Hi all,

I generally don't do this, but I wanted to let you know about a very cool, inexpensive hard case for your tripods and jib arms. I was shopping for a while before I found this. I was told by friends to look for a hard golf bag case, but it wasn't long enough for both my tripod and jib arm. The sportube is made for snowboards, skis and fly reels, but it works like a charm for tripods and long jibs when you need to travel on a plane.

http://www.sportube.com/pages/home.htm

BTW, I have no interest in this company. I just thought it was a great way to transport my gear and that you would too.

Moved here from XL2 forum -- thanks for the tip, Michael!

Excellent tip, Michael. Since you brought it up, I'll pass along a plug for my recent purchase of a golf club case to pack a lighting set-up for interviews. I got the SKB Standard case seen here (http://www.golftravelbags.com/skb-standard-travel-case.htm). I filled the case with a couple of the JTL softlights, three of their stands, an LTM Pepper with scrims and barndoors, a couple of stingers, gels (packed in a tube), gaffer tape, and C-47's. I also included a Sony tripod that I never use because it is so cheesy, but its small size made it a winner for this shoot. I knew I wouldn't be doing any "hot" camera moves for the talking head interview, so the Sony worked fine. I also included two Lowel stands which I used for bounce cards. Do I hear laughter from regular readers of the lighting forum? Anyway, I weighed the fully loaded kit on my bathroom scale, and it was just over fifty pounds. The airline limit for one bag is fifty pounds, but the limit is increased to seventy-five for golf clubs. Hmmm. How about lighting gear packed in a golf case? I don't actually know, because I had the help of some great sky caps who got me through both ways with no strain. I left the case unlocked for security inspections, and everything arrived intact. Rumor has it that the seventy-five pound limit only applies to foreign travel currently. IOW, I strongly suggest you check with your airline for current restrictions before you show up with seventy-five pounds of gear.

I bought the SKB Standard case at a local golf shop on sale for just over 100 bucks.

Wayne Orr, SOC