Rough Draft

When wildlife filmmaker, Skip Hobbie (http://www.skipswildlife.com/), purchased a RED Epic camera and 300-800mm zoom lens, he needed to find a custom camera backpack big enough to carry his rig- all in one piece.

Skip Hobbie in India and Alaska

Being a Portabrace case owner for years, Skip decided to send us an email…

To the great folks at Portabrace,

I’m a big fan of your Hiker camera bags. I’m a wildlife filmmaker from Austin, TX and I mostly work with National Geographic Television. I’ve used your hiker bags many, many times over the years, from mountain tops in Alaska to the tree tops of the Amazon Rainforest. I can’t say enough good things about them.

I’ve finally invested in my own camera gear, a RED Epic and 300-800mm zoom lens, and unfortunately it’s too big for any of your hiker bags when its all put together. I’d really love to still have the convenience of your HK-1 bag, able to take the bag off my bag and pull the camera out ready to shoot, and thought about just ordering your bag and just trying to modify it myself. Unfortunately, I think it’d be a bit of hack job, and not nearly as reliable.

Do you ever make custom order bags? A few modifications to your current design and i’d be really happy camper.

Thanks,
Skip

Here’s what happened next…

-We told Skip that we DO make custom Cordura cases- all the time!  We just needed the dimensions of his rig to make sure the HK-1 would be the best solution.

-Skip sent us some very detailed dimensions

-We used our Dimensional Search Tool to get started.  Then our design team did some final measuring and we emailed Skip our suggestion: a TS-41H Tripod Case & Backpack with some simple modifications: 2 extra large case stuffers, Velcro along the entire base of the case, and 2 additional sewn-in camera cinches to keep the camera rails securely fastened to the base of the case.

-Skip liked the idea and placed the order!  We made the modifications and shipped Skip his case the next day.  Simple and effective, the way it should be!

The moral of the story is… if you need a wildlife filmmaker with a seriously awesome camera rig, contact Skip.  If you need a custom case to carry a seriously awesome camera rig (or any other gear), contact us!  It’s easier and more cost-effective than you think- I promise.

We get a lot of requests from all types of companies and government agencies to create custom Cordura equipment cases.  One of those recent requests came from experienced cameraman and CameraRibbon.com owner, Russ Rayburn.  I’d like to quickly share Russ’ story with you for 3 reasons: 1) Russ has been a Portabrace fan for years! 2) he has a cool new product that’s relevant to pro-video, and 3) his custom case project is a good example of how cost-effective custom case design can be with Portabrace.

Russ’ company makes a simple but comfortable video camera shoulder support system called the Camera Ribbon.  The Camera Ribbon has a simple one-piece aluminium frame design with an ergonomic “S” shape (see below).

The idea for the Camera Ribbon came to Russ when he was asked to film an all-day outdoor extreme challenge competition.  The long day of filming with a hand-held compact HD camera was very fatiguing.  So Russ designed the Camera Ribbon as a simple way to fight fatigue on all-day shoots with hand-held cameras like the EX1R, XF305, and HVX200.

Russ before the Camera Ribbon

When it came time to make an OEM case for the Camera Ribbon, Russ knew he would need a durable field-case since many of his customers would be using the Camera Ribbon on all-day outdoor assignments.  As a film & video production veteran, Russ had used our cases in the field for years and knew they were rugged and reliable so he picked up the phone and called our team here in Vermont.

After a quick conversation, Russ sent over some pictures and specs and in a couple of days our design team had sent back their recommendations, all of which were slight modifications to existing Portabrace case models.  Rather than reinvent the wheel, modifying an existing design allowed us to offer Russ a cost-effective, high-quality solution.  He also opted for some value-added inclusions and Camera Ribbon logo embroidery.

Like the Camera Ribbon itself, Russ’ custom case project turned out to be simple yet effective.  If you’re thinking about a custom project but are concerned about the cost, try using our dimensional search as a starting point.  You might be surprised how cost-effective custom case building can be.