Hello.

i was searching for a good case for my gitzo carbon fiber boom, on a recent trip i had to resort to stuffing it into a mailing tube to bring it on the plane and that worked fine, but i was looking for something a little less lame.

i found a great extendable tube at an office supply place in harvard square (boston) and i found it online for even less...

http://www.draftingsupplies.us/alvin_extender_tube.htm

same as the one i paid $20 for and it works great.

matthew

Thanks. Here's another boom pole on the cheap. There are those light-weight poles, which extends for prunning/etc, found at places like Home Depot. They extend up to like 14 or 16 feet, and take attachments on the top. They are very well made and easy to hold.

You can make a tubular case from a length of PVC or ABS pipe and two caps. Glue one cap on a leave the other unglued. You can even fit one end with a threaded cap.

A little immagination and you could fit the case with a shoulder strap and even have velcro closures on the end cap.

Refrig Mechanics, carpenter and plungers (plumbers) use this method all the time. many times service vehicles will have the PVC or abs tubes on the roof racks of their trucks.

Your talking $5-$10 depending on the size and complexity.

That looks like a good choice for the pole, but I usually travel with my field shotgun ready to use, that means a sennheiser 416 in a lightwave mount in a lightwave zepplin in a catskin. I have the pole cabled, so it is ready to use out of the case. Sometimes, time is short and I wouldn't want to have to assemble the kit on location. This setup works for me.

So, I use a Pelican 1750 Travel Vault that keeps the various components in tact. I also tuck in a schoeps mk41, and a shock mount for it, for indoor work.

Checkout www.cases4less.com for good prices on excellent cases.

They also carry a long case by Dosko sports that is only $84 and is very similar to the pelican case. I think the Dosko also has wheels.

While these cost more than the above excellent suggestions, when they also carry your mics, covers, cables and mounts, they're pretty cheap and they'll last for years saving your investments in hardware from road wear and tear.

Best,

John

Interesting what others use. We use an expandable fly fishing case, available at any sporting goods store, and its got a foam end that allows the zepplin and mic to be packed in there too. Very sturdy. About 25.00