Great suggestions for the bag. The other thing I've always kept in mine is a pair of fingerless gloves for the chilly mornings and evenings.
Mail-order outfit (Harriet Carter, I think) sells Mighty Fixit. A stretchy, rubbery plastic tape, not sticky but sticks to itself. I wrapped my tripod legs with it, holds fantastic but easy to peel off if you need to. Also great for mending garden hose. Could use to temporarily fix camera to a fence post or tree limb for emergency tripod. I keep rolls everywhere, including camera bags.
Also, a flat washer can be a good emergency screwdriver.
I find those black binder clips to be indispensable. And, instead of rubber bands, I pack a bunch of hair "scrunchies" in a variety of sizes.
I also pack a couple of mousepads. They make great kneepads so your pants don't get soggy or mud-caked, and your knees themselves don't end up battered or impaled. And they do double duty as a gripper for getting off stubborn filters, and loosening overly tight knobs on tripod heads, or whatever.
As for electrical tape, I've never found any I would want to trust anything to. Besides, it – and duct tape – always leave a mess. In my book, gaffer's tape is the only way to go. I'll put strips of it in my bag, and on my upper tripod legs. It's conveniently there when you need it but, in the meantime, it provides a good grip plus insulation between your hands and cold tripod legs. One all-too-frequent use is to hold zooms – those that tend to creep when they're pointed up or down – at the desired focal length.
If you can find a small keychain flashlight with a red LED or lens, that's great for when you're working at night and want to fiddle with your camera or root around in your camera bag. Your pupils don't close down while using it, so your night vision stays at optimal.
Rubber bands, tooth picks, large paper clips, anything else you can think of along these lines. They can all go together in a small ziplock bag; there's no reason to store them separately.
This one takes a bit of effort, but it's worth it.
Buy the least expensive nasal spray you can find (unless you normally use such spray). Remove the spray nozzle end, remove the tube that extends down into the liquid contents, empty the contents and fill most of the way to the top with water. Replace spray nozzle. Screw cap down snugly and store in small zip lock bag.
Then, the next time that back-lit flower petal needs a drop or two of morning dew, . . . .
I agree with this list with a couple of refinements:
Flashlight: get a medical examination or EMS flashlight, they are cheap, very light, disposable and very bright. Usually white and use good quality color neutral LED lights these are often use by EMT's and medics and are disposable because of possible cross contamination issues. Because of this they are also cheap as EMT's go through lots of them. You can find them online at medical and EMT or emergency supply companies and most places let you order one or small quantities. They often have a plastic tab that protects the connection so the batteries don't accidentally drain and the white color is easier to find in a dark camera bag.
I still stick with gaffers tape and duct tape over electrical tape. I take a pencil or a wooden dowel and wrap a good portion of each tape around the unsharpened (or sharpened if you roll that way) pencil. A new pencil is long enough to take both kinds of tape and even some electrical tap too. This way you can have several kinds of tape that do the right kind of job without the bulk or size of a roll of electrical tap, it can easily be placed inside one of the plastic bags to ensure no sticky residue finds it self where you don't want it, and it's lighter than a roll of electrical tap too.
You can often find two sided pen style screw drivers for free at many trade shows as they are popular as give-away promotional items and come with safety caps on both sides. I also watch trade shows for light-up battery powered promotional pens which do double duty as a flashlight and a pen, and you can use it to wrap the tap around it too to all take up less room.
I always find a few placed to strap on some long strips of self attaching velcro instead of the bungie cords, again lighter, less space and more versatile to me. I've used them to secure my camera to a tree or post for an emergency tripod too.
Safety pins, I always have a few small black safety pins on a belt loop of my jeans or shorts but I also attach a few to my camera bag. I'm amazed at how often I find I need them.
When hiking I carry a pie tin for a plate, which also makes a great reflector and light bounce device.
Extra stuff I carry that all has multiple uses: Rubber bands, gum, business cards, chap stick micro fiber cloth, bulb blower, vial of glycerin, small pen tube of sunscreen/bug repellent in one, over the counter pain medicine for my aching back and neck after a long day out shooting!
