What's in my bag?

I've done a post on this before but my loadout has changed quite a bit since then. Lately I've been concentrating more on landscapes than seascapes, and there's a lot more effort involved in getting to the locations, and some different gear required.

I've just finished packing my gear for a 2 week trip to Tasmania, where I'll be shooting a mixture of landscapes in the snow covered mountains, waterfalls in the rainforests and some seascapes.

I changed my bag from the F-Stop Loka to the F-Stop Tilopa BC, which can hold a lot more non-camera gear, and has much better padding on the straps and waistbelt, making it more comfortable on long hikes. I still use the extra large ICU that I had in the Loka. I also have the F-Stop tripod bag, a Redfern & Elkhorn accessory pouches, a few sets of gatekeeper straps, 2 hydration sleeves and the raincover. Its not a cheap setup but after trying about 15 different camera bag setups over the last 3 years this is by far the best setup I've found.

1. F-Stop tripod bag, inside is a Gitzo 3532S, with no head attached. Most people I see carry the tripod on the front of the bag to center the weight, I found having it at the side moves the weight closer to your body. I have the head inside the bag to balance the weight, if I leave it on the tripod the bag feels heavier on that side.

2. F-Stop Hydration Sleeve, I have a GoreTex jacket inside this, the sleeve keeps it clean and dry.

3. Static rope, 15 meters. Comes in handy for accessing difficult locations.

4. DMM Raptor ice axe.

5. Quick draw carabiner. I use this to hang the camera bag from the underside of the tripod. (thanks to Rob Dickinson for the idea).

6. F-Stop Redfern pouch. Inside are sunglasses, phone, keys & wallet.

7. Trekking poles.

8. Fenix LD20 LED flashlight.

9. Hydration hose.

10. Molle adapter to attach the knife sheath.

11. Kabar Tanto knife.

The top compartment and the space above the ICU:

12. Compass.

13. Red filter for flashlight.

14. Lenspen.

15. CF and SD cards.

16. Fenix HL-30 Headlamp.

17. First aid kit.

18. Screwdrivers, screws and guides for the Lee SW150 filter holder.

19. Emergency blanket.

20. Waterproof poncho.

The 2 front compartments:

21. Protein bars. I usually carry muesli bars and snakes too but I ate them all while packing the bag.

22. Ultra absorbent paper towel. When shooting waterfalls and the filters are getting covered in mist these seem to be able to soak up more than anything else I've tried, and they don't leave streaks on the filters.

23. Lowepro gloves. The ends of the index fingers and thumbs fold back so you can operate the camera controls. The gloves are stored in the side access compartment to avoid getting any dirt on the paper towel.

The ICU:

24. Yongnuo programmable remote, wireless receiver, cables from the Yongnuo and the Promote control.

25. Lee filters. 2 x 0.9 ND, 0.9 GND hard, 0.9 GND soft. There should be a Hitech IRND 10 stop in there, not sure where that's gone.

26. Cavision CPL.

27. Hot shoe spirit level. I had to but about 30 of these before i got one that was accurate. Luckily they only cost a few dollars each.

28. Nikon D800E, Nikkor 14-24 f2.8, RRS L bracket, Lee SW150 mounting rings and Lee lens cover.

29. RRS BH-55 ballhead.

30. Sigma 35mm f1.4 ART.

31. Promote control. This does automated bracketing, timelapse and focus stacking.

32. Modified Lee SW150 filter holder.

33. Camera batteries.

Hidden behind the ICU is a Denali hydration bladder wrapped in an F-Stop hydration pouch and an iPad Air with an Otterbox Defender case. I only take the iPad if I'm going to be sitting around for a while shooting a startrail or waiting for sunset. It's loaded up with movies and TV shows.

There's a few more items I need when shooting startrails, rather than pull other stuff out of the bag I just attach an F-Stop Elkhorn pouch to one of the compression straps.

34. Kendrick Firefly dew heater strap. These are designed to be used with a controller but I have a cable that lets me plug it directly into the battery. This avoids the controller's low voltage cutoff kicking in, and gives improved battery runtime.

35. 12v Lithium Ion batteries to power the dew heater.

36. DTSE high capacity D4 type batteries. These only fit the MDB-12 grip, not the camera. They have more than double the capacity of the Nikon EN-EL15 batteries, and come with a car charger.

If I'm shooting something that involves standing in water like a waterfall or seascape I'll clip the Vibrams onto the bag: