Really don't want to deal with sand on location and rocks don't weigh enough per volume. Any suggestions of what to use that I can find locally?

Can't find any small lead weights or steel shot locally that don't break the bank. I don't need precision reloading shot...that costs too much. Looking for low budget solution for 20-30 lbs of material. I looked into some chain at the local hardware store, but it's a little too expensive for this application.

Need this by tomorrow so please give me your suggestions.

Thanks! Kevin

It is hard to find what you want at a low price. I too never found a low cost place to get metal shot, although I had heard that places that do sandblasting also do shot blasting, and may have used shot they might sell in the quanties we need.

In the past I have used fine rounded washed gravel that at least makes good use of the volume compared to larger gravel. But I know that is not really all theat heavy compared to steel.

The only other suggestion for something by tomorrow is to go and rent bags from a photo rental place to get by for now, which will leave you more time to decide on getting lead or steel shot, or just buying new bags that are pre filled.

Thanks, the local shop didn't have prefilled bags. Guess I'm going to pick up some play sand. After opening the bags I bought I realized how small they are...sure hope the 5-10 lbs of sand I put in them is enough for my stands, especially in wind.

several 2.5lb weight discs from the used sports store.

I've just been using cheap barbell weights for a long time. I just tie a couple different lengths of rope to them. I think they were something like $10 or $8 when I bought them. I like the 10 pound weights...you can always add more if you need it. If you know someone handy with a sewing machine, they could make a bag with a couple of pockets for them...

How big are the bags and how much weight do you really need..... usually you can fit a 2 liter bottle of soda in each side. Works great when you're travelling.

The bags are fairly small...def not going to fit a 2 liter in there.

I just use my lead weights from my scuba diving gear.

Thanks everyone, I ended up using the individual weights from one of those adjustable ankle weight wraps I already had. I bought one more of those for an additional 10 lbs. I filled the other with rocks for the time being. Now I have one at @ 20 lbs for the C-stand and one at @ 12 lbs for my light weight light stand. I think 20 lbs for the light weight light stand would have been too much anyway and could have caused problems.

xtremediver - Always wanted to get certified, but never got around to actually doing it.

Adjustable ankle weights - awesome idea totally getting some this weekend. I've used waterbottles in stuff sacks (like backpackers use) and thats worked pretty well. Especially since you can fill them on site which makes the lighting bag a whole lot 'lighter'.

I've had no issues with sand. Use gallon size heavy duty ziploc freezer bags to put the sand in, then put the bags in the canvas sandbag holder. I double bag each individual ziploc and then put one in each side. I use the quart size for smaller sandbags.

I've dragged the sandbags around, dropped them, abused them, and never had a grain of sand leak. The canvas protects the ziploc and the ziploc holds in the sand.

I use pea gravel. All my bags have double closures. I have a couple of Manfrotto bags that are really nice, but but recently I have been buying Chinese bags at four for about $20 from Amazon. Lots of bags with less weight is more flexible than 20 lbs bags.

Brian A

I'm a day late and a dollar short, but for future reference...

I get lead fishing weights (sinkers) at a boating or sporting goods store. Different sizes are available, and they're reasonably priced.

Lots of.pennies!

ozpall wrote:
Lots of.pennies!

Definitely going to use this from now on! Wish I would have thought of that or seen this sooner! THANK YOU!!

ozpall wrote:
Lots of.pennies!

The current penny weighs 2.5 grams. So about 181 pennies to the pound, 1810 pennies for 10 lb of weight. That's $18.10 in pennies for 10 lb. While that might be convenient to use penny rolls, that's not cheaper than buying surplus lead ingots at one pound each.

DanBrown wrote:
ozpall wrote:
Lots of.pennies!

The current penny weighs 2.5 grams. So about 181 pennies to the pound, 1810 pennies for 10 lb of weight. That's $18.10 in pennies for 10 lb. While that might be convenient to use penny rolls, that's not cheaper than buying surplus lead ingots at one pound each.





Any idea where to buy these one pound lead ingots? Are you referring to lead fishing weights?

no_surrender wrote:
Any idea where to buy these one pound lead ingots? Are you referring to lead fishing weights?

Just go to Ebay and search for lead ingots.

no_surrender wrote: Any idea where to buy these one pound lead ingots? Are you referring to lead fishing weights?

I haven't seen 1-pound ingots there, but Bass Pro sells 5-pound ingots for about $23.00. They're used for casting one's own fishing weights for those who are into DIY stuff like that.

The Bass Pro shop in Las Vegas has a 10% military discount. It's only offered on certain days, so call ahead if you're interested.

Large flat washers