I’ve been shooting religiously with GoPro cameras since they came out way back in the day. Love those little monsters. At a minimum, I travel with three or more Hero3’s for any shoot – I’ve just found they just come in super-duper handy for all sortsa great stuff. BUT…. taking into account mounts, memory cards, chargers, spare batteries and all miscellany associated with the GoPro and you’ve got yourself quite a load of gear to keep track of.
That’s why I’ve come up with a pretty tight little system for packing & traveling with my GoPros. The above video really gives the full insight, but all cooked down into a tasty little reduction, it smells something like this:
1. Find ONE bag/pack that can carry everything (for Belize I brought a Dakine Mission)
2. Separate gear & accessories into smaller pouches (ThinkTank little pouches described in the vid work nicely here)
3. Clearly label said bags (make the labels moron proof – and really visible in low-light / bleary eyes / tired person can read them without question)
4. Take EVERYTHING in this bag with you every time, regardless of shoot location – you never know when the need/opportunity for a funky mount may arise. (I know this might not sound like good advice, but trust me, it is. Take it from me, this is the only way you’ll ever NOT forget something random.)
5. Get creative. There are tons of ways you can mount a GoPro (see the egg-timer and scuba mask mounts in the vid), as well as clever ways to extend battery life. Use them all.
This vid above comes at you pretty fast, so feel free to ask questions and I’ll jump into the comments and answer. Got GoPro tips / thoughts / hacks of your own? Do share ’em.
To many GoPro accessories means you need to orgazine your self.
Little bags with labels in a bigger bag… I like it! Last GoPro shoot I did I lost a battery and a memory card. Little buggars! Never lost anything with my DSLR setup. 😛
i know – pretty simple – but took me years to figure it out 😉
Chase thx for sharing, I have 2 quick Qs:
– Any word on battery management? # of packs you take, how do you keep them all charged etc?
– Bag doesn’t seem to be waterproof and you carry some GoPros outside of their housing in the vid. Seems like taking unnecessary risk?
1. for the hero 2’s we had a custom made batter charger rig. we have yet to make anything custom for our hero 3’s which have better batteries. our current solution is to have a lot of batteries 😉
2.yeah – very few bags are waterPROOF. but generally bags provide plenty of protection from rain or even getting dropped in a mud puddle. (not for dropping in the ocean – but if that happens you got bigger problems 😉 genearlly speaking a full waterproof bag is overkill IMHO. this dakine pack does a great job but so would a lot of other packs.
good luck!
Great video Chase. Thanks for the tips. I love my new Hero3, but I find the choices of video formats confusing. I would love to know what your “go to” format is or what formats you use for certain situations, shoots, or effects. Thanks in advance for your response.
And Chase walks off into the ocean as if he’s going to swim to the next caye after showing us those GoPros are not in their waterproof cases. ;p
Next time I’m on location on a shoot, I’ll shoot a response video showing my GoPro packing system. It’s also with 3 GoPro’s but a little smaller packed in an Eagle Creek Medium Protect-It Cube and little organizational packs similar to the Think Tank pouches for the accessories. Amen to never knowing what you’re going to need. I’ve been saved many times by bringing everything along.