Belt bags

After having schlepped a lot of SLR gear in the wilderness for hours on saturday my back and neck are still aching today, on monday.

It's time to admit I am getting old and that shoulder bags are not for me. In fact they never were, I have always hated to hang such a brick around my shoulder and neck.

Lowepro, Kinesis, ThinkTank and Newswear produce 'belt-and-pouch' systems. Carrying a lot of equipment with these bag series make a photographer look like a S.W.A.T. sniper or suicide bomber, but I will jettison some gear (and sell that stuff in the APUG Classifieds, of course) anyhow and would go for a belt and three pouches or so.

Some friends recommend a german army "Bundeswehr Kampftasche" which is a typical army haversack/butt pack/fanny pack thing, cheap, unbreakable and without velcro (I hate that noise) and allows to be carried on a belt or shoulder strap. It's available in two sizes and many colors, it's dirt cheap (ca. 5-10 Euros, e.g. $7-15), but requires some modifications like protective foam, homemade dividers, some waterproofing spray etc.

What do you use to carry camera gear on a belt?

The best belt bags have a harness or set of crossed straps that keep the assembly from dropping to your knees at the wrong moment. Belt bags look like a good idea, unless you have a figure like mine and have some difficulty keeping your pants up. You might also have a look at photo vests, or fly fishing vests, instead of belt bags. Spreads the load around more than just at your hips. When I go out for a nature walk I have the camera around my neck, secured to my chest with an OP/Tech retention strap so it doesn't flop around; the side benefit here is it takes some of the stress off your neck. And then I have a spare lens and assorted filters tucked into pockets here and there. This way I have both hands available for hiking poles.

I've posted this before, but maybe it will help and therefore bears repeating My stuff is all 4x5, but such a kit must be able to be adapted to smaller cameras as well.

I use a combination of fanny pack, fly-fishing vest and over-the-shoulder pouch to carry my gear. The fanny pack is a standard sporting-goods store item as is the fly-fishing vest. By dividing up the weight-bearing points, I have a lot less shoulder fatigue.

I found a pack with a wide hip belt and additional shoulder strap that allows me to unbuckle the belt and sling the pack around forward so I can work out of it as a shoulder bag. The fanny pack holds my wooden field camera and four lenses plus 52mm and 67mm filters. The tripod can be strapped on underneath if needed (I usually just carry it in a hand unless I need to scramble on all fours). If you shoot handheld, you don't even have to carry a tripod.

The fishing vest contains Pentax Spotmeter, viewing frame, lens shades and a large number of other accessories in its various pockets. The meter is tethered to the vest so it cannot hit the ground if dropped. I find the accessibility of stuff in the vest pockets really handy. It's surprising how much weight one can get out of the main bag just by using the vest pockets for accessories, spare filters, etc.

I use a small over-the-shoulder pouch for film holders and another small lens, which I continually switch from side to side to avoid shoulder fatigue. You may not even need such a thing.

Everything lives in its respective place, so getting ready to go means putting on the vest (which I often just leave on), strapping on the fanny pack, slinging the pouch over my shoulder and grabbing the tripod.

When I set up to take a shot, the pouch comes off and hangs on the lock knob for the center column of the tripod for convenient access and a bit of extra stability. The fanny pack turns into a shoulder bag which never has to touch the ground (helpful in wet situations).

On my web site there is a photo of the set-up in action: http://www.doremusscudder.com/?m=9&s=40

Hope this helps,

Doremus Scudder
www.DoremusScudder.com

My setup is something like you see below. I have a LoweAlpine backpack, but had a shoemaker add four strong nylon loop holes to the waste belt, two positioned entirely to the sides, two more to the front.

I use the side loop holes to carry a large lens bag (e.g. 70-200 F2.8 lens), that simply dangles from the loop hole using a climbers carabiner. These carabiners are of the cheap type without the extra safety lock, making them very easy to remove (not good for climbing), thus allowing the lens or other small bags to be removed fast.

The front loop holes are for smaller bags, e.g. for filters.

Since the loop holes are on the wast belt, all the weight is transferred directly there where it is least problematic.

As you can see, I still carry a small camera bag usually, but sometimes, if I don't need it, simply put it in the backpack.

Marco

I've been looking at Cabela's for a chest pack, they have a good variety of combo waist/shoulder bags. They look large enough to carry enough gear to shoot for the day, and have a padded waist belt also a padded shoulder strap(single) to keep it from sliding down over a non-existant tucas. My problem at my age-I spent years working my butt off, and it worked, all I have is a belly(its hell keeping my pants up). They have a few models that look promising. Check out the "Fish Pond Shooting Star Tech Pack" its only $199(such a deal). Any way, some good looking bags for under eighty buckeroos.

I have a Think Tank belt and a few pouches that I occasionally use, (my wife calls it my Batman outfit) this padded pouch particularly useful to put a couple of small lenses in, and a light meter, lens caps, hoods etc. Dead Link Removed

If you're going Mil.Spec. try here-


http://www.armynavydeals.com/asp/pr...268&catid=1372&ItemName=Swiss Fly Fishing Bag

Since 1977 I've used a US Army lightweight field mask bag which I bought for $2. Sort of a poor man's Domke before anyone knew about Domke's.
It has a long strap which allows it to be carried around the neck with the bag at my hip and can quickly be converted to a waist strap. I don't even have to take it off. I slide the strap down over my shoulder and arm and a clip on the strap, adjustable for position, clips onto a ring on the bag. I had a seamstress friend enlarge the inside pockets and convert one into two smaller ones. The top flap snaps with brass pin-type snaps.

The fact that it's a gas mask bag gives it a very high cool factor with the young folks. :rolleyes:
I also hate the Velcro sound and the Velcro yank. If I had Velcro on a bag I'd cover it with tape.