Copyright © 2012 Bonnier Corp. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Great suggestions for the bag. The other thing I've always kept in mine is a pair of fingerless gloves for the chilly mornings and evenings.
Mail-order outfit (Harriet Carter, I think) sells Mighty Fixit. A stretchy, rubbery plastic tape, not sticky but sticks to itself. I wrapped my tripod legs with it, holds fantastic but easy to peel off if you need to. Also great for mending garden hose. Could use to temporarily fix camera to a fence post or tree limb for emergency tripod. I keep rolls everywhere, including camera bags.
Also, a flat washer can be a good emergency screwdriver.
I find those black binder clips to be indispensable. And, instead of rubber bands, I pack a bunch of hair "scrunchies" in a variety of sizes.
I also pack a couple of mousepads. They make great kneepads so your pants don't get soggy or mud-caked, and your knees themselves don't end up battered or impaled. And they do double duty as a gripper for getting off stubborn filters, and loosening overly tight knobs on tripod heads, or whatever.
As for electrical tape, I've never found any I would want to trust anything to. Besides, it – and duct tape – always leave a mess. In my book, gaffer's tape is the only way to go. I'll put strips of it in my bag, and on my upper tripod legs. It's conveniently there when you need it but, in the meantime, it provides a good grip plus insulation between your hands and cold tripod legs. One all-too-frequent use is to hold zooms – those that tend to creep when they're pointed up or down – at the desired focal length.
If you can find a small keychain flashlight with a red LED or lens, that's great for when you're working at night and want to fiddle with your camera or root around in your camera bag. Your pupils don't close down while using it, so your night vision stays at optimal.
Rubber bands, tooth picks, large paper clips, anything else you can think of along these lines. They can all go together in a small ziplock bag; there's no reason to store them separately.
This one takes a bit of effort, but it's worth it.
Buy the least expensive nasal spray you can find (unless you normally use such spray). Remove the spray nozzle end, remove the tube that extends down into the liquid contents, empty the contents and fill most of the way to the top with water. Replace spray nozzle. Screw cap down snugly and store in small zip lock bag.
Then, the next time that back-lit flower petal needs a drop or two of morning dew, . . . .
I agree with this list with a couple of refinements:
Flashlight: get a medical examination or EMS flashlight, they are cheap, very light, disposable and very bright. Usually white and use good quality color neutral LED lights these are often use by EMT's and medics and are disposable because of possible cross contamination issues. Because of this they are also cheap as EMT's go through lots of them. You can find them online at medical and EMT or emergency supply companies and most places let you order one or small quantities. They often have a plastic tab that protects the connection so the batteries don't accidentally drain and the white color is easier to find in a dark camera bag.
I still stick with gaffers tape and duct tape over electrical tape. I take a pencil or a wooden dowel and wrap a good portion of each tape around the unsharpened (or sharpened if you roll that way) pencil. A new pencil is long enough to take both kinds of tape and even some electrical tap too. This way you can have several kinds of tape that do the right kind of job without the bulk or size of a roll of electrical tap, it can easily be placed inside one of the plastic bags to ensure no sticky residue finds it self where you don't want it, and it's lighter than a roll of electrical tap too.
You can often find two sided pen style screw drivers for free at many trade shows as they are popular as give-away promotional items and come with safety caps on both sides. I also watch trade shows for light-up battery powered promotional pens which do double duty as a flashlight and a pen, and you can use it to wrap the tap around it too to all take up less room.
I always find a few placed to strap on some long strips of self attaching velcro instead of the bungie cords, again lighter, less space and more versatile to me. I've used them to secure my camera to a tree or post for an emergency tripod too.
Safety pins, I always have a few small black safety pins on a belt loop of my jeans or shorts but I also attach a few to my camera bag. I'm amazed at how often I find I need them.
When hiking I carry a pie tin for a plate, which also makes a great reflector and light bounce device.
Extra stuff I carry that all has multiple uses: Rubber bands, gum, business cards, chap stick micro fiber cloth, bulb blower, vial of glycerin, small pen tube of sunscreen/bug repellent in one, over the counter pain medicine for my aching back and neck after a long day out shooting!