p.1 #1 · Outdoor sports shooters storage and seating
I am a fan of Milwaukee tools and have just about gone broke buying their tools and packout storage systems. This is the time of year they go on sale, and I came up with a great idea.
I bought another main packout roller case, on sale right now for 90 at Ace hardware.
The case will hold my gear, and I added a padded foldable stadium seat to it. This allows me to store my gear in a weather proof case, keeps it safe while I sit on it, and is the perfect seat height wise for field side shooting. The robust collapsible handle serves as a back support as an added bonus bonus.
The stadium seat has a front pocket for holding a lens too for those times I switch out lenses. When I want to move, I just wheel my seat and gear to the next vantage point. When I am done, everything goes into the case and I wheel it to the car. I may sell off one of my pelican cases now.
I will take pictures of this tomorrow but this will be very nice and thought I would share.
p.1 #3 · Outdoor sports shooters storage and seating
I was just at the tool store this week sizing a DeWalt ToughSystem box for my new to me C100. It has a gasket seal and seems like Pelican style durability for a tenth of the price. They also make a bucket that snaps together, which will be great for all the cabling for microphones and lighting.
p.1 #4 · Outdoor sports shooters storage and seating
Very interesting. I'm wondering if their packout thing will work with a bit oversized people. I'd never given it any thought but it is a good idea to look in to. Every Milwaukee item I currently have is in a case or a bag.
p.1 #5 · Outdoor sports shooters storage and seating
This is my first round, but my long term goal is to build a memory cushion seat that locks onto the packout cases like all the other Milwaukee products. I just haven't purchased the items needed yet. For now, I am using my college stadium seat.
So lowest level are two levels of left over pluck foam I had, and I have my shorter lenses in that section with egg crate foam on the very bottom, and two canisters of dessicant. Also all my tubes and teleconverters are in this level for now. I will likely rearrange at the next iteration.
The next level is my Pelican 1500 series divider system that I transplanted over. All my big lenses are there, the 100-400L, 70-200L, and Sigma 150-600. I have room for my FF and also my mirrorless, but no much room now at this poit for the mirrorless lenses. My monopod just fits inside as well.
So this is gen 1, but I will evolve this system over time. My next purchase is one of the thin organizer add-ons, and it will hold my cards, batteries, lens caps, etc. I want to develop some sort of wheel lock as well, in cases where I need the case to stay in a spot while I am near, but the wheels will be locked. Not sure what I will do with that.
The bottom case handles about as much as 2 of my pelican cases. Two gripes, the case empty is already pretty heavy, and that rear handle doesn't go down any further. Both minor gripes however, considering this will hold a ton of gear in just one case, and I have other packout cases I can get for flash gear and stick it all on top of the base. However it is very comfortable to sit on, and lean back, the handle just fits the small of my back and puts a bit of lumbar support where it is needed.
I may actually sell off my 3 cases and convert to this system fully during this sale period. I will just write it off as a business expense as it looks like it will be sufficient for all my needs..
p.1 #9 · Outdoor sports shooters storage and seating
I will be fine. With rugby you can't be close, with football I will be fine as well with where I will be positioned. When I want closer, I can lock this along the fence with the other gear in the area and walk around. It's not like I plan on sitting the entire game.
This is more for rugby and softball really, with some sideline football.
I picked up the slim organizer and will be mounting a padded seat to the lid. The compartments are capable of holding all my cards, batteries, battery chargers, lens pens, wipes, AA batteries, etc. I have a few spare compartments yet as well. This way I have storage under the seat without opening the bottom vault.
I picked up the 2nd level case as well for $60. This now holds all my flash gear (4 flashes), 2 strobes, 2 bowens brackets, light stands and deflectors, basically all the gear I had in 2 pelican 1514 cases. Now all my flash gear can be added to this for family and senior portraits, all I have to do is move the seat/slim organizer up to the top of the stack.
So what took 3 cases and 1 large camera bag, I can just wheel this around. It is pretty wide though, which may be a con for some.
p.1 #11 · Outdoor sports shooters storage and seating
timgangloff wrote:
How close do you plan to sit to the field on this thing? My first thought was lack of mobility regarding your safety and player safety/liability.
My thoughts exactly...maybe ok for sitting along the sidelines for taking pictures at peewee football or youth soccer but not for high school, college or pro football.
As mentioned...too dangerous for player/official safety as well as photographer sitting there.
I think that would be excellent for basketball or wildlife.
Great for hauling gear and leave at press area or against wall at field level...but not to be parked along sidelines.
You need to pay close attention to what is happening on playing surface and be ready to evade players at all times or quickly move as field position changes.
I am old school...down on one knee for photos and ready to pop up and avoid danger or go to other end of field at a moment's notice.
Sitting on that case looks like a disaster waiting to happen.
p.1 #12 · Outdoor sports shooters storage and seating
leewoolery wrote:
I am old school...down on one knee for photos and ready to pop up and avoid danger or go to other end of field at a moment's notice.
Side note - as I age, getting down on one knee, poised for quick action isn't a realistic approach. Yeah, I can move out of the way if I'm already standing, but after years behind the plate in softball, and a short (but fun) running career in my 50s, I'm not really ready to "pop up" when I'm kneeling on one knee.
That said, I think Teamspeed described the situation well a couple of posts up. He's not new to this.
I kind of like this idea for travelling - the wheel case. I travel by truck when I go out of town, and I tend to take a fair amount of gear. Having something like this would serve me well.
p.1 #15 · Outdoor sports shooters storage and seating
This is for high school sports, again no worries, it's not like I am a novice and don't know the sports I am shooting, how the game progresses, and I am quite spry should action head my way. I know where I can have camera gear and where I cannot as well. I also have the reach needed so that I am not in the thick of things.
p.1 #16 · Outdoor sports shooters storage and seating
EB-1 wrote:
At a sporting event
EBH
Definitely not. For photographing wildlife, this would give me a place to sit, hold my gear and some snacks, and make it easier to transport everything. I've got an entire valley full or deer and elk to photograph, within walking distance of wherever I park my car (or MTB, during warmer weather, but that requires a backpack instead).
But as I was leaving the shooting range the other day, with two rifles, a rest, and my range bag, someone mentioned that I needed a cart. He's not wrong. I can see where this would be useful when shooting outdoors too. Especially for my wife.
As far as sporting events, I played baseball for 3 years, and raced bicycles. The idea of sitting and watching a sporting event bores me to tears.
