restrictions on weight and baggage I find myself looking for lighter gear all the time. Unlike some here I am a one man band most of the time and this is a priority for me. If anyone knows of such stands please let me know. I have the collection of Nano stands and my heaviest yet most compact the Lowel Uni Sr are still not ideal as my lights now roll up and weigh less than the power supply.
Thanks
B
 
BrianMurphy said:
Traveling more these days and with new airline restrictions on weight and baggage I find myself looking for lighter gear all the time. Unlike some here I am a one man band most of the time and this is a priority for me. If anyone knows of such stands please let me know. I have the collection of Nano stands and my heaviest yet most compact the Lowel Uni Sr are still not ideal as my lights now roll up and weigh less than the power supply.
Thanks
B
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Doubtful this will ever happen as I was asking the same exact question a decade ago and so far, no strong, super lightweight travel stands have surfaced. I use the Matthews reverse fold stands for travel, they are okay but not what we really need in a travel stand. I would suggest thinking outside your norms and bring some smaller lightweight Cardellinis, Mafers or other smaller type light mounting gear instead of as many stands as you normally travel with. There are a TON of small and lightweight, non stand light mounting solutions, especially for light weight lights. Scissor clips are very useful, and many modern Bi-Color LED panels like my Kamerara Brightcasts can actually be Velcroed to surfaces. I've used chairs as light stands with just Mafers and it works, not ideal but it can be made to work.

I'm like you, obsessed by the weight of travel gear and there are also lots of other places you can save weight and bulk. Not sure if you have read this http://www.geardads.com/video-production-equipment-documentary-filmmaking/ but you should, it will give you lots of great ideas about how to reduce travel weight and bulk.
 
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And I suppose the alternate delivery would be to FedEx/UPS some gear to your destination ahead of time. I would hesitate to do it with electronics but the stands should survive the trip.
 
DLD said:
And I suppose the alternate delivery would be to FedEx/UPS some gear to your destination ahead of time. I would hesitate to do it with electronics but the stands should survive the trip.
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Or renting at the location. I recently read an article on a similar topic and it suggested seeing what the prices were for support gear rental at the destination. Could potentially save you $$$. Just something to look into and consider.
 
Sly9 said:
Or renting at the location. I recently read an article on a similar topic and it suggested seeing what the prices were for support gear rental at the destination. Could potentially save you $$$. Just something to look into and consider.
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I agree that's the obvious solution, unfortunately most travel jobs are fly-in-fly out affairs, so getting the extra time scheduled in to collect grip is usually a struggle.
 
Grug said:
I agree that's the obvious solution, unfortunately most travel jobs are fly-in-fly out affairs, so getting the extra time scheduled in to collect grip is usually a struggle.
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There's almost always a trade off somewhere mate. One has to decide what it is they are trading off. Spend a little bit of time coordinating and collecting a few pieces of grip equipment? Paying $400 for two extra bags at the airline desk? Etc etc.
 
DLD said:
And I suppose the alternate delivery would be to FedEx/UPS some gear to your destination ahead of time. I would hesitate to do it with electronics but the stands should survive the trip.
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+1

If you have extra gear, I recommend FedEx or UPS ground. Dirt cheap, especially compared to airline baggage charges and you don't have to screw with it at the airport. That's worth it by itself. Just ship it ahead to your hotel or location a few days ahead(check the transit times to the location. From my location I could get it most places on the east coast and as far west as at least Chicago within two days). I used to do this all the time with my cam support gear.
 
Run&Gun said:
+1

If you have extra gear, I recommend FedEx or UPS ground. Dirt cheap, especially compared to airline baggage charges and you don't have to screw with it at the airport. That's worth it by itself. Just ship it ahead to your hotel or location a few days ahead(check the transit times to the location. From my location I could get it most places on the east coast and as far west as at least Chicago within two days). I used to do this all the time with my cam support gear.
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Have you shipped anything with FedEx or UPS lately? I am amazed at how much they have raised their prices over the past few years. I find the opposite, shipping even a medium sized case, Ground, with it taking a week to get there is still amazingly expensive. Although still possibly cheaper than airline add-ons, which are also outrageously expensive.
 
puredrifting said:
Have you shipped anything with FedEx or UPS lately? I am amazed at how much they have raised their prices over the past few years. I find the opposite, shipping even a medium sized case, Ground, with it taking a week to get there is still amazingly expensive. Although still possibly cheaper than airline add-ons, which are also outrageously expensive.
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Honestly, no. I haven't had to in several years. I pretty much drive everywhere now(I consider ~7 hrs a drivable shoot). I did fly back in July, but it was a shoot without my gear, so I didn't have to worry about anything, it was all on-site.

I believe it was in the $20-$50 range, depending on distance, back when I was shipping a 1650 full of camera support gear. The tripod was a little less.

One of the gotchas with the airlines, besides just expensive to begin with, they can hit you for excess baggage fees and overweight baggage fees on the same single piece(I get one being preferred). Another reason to fly first class, you generally get at least two, if not three bags and a higher weight allowance per piece. A lot of times the baggage savings will be more than the difference in coach and first class fares.
 
Unfortunately all my shoots are fly-in, scout, & film the next morning, but luckily I usually have a Producer who arranges G&E, & crew, at the destination. Often I’ll bring some G&E, but very rarely rely on it solely, & hire local backup in case it doesn’t arrive. Some Productions initially balk at the expense, but after discussing the options, including flying me in a day ahead, & paying expenses, usually comply.

There used to be a good article online by a Sports Photographer about using Southwest Airlines’ Air Cargo for transporting G&E around the USA even when he was traveling on a different carrier. The Photographer would drop off gear at the Air Cargo loading dock when first arriving at the airport, then head off to his terminal. He could watch the bags progress on SouthWest’s website, & supposedly the bags were always onboard a flight before he was. At the destination he’d rent a vehicle, & by the time he got to Air Cargo his bags were ready to be picked up. He stated the process was quicker, cheaper, & much less hassle, than simply sending the gear as luggage, but it did require setting up an account ahead of time.

I wouldn’t trust all airlines’ cargo services, & had a issue a long time ago with another carrier’s, but I would with Southwest’s.
 
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I ended up using UPS to ship a Pelican 1560 to my house from a shoot earlier this year. I was keeping some of the gear purchased for a shoot in Dallas and my carry on bags were already stuffed on the flight over. I don't remember what amount I insured it for but it cost around $50.
 
Thanks for your input. I have been doing exactly that with mafers, modified pony clamps with quarter/20 heads. drop ceiling clamp,magic arms etc. And reverse stands. These are often attached to chairs and the janitors step ladders etc. Not very elegant and in some cases a bit odd when the "client" is a corporate shirt who kinda wonders why you are using his guys ladder.

As for shipping gear, that might work for you guys in the USA, but not for me being based in Canada. Shipping in my country and shipping to the USA and elsewhere is very expensive, and not very reliable except for FedEx which is killer costly. I just got back from Atlanta and looked into shipping an oversize collapsible chromakey background and it was $60 for it alone.
Renting is also not an option in most cases due to time and cost. Its not just another couple of hours usually to pickup and return gear, it ends up being another day of hotel, car rental etc.
And of course if you are going anywhere other than a major city rental probably does not exist.

Will definitly check out the links thanks again!
 
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