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Favorite set bag / ditty bag?


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I know a beginning AC that's trying to build up her kit... She doesn't want to drop a car payment on the big CineBags tote-- just something organized, durable, and affordable.

 

What are a few "favorite" set bags out there? Something semi-compact that can tuck in close to camera with the spare mag and battery?

I've used Portabrace doctor bags as well as Galls police / paramedic bags, but everyone has their favorites for "X" reasons...

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I got this (pictured) bag when I was AC'ing ten years ago. I've always called it a "Larry Bag" but i'm not sure where that name came from. These days it mostly get's used either as a bag for a portable monitor, or for small grip stuff on run-n-gun style shoots. I remember being hesitant to spend the roughly $250 on a used bag, but I'll tell you, ten years later this bag is in the exact condition it was when I bought it. It has served its purpose well for thousands of days. Well worth the money. I like that it has one large interior compartment and not a bunch of small pockets where you need to remember where everything is. There's a sleeve on the inside too which is nice. The four large pockets on the outside work well for slates, a blackwrap roll, cables, etc.

 

I've had the (older version) Cinebags Cinematographer bag for a few years and it works well for carrying my notebook PC around. A friend has their Production bag for his HVX package and likes it.

 

Cheaper tool bags can be found at your local Home Depot / Lowes, or if you're looking for lots of pockets try fishing/gun bags at a big sporting goods store.

larryBag1.jpg

larryBag2.jpg

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Something like this (or similar) from Home Depot works well on a budget. I only AC'd for a relatively short time, but I found that I always wanted something that opened big enough to be able to drop in the full 6x6" matte box without having to set it down in the dirt. A bag that's too small becomes a liability.

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I got this (pictured) bag when I was AC'ing ten years ago. I've always called it a "Larry Bag" but i'm not sure where that name came from.

 

I was on a workshop the International Film Workshops in Maine with the guy who made these bags (or similar). He was an A.C. at the time and his name was Larry, he advertised them in American Cinematographer magazine.

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I was on a workshop the International Film Workshops in Maine with the guy who made these bags (or similar). He was an A.C. at the time and his name was Larry, he advertised them in American Cinematographer magazine.

 

Larry Huston, a big NY ac, is the namesake for these bags he designed.

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Thanks for the ideas guys, I'll forward this to her.

 

 

To the Vancouver guys here:

 

When I was working up there, I was introduced to a guy that made AC pouches, belts, and other crew gear and sold his product out of a pickup truck at all the rental houses. He also made an insulated slush-proof ditty bag. I bought some pouches and a belt and they're still as solid as when they were new--- best gear I've ever used. He always had Canadian flags stitched into everything-- very cool.

 

Anyone know his name? Website? Company name? I would love to get my hands on more of his stuff.

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  • 3 months later...

(Resurrecting this one after a forum search for bag recommendations)

 

I have a Bucket Boss bag that I use for a runner: http://www.amazon.com/Bucket-Boss-06088-Ga...185&sr=1-26

 

It's perfect for carrying everything that you would normally put in a front box, along with a few pockets here and there for tucking away other little things like a cable or your DP's script & "look book". Oh, and look, I'm the most recent one to review that on Amazon.com, ha ha!

 

I was thinking of getting this one for EVERYTHING ELSE that I bring on a shoot: http://www.amazon.com/Bucket-Boss-Brand-06...157&sr=1-19

 

Just shows you don't always have to break the bank for "professional" or "custom made" gear. A lot of our tools are similar or the same as those used by handymen and construction workers. So usually their gear is equally as good.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I'm a fan of the tool bags from the hardware store. They may not have the specially designed pockets, but they have a ton of pockets and are a fraction of the price. I use this one for my big bag:

CLC Bag

Plus, as an accessories bag, one similar to this one:

Little Bag

I like the way you can zip them up to keep sand and dirt and everything else out. But when it's open, it sits wide open. Especially the little one. That thing has pockets all over and will easily hold filters, matte box, eyebrow, slate, extra BNC, spare on board batteries... and so on and so on. Plus I love that little plastic tray for barrel connectors and all those little things that like to hide in big bags. I look forward to when I can afford to get a CineBags Cinematographer's Bag, but for now I have to keep blowing all of my money on groceries and bills.

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Ah ha! Found it at Home Depot today and got one for myself :)

 

Model #1589

1589.jpg

 

The other side is more spacious with less slots to put tools and things, but more space to place camera accessories and cables.

Edited by Jonathan Bowerbank
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Ah ha! Found it at Home Depot today and got one for myself :)

 

Model #1589

1589.jpg

 

The other side is more spacious with less slots to put tools and things, but more space to place camera accessories and cables.

Oh, now that's cool! What are the dimensions?

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  • 2 months later...

I have an Arri bag that seems to be a knock-off of the Modular51 Large Assistant's bag, and made in Arri London. CSC in New York was selling them for a discounted price (around $175, I believe) and they were going like crazy.

 

I like this bag a lot because it holds almost all the gear I need to bring to a job (frontbox, P-touch, pens, markers, Disto, cables, barrels, T's) and I generally keep the frontbox on the cart during a show which frees up most of the bag to be used as an AKS ditty. It helps too that the bag is the PERFECT width of a Rubbermaid, so it fits perfectly on one side with the hi-hat and camera on the other. As well, I like to store the hard masks in the side pockets. All in all it's a good investment and a great bag.

 

I have a Harrison Ditty Bag with handle loops that I store off the handles of the Rubbermaid or Magliner which I throw most of the other loose things in (such as tape rolls, sand-bag T's, etc). And finally I use a storage tub with a locking lid for my "Loading Kit" that has my changing tent and spare cores and cans and reports. I didn't want that being in a soft bag.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I use a portabrace PC-3 Production case.

Its a great bag, has a tubular steel frame inside so it keeps its shape and cant get destroyed by baggage handlers.

The only thing wrong with it is its pretty big. Ill need to downgrade to something a little smaller soon

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I have both bags from Cine-bags. The Production bag and the DP bag. They both suck big time. They are hysterically heavy with nothing in them. The plastic latches are extremely tough to use and the shoulder straps are falling apart probably due to the extreme weight when I add my light meter and a copy of the script. Worst part is that company doesn't ever answer their phones or give call backs. Avoid Cine-bags.

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I was thinking of getting this one for EVERYTHING ELSE that I bring on a shoot: http://www.amazon.com/Bucket-Boss-Brand-06...157&sr=1-19

 

Just shows you don't always have to break the bank for "professional" or "custom made" gear. A lot of our tools are similar or the same as those used by handymen and construction workers. So usually their gear is equally as good.

 

forrest Whitaker has this exact bag in The Panic Room, I bought one its a great little bag, not very tall, but works great for my needs, made of rip stop fabric, It has a divider down the middle, I was thinking about sewing some Velcro onto this so that I could make use of the modular51 pouches.

 

Jason

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  • 1 month later...

I've just spent the last month using a Stanley Fatmax bag on a shoot where the bag had everything imagineable thrown at it yet it still looks new. Even in absolutely torrential rain it never leaked.

 

The top is semi-rigid, the base is solid plastic. It has enough pockets for mattes, a standard and small slate, all the usual bits and pieces you carry (French flag, camera tape, Kenair, BNC cables etc.). On this particular shoot, as well as all the normal kit I always have to hand it also happily carried 22 V-Lok batteries, too.

 

Highly recommended.

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