GEAR PILE: RIVER CASE FOLLOW UP
(sorry - not about art - soon though!)
I was asked a question about “River Cases” and I thought I could do a quickie post about this.
Think of this as a “working case”, where you will be actively moving in and out of multiple times a day— grabbing cameras, lenses, batteries, filters, cleaning kit, etc.
You want to be able to quickly unsnap the latches*, grab the camera and get the shot, and then put it away before you get to that rapidly approaching rapid. Anything that gets in the way of that means it’s not the right case. Having to pull a camera body and a lens and put them on and then take them off—not good.
That case also needs to be nicely padded on the inside. If the case takes a hard hit, or if things get bumpy, you want your gear to feel nice and safe.
This is simple stuff — but it’s a thoughtful bit of a process to get there. And everyone’s camera/kit/thoughts are different, so there’s not a one-size-fits-all setup.
Your basic “waterproof plastic case” comes in four flavors:
EMPTY: just a shell. Which, if you’re adding a gear cube, is perfect
PLUCK FOAM: Just a pain. Avoid.
CUSTOM LASER CUT FOAM: Way better than pluck foam, or ‘you cut’ foam. This tends to be a stiffer, more durable type of foam.
DIVIDERS: This is the best overall setup for flexibility. You can re-arrange the setup of the case on the fly, changing the layout as needed. For deeply mysterious reasons, adding a divider insert doubles the price of the case.
If you need a case for a very specific piece of gear that’s never going to change, laser-cut custom foam is hard to beat. But you are very tightly locked into that specific X, Y, and Z. No changes!
With pluck foam, you pluck the foam ‘fingers’ out to custom fit your gear. Great in theory. Horrible in real life. Inevitably some of the fingers don’t come out cleanly and others come out in a block. After even a short period of use, the cutouts start to break down, especially if you needed to create thin walls between cutouts.
I have never had a case/gear combo that I haven’t needed to re-configure dozens of times. You get new gear, or add accessories, or swap lenses, or add a rental lens, or invest in some filters—whatever the reason, cases need to change.
For my River Case, I’m digging the Lowepro gear cubes. Mine lets me work out of my empty HPRC case, and allows me to quickly stuff it into a backpack.
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Ok - one ART before I go— this shot is one of those “oh crap is that what’s happening better move fast gotta open the case grab the camera take the picture-wait, take off lens cap—ok take the picture before it goes away” moments.
I got this from the raft as the sun was dropping behind the ‘false horizon’ of the canyon wall. The light had been a little flat all day, and there was wildfire smoke blowing into the canyon from some far-off fire. As the sun edged the top of the canyon there was this sudden ray of light. I got 18 frames off.
Being able to get into the case quickly and gab a fully setup camera was KEY. This was with a 5dMIV wearing a 70-200mm lens — which is part of the reason I chose a bigger HPRC 4100 case. I want to be able to have that long glass on the camera, ready to shoot.
Protip: I have found that longer lensing while on the float tends to be the better choice. Not always, and of course, you do you.
Now back to working on a more art-think-piece. Will post early next week.
Cheers! Send questions if you have them!
-andy
*I love the Nanuk latches- so easy to use. Old school Pelican cases are kinda infamous for bloody knuckles.