Protecting film during a trip

[icandide]

Hello There,

Photography and car travel are somewhat interrelated. I go to a national, state, or community parks, visit friends and relatives and take my cameras and film along with me.

Problem:
* Taking only one or two roll rolls of film or boxes of sheet film (or cameras) is not sufficient for a weekend or a week trip.
* Buying film 'as needed' throughout a trip can be expensive in time or money (or both).
* Leaving film in a car is not exactly the smartest thing to do for any length of time (in fact it is down right stupid).
* An insulated bag or other container will keep the film protected only for short periods of time.
* Carrying quantities of film (especially sheet film) everywhere you go can become extremely cumbersome and heavy; and if the climate is warm or hot, it is not good for the film (enclosed space with the sun beating on the sides of whatever bag or pack you are using).
* The repeated 'in and out' of the car for various stops (food, gas, sight seeing, potty breaks, &&&) would have a cumulative adverse affect on non-refrigerated storage.

Possible solution: Compact mini-fridge.

Has anyone tried this? If so these are some questions for which it is hard (if not impossible) to find concise answers:
* How long would the mini-fridge keep the film protected with the car parked and the engine not running, given that the car has a reasonably healthy battery and charging system?
* How much insulation does the average mini-fridge provide if not connected to a power source. (Example: car parked, engine off, mini-fridge turned off at the time of parking [to prevent depleting the battery charge])
* Would keeping the film only 20 to 30 degrees below ambient temperature provide the protection to warrant the expense? (A car, as you know, the inside of a car can get up to 120-140 degrees in the sun even when the windows are opened a crack. A 'highly rated' mini-fridge retails for 40 to 30 dollars.)

There may be more questions that do not come to mind at this time.

Am I over-thinking the 'problem'?

I thank you - very much - for your thoughts and answers.

icandide

 

[koraks]

Am I over-thinking the 'problem'?

Solidly.

Unless you travel for 6 months on end and spend a large amount of that time sitting in an airplane with your film, don't worry.

 

[GregY]

On road trips, especially in summer, I carry film & holders in a small cooler on the floor behind the drivers seat.

 

[Paul Howell]

+ 1 for small cooler, I have a couple that range in capacity to handle just a dozen MF or 35mm rolls to a larger cooler that can store a few dozen MF or 35mm rolls with a couple of boxes of 4X5. As I live in the low desert in the summer I will use a gel pack. I make sure to take out enough film for the day and let that film come to temp. I return film I've shot back into the cooler in the bottom in a plastic bag to keep any moisture out.

 

[icandide]

Hello,

Thank you Koaks, GregY and Paul Howell

Koraks: I guess I'm dense. The airplane travel problems are evident, but 'Unless you travel for 6 months on end' I do not. Is this in reference to airplane travel?

GregY: I share that same thought. But when you leave the car for a hour or two, do you take the film cooler with you?

Paul Howell: What happens on day 2 or day 3 if a freezer is not available to recharge the gel pack? But a thought comes to mind - maybe gel packs inside a 'mini-fridge' . Will the gell pack stay sufficiently cool long enough? I must explore that idea.

Icandide

 

[Sirius Glass]

I freeze all my film. When I go on a trip I move the film to an insulated small backpack with two pockets for the blue freezer pack. Overnight in the place I am staying I put the freezer packs in the freezer. If the room does not have a freezer, usually have them free them for me.

 

[Paul Howell]

Paul Howell: What happens on day 2 or day 3 if a freezer is not available to recharge the gel pack? But a thought comes to mind - maybe gel packs inside a 'mini-fridge' . Will the gell pack stay sufficiently cool long enough? I must explore that idea.

Icandide

Unless you are camping gel packs go in the min frig freezer at the motel, hotel, relatives or friends house. I did run into a situation in New Mexico, thunderstorm knocked out the power in the middle of the night. Next day I drove a few miles found a fast food restaurant for breakfast, bought an extra drink and filled the the cup with ice, then into a plastic bag into the cooler.

 

[koraks]

Koraks: I guess I'm dense. The airplane travel problems are evident, but 'Unless you travel for 6 months on end' I do not. Is this in reference to airplane travel?

Don't take it too literally. It's just to indicate that I think you're overthinking this.

Film degrades in a couple of ways. Heat does it, but it takes either quite excessive heat, or a very long time to present a problem. If you travel for a few weeks and you leave your film in your car (unrefrigerated), it'll be fine.

The reference to flying is about xray exposure as a result of newfangled CT security scans and of course cosmic radiation while flying. It'd take a truckload of flying for cosmic radiation to present a problem. The CT scans are best avoided.

There are some old posts on Photo.net from Kodak engineers about this; Ron Mowrey chimed in but also Joe Manthey. Especially Manthey's posts on the subject are relevant.

 

[reddesert]

Don't risk things that can actually damage the film in the pursuit of avoiding heat. Risks include loss, light exposure, and water damage.

Heat damage takes both heat and time. If you leave film in the car for several days where the car gets hot during the day, it's not going to be harmed. You can use a small cooler or insulated bag to store the film so that it doesn't warm up as fast as the inside of the car, and then let it cool back down again at night. You don't really need freezer gel packs every day, but if you have some you can use them. But make sure there is no chance of the film getting wet from ice, leaky freezer bags, etc.

Only carry as much film out of storage as you're actually going to shoot in a day. If you carry exposed film around with you because you're afraid the car will heat up, you risk losing the exposed film, damaging the packaging and causing light leaks, etc.

I save heavy foil bags (like the ones coffee and some food come in) and stash my exposed film in them to minimize the chance of light strike. Especially for finished 120 rolls. I don't want those getting exposed to sunlight every time I open up my backpack.

 

[GregY]

Hello,

Thank you Koaks, GregY and Paul Howell

Koraks: I guess I'm dense. The airplane travel problems are evident, but 'Unless you travel for 6 months on end' I do not. Is this in reference to airplane travel?

GregY: I share that same thought. But when you leave the car for a hour or two, do you take the film cooler with you?

Paul Howell: What happens on day 2 or day 3 if a freezer is not available to recharge the gel pack? But a thought comes to mind - maybe gel packs inside a 'mini-fridge' . Will the gell pack stay sufficiently cool long enough? I must explore that idea.

Icandide

When i leave the car for an hour or two i cover the cooler and make sure it's in the shade. Leaving the car, I only take with me what i need. But the cooler when you're on the road for a week or more, lessens the possible wide temperature changes

 

[cliveh]

Why not take one camera and one film and be more selective about when you press the shutter. Then when you return from this trip you will be enlightened.