It's been ages since I've done a behind the scenes post about gear and kit. As I've been traveling a lot recently, and as I have to do so in general for work I thought it would be good to share with you what I've learnt, and what steps I take to prepare for any travel that I have to do with regards to kit that always go with me. This is aside in many ways to camera gear, and is mainly just a bag of essential and not so essential bits and bobs that over the years I've developed and adapted to suit my needs.
Below is a picture of the kit laid out with numbers to help explain what everything is.
1. Rubber bands and safety pin - both useful things to have somewhere
2. USB key, 4GB
3. Lanyard with clip - useful for ID's or just keeping important things secure
4. USB charge for hard drive
5. Spare iPhone/iPad wire
6. My bag (very similar to a Maxpedition Sabercat), I usually have a spare carabiner attached (great for securing camera's on shoulder straps etc) and two glow sticks (for the odd impromptu rave...or an emergency)
7. Seemed to have missed that one off
8. Spare batteries (AAA)
9. Tissues (always useful on long flights when the sinuses give in)
10. Spare business cards
11. Lens cloth
12. Hyperdrive AC adapter
13. Firewire 800 cable
14. Headphone splitter (in case you make a friend)
15. Chewing gum (so you don't scare of your new friend)
16. USB 2 cable
17. LED lenser torch
18. Toerags multi-tool
19. Passport wallet with spare passport photos, various currencies, EU health insurance card, Immunisation record card. I keep the passport in a clear bag to protect it from liquid and usually have a label on the spine so that I can spot it easily in a pile of passports.
20. Clear plastic Optech bags for my camera (crude weatherproofing option)
21. Spare pen and sensor cleaning brush, Arctic Butterfly (with battery removed whilst in transit)
22. 3 x travel adapters, one with 2 x USB chargers for iPhone and iPad charging
23. Lacie Rugged FW800 500GB hard drive
24. Hyperdrive Hard Drive (it can download cards in the field straight into it which can be useful although there are other better brands)
25. First aid kit
26. Trueways survival tin (simply the BEST free PR gift I ever received! A great little thing which includes a whole load of gadgets including a compass, wire saw, candle, matches, fire starter etc etc).
27. Battery chargers
28. Travel insurance documents
29. Freeloader Pro Solar charger with various connectors
30. LED Lenser Head Torch
31. Spare phone and charger (usually my old iPhone which has been unlocked, as you can usually get cheap 3G SIM cards these days, which means access to Google Maps whilst out and about abroad)
32. Gaffer tape with grip surface
33. My carry on plane kit which include ear plugs, headphone adapter (for those annoying two prong sockets on some planes) chewing gum, sleeping tablets (only for emergency) and an eye patch.
34. USB and SD adapter for iPad
35. Basic sewing kit
This may seem like a lot to take, but in reality it all packs up quite small, and I usally end up using most of things listed at one point or another whilst on assignment.
