Gear Lists: Close to the Vest

The other day on Facebook, one of my photo buddies started asking me about camera bags. After a little back-and-forth, I found out what he really wanted to know was what kind of little gadgets I carry to make photography easier. “Oh,” I typed. “You want to know what is in my photographer’s vest.” I’ve written about my Point and Shoot Kit before but let’s talk now about the vest.

If you run into me at places like Eagle Rock (where the rather heroic-looking picture above was taken*),  I am usually wearing a vest. It is outfitted to be the stuff I need when I leave my camera bag behind. I put the camera around my neck, zip up the vest and capture the world. So what exactly does Rikk carry in his vest?

First the Vest: I use the the Tenba Metro Vest. It is a good compromise of storage and wearability. It gets hot  on Worldesigns Photo’s Costa Rica tours but I gotta have my gadgets.  I am just glad I didn’t buy the black one.

Exterior:

Clipped to the outside, I have a PhotoTrackr GPS unit to mark my photo locations and a Spot emergency device to communicate my location.

Inside Pockets:

• Ink Pen
• Business Cards
• Munsell Color Chart
• Micro-fiber Lens Cloth
• Smart Phone
• Canon RC-5 Remote

Outside Pockets:

• (3-4) Various Spare Memory Cards
• CF Card Reader
• Lens Pen
• Compass
• Tripod Wrench
• Flat medallion-style 4-way screwdriver
• (1) 30 Gallon Garbage Bag
• (2) Grocery Store Plastic Bags
• (1) Gallon Freezer bag with Model releases folded inside
• Dew Rag (spare hat)
• Small Bottle optical cleaning fluid and microfiber cloth
• Flash hot-shoe-mounted level
• (4) AA batteries
• (1) spare camera battery
• Canon Remote Release (wired)
• ND Filter 3-stop
• Circular Polarizer
• Graduated ND 2-Stop Gradual
• Head Lamp
• Wet Wipes
• Ball Bungee (8”)
• Ear Plugs

Depending on the season:

• Small Insect Repellant
• Sun Glasses
• Small Sun Screen
• (4) Heat Packs
• Emergency Space Blanket
• 500 Calories of dried fruit/nuts/power bar

The vest is about 5 pounds fully loaded with batteries and electronics comprising a lot of the weight.  With a camera around my neck and a tripod over my shoulder the vest can handle most needs. In a pinch I can toss a lens, point and shoot, flash unit or a small video camera in a pocket.

Many items are multipurpose. The grocery bags can go over a camera in a rain storm, become insulating socks in winter, and carry back lots of trail-ripened raspberries. The head lamp can illuminate my way along the path or light up a crab on the beach. It can also be used to signal rescuers.

I won’t say that I am ready for anything but I am ready for most things with just my vest.

Rikk Flohr © 2010

*Strobist information: Canon 5DMKII with 17-40 MM. 1/100th @ F11 @ ISO 100 (Ambient – 1 1/3) with 580EXII Flash Lower Camera Left at Full Power with Lumiquest Softbox II modifier. Triggered with Paul C Buff Cybersync wireless units.