"Sand Bags"

[rpcrowe]

I needed a couple of "sand bags" to stabilize my lightstands. I was trying to talk my wife into fabricating a couple from the lens of old blue jeans. However I found these bags on eBay which I bought at two for ten dollars with free shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160898016999...84.m1497.l2649

They are well made and seem quite sturdy. My wife says that there is no way she could buy the nylon and zippers for these bags and make them for five dollars each.

I don't actually use sand in these weight bags. I use pea gravel instead. The gravel is heavier and won't ruin gear if it leaks.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for mentioning this, Richard. I opted for a 6 pound bag of plant food or fertilizer (can't remember which) that costs about $5. I put it inside a zip-lock refrigerator bag just in case the plant food bag splits open. It's a bit unwieldy because it's not divided into two parts. I could empty my bag of plant food or whatever it is into two refrigerator bags and insert each of those bags into the two-part sand bag.

[CP140]

I have another hobby... RC airplanes. When putting balsa sheeting over the plywood airframe, a "sandbag" is useful to keep everything in contact until the glue "dries".

A large ziplock baggie inside another ziplock baggie (just in case of leaks) is simple and cheap. Plus you can dump out or add sand/gravel/rocks as needed to adjust weight.

[davidedric]

I was recently on holiday in Zambia. Bean bags were supplied in the game viewing vehicles, but they were full of sand, not beans. They used to use beans, but the monkeys kept eating them! Probably not a problem for most of us.

[PhotomanJohn]

Another option are weight bags used by skin divers. They are more expensive but much heavier (full of metal shot) for their size and very durable.

John

[rpcrowe]

There are lots of options. I have some weights used to anchor down display tents which could be used...
http://www.sportsauthority.com/produ...entPage=search

However for the price of five dollars each plus the minimal cost of gravel to fill them, these "sand bag" weights seem like the best way to go...

[Mike Buckley]

Richard,

Now that my pair of sand bags has arrived, I'm especially grateful for your information about them. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that one side of them is black, as opposed to the other side that has blue and black stripes. I don't remember that fact being provided in the web page that features them. When photographing glass, I want nothing but black being subject to reflections in my makeshift studio. Being able to so easily hide the blue stripes by placing them toward the floor is a simple thing that is very important.

I can confirm your opinion that the quality of the product is really great.

[rpcrowe]

I have absolutely no idea why one side of the bag is garishly striped and I am also happy that they have a black side. A fact which I forgot to mention...

I was surprised at the heavy duty zippers used. At that price, I expected to need to replace the zippers with better ones. One less thing I have to ask my wife to do since the zippers seem fine.

Here's a really crazy story. I also use my background stand for holding our large Rescue group banner when we are at rescue events. The last time I set it up, the stands kept falling in towards the banner. I had forgotton to put the cross bar between the two stands...

It must be my age that is causing me to do stupid things...

[Mike Buckley]

It must be my age that is causing me to do stupid things...

I can't use age as an excuse, as I have always done stupid things.