jerryph
07-16-2009, 05:00 AM
After a recent tip over of a lightstand (no damage, I saved it well before it hit the ground), I looked around for prices for sandbags and was surprised at what they cost. I thought it would be interesting to see what DIY ones would cost me, and it was a huge savings without a huge drop in quality at all.
Mine cost me about 1/10th the price of store bought ones that I could find locally. The small ones are single 6 pound bags and the larger ones are 28 pounds each.
I use the smaller ones as counterweights for the boom and the larger ones to hold the lightstands down and keep them from tipping over.
I made 2 of each (4 total), and the entire cost of the project was about very cheap $8.25 Canadian, including the pre-dried sand ($3.25 got me 66 pounds of sand!).
Credit has to go to my mother for the sewing (labour is where I am sure I saved the most on!), she did an awesome job. Each sand bag is double lined and triple stitched for longevity... not that I will be all that hard on them anyways.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3721707863_e90671cae7.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2481/3722519800_676413dbfb.jpg
My next DIY project (since I have lots of material left over), again came from looking at what the market charges vs what I could make them for... my mother and I are going to collaborate again and this time make me a belt pack that is big enough to hold 3-4 lenses and a couple of smaller compartments. A somewhat similarly sized product called the SHOOTSAC goes for around $180US. I estimate that my setup won't break $20... lol!
Mine cost me about 1/10th the price of store bought ones that I could find locally. The small ones are single 6 pound bags and the larger ones are 28 pounds each.
I use the smaller ones as counterweights for the boom and the larger ones to hold the lightstands down and keep them from tipping over.
I made 2 of each (4 total), and the entire cost of the project was about very cheap $8.25 Canadian, including the pre-dried sand ($3.25 got me 66 pounds of sand!).
Credit has to go to my mother for the sewing (labour is where I am sure I saved the most on!), she did an awesome job. Each sand bag is double lined and triple stitched for longevity... not that I will be all that hard on them anyways.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3721707863_e90671cae7.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2481/3722519800_676413dbfb.jpg
My next DIY project (since I have lots of material left over), again came from looking at what the market charges vs what I could make them for... my mother and I are going to collaborate again and this time make me a belt pack that is big enough to hold 3-4 lenses and a couple of smaller compartments. A somewhat similarly sized product called the SHOOTSAC goes for around $180US. I estimate that my setup won't break $20... lol!