Keeping equipment at location

tkamiya · May 10, 2010

I'm not quite sure if this is the right place to post this one, but here goes.... My question concerns having equipment while you are out in location and NOT with you.

I live in Central Florida and summer is coming. That means day time temperature will reach 95F and possibly higher. In vehicles parked outside, it can reach 130F and higher even in shade.

I try to minimize equipment I carry and keep them with me in shoulder bag but this isn't always possible. I have a large cooler in my trunk (a type that often used for beer, etc, at tail gates, picnic, etc) and keep my equipment there for short duration. There is no ice in it so condensation is not a problem. I have not done this in middle of the day or for very long time.

What do you do, if you must carry lots of equipment to field and you can't carry all of them with you? By equipment, I mean cameras, lens, accessories, films, etc.

jcorll · May 10, 2010

Well, living in northern Pennsylvania, i certainly don't have the warm weather problems like you do! The only time it gets 130F is when I fire up my grill!
Anywho, When I have my equipment in my car and it is hot out, I usually just keep them in my camera bag. My bag has this pocket on the bottom and I keep some of those freez-paks in it. Keeps the cameras at about 65 degrees F.

You could try that although i would think that you would need a bunch of those...

Good luck!

Mike Wilde · May 10, 2010

I'm not in the same place or climate. I do try to keep gear when in the vehicle out of the sun in the summer, and to limit the amount of gear I have with me on speculative trips where there might be photo taking temptations.

I don't ever have it hot or muggy enough to worry about fungus growth. I do when vacationing keep my film stash in a soft sided cooler, but without ice. I usually bury it under a pack of sleeping bags, etc, but not right on the floor of the trunk. That way I figure it misses the worst of the days hot , and gets a chance to cool off at night with most of the gear off the top of it.

Mostly I don't worry about it, hot or cold. If the gear gets hot, well, move it to the shade til it is cool enough to touch, then start using it. Take it for CLA's as soon as it starts to stop working right. Shoot a film, and get it processed, rather than having 3 cameras on the go with film in some for weeks on end.

If is gets too cold, pack the gear it in a zip lock or two, then warm it in a heated place, so the condensation will form on the zip lock, not the gear. Take the batteries out and stick them in your pocket until they are warm enough to work properly. Dont over warm gear that is to go back into the cold or it ill frost up again. Advance film slowly and avoid power winders to minimize static spark risk on the film, and another battery pack to keep warm.

Rick A · May 10, 2010

I used to live in Texas where it does get above 100 on a regular basis. I used to keep my gear in a cooler with reusable freeze packs. Just a thought, how about a 12volt refer/cooler with controls they sell at parts houses or truck stops.

Ralph Javins · May 10, 2010

ralnphot said:
I used to live in Texas where it does get above 100 on a regular basis. I used to keep my gear in a cooler with reusable freeze packs. Just a thought, how about a 12volt refer/cooler with controls they sell at parts houses or truck stops.

Ralnphot's thought is very good. When I lived in Eastern Washington, the summertime temperatures would rise to similar levels. Not good for photo gear and film. As he suggested, I also used a "picnic cooler" like box that has a 12 VDC operated Peltier cooling device built into it. This would cool down the inside of the box to about 40 degrees F. less than the ambient air temperature with only a 4 Ampere load on the electrical system of the vehicle. With the relative humidity levels in Eastern Washington, condensation was not a problem; "YMMV." The one I use is a Coleman Model S232 "Thermoelectric" cooler. It is still in use for our summer driving trips. Department stores with camping and sporting goods sections, RV shops, and camping supply stores also carry them.

tkamiya · May 10, 2010

I thought about cooling by some means. But, we have a problem here in Florida.... HUMIDITY! During summer time, it will basically remain over 80 to 90% relative humidity. After daily storms, it will go up to 100% and stay there for remainder of the day. That means if I keep it too cool, then condensation will be a huge problem. I know TX is dryer but did you ever have problem with this??

Krzys · May 10, 2010

tkamiya, you should post in the Australian section - there might be some good advice

Tom Kershaw · May 10, 2010

tkamiya,

For a global perspective the temperature here has been around 10ºC maximum the last few days (50ºF).

Tom

tkamiya · May 10, 2010

For a comparison, we have been having high of mid 90s to mid 80s past few weeks. I think, we hit the highest for the year so far two weeks ago at 97F. That's 36C already. With very high humidity and not much of wind, it's very uncomfortable indeed. I'm expecting extreme temps this year.

wclark5179 · May 10, 2010

When I was only film capture I would take a cooler with just film in it. Never did anything with equipment but always worried about film especially for the one, maybe two days a year we get warm to around 85 to 90 degrees.

benjiboy · May 11, 2010

Posts like these make me glad that I live in a country where you can tell what season of year it is by the temperature of the rain

tkamiya · May 11, 2010

We have seasons. We just don't have all 4 of them.

benjiboy · May 12, 2010

tkamiya said:
We have seasons. We just don't have all 4 of them.

We have all four of them in one day !

Sirius Glass · May 12, 2010

There are two seasons in southern California: ski season and conditioning for ski season. Biking, walking, hiking and camping are good during both seasons.

Between the mild weather and the fact that many trees and bushes have been introduced from the southern hemisphere, we have flowers all year around. We always have spring and summer.

If we want fall, some trees have leaves turn colors and drop off, but if you want more go to the Apple Festival in Yucipa and you can see any color leaves in groups or mixed, eat pie and apple fritters, drink apple cider and when the day is over return home and never rake leaves.

Winter is available in the San Bernadino mountains an hour away or Mammoth with a 4.5 hour drive. Snow is kept on the mountains for the skiers and snowboarders; ice is in rinks and drinks. Putting ice and snow on the road is just plain crazy. It is a simple program, just get with it.

Steve

Keeping equipment at location

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