Blog: A Guide to Filming in the Wilderness – How to Pack

HOW TO PACK

One of the hardest parts of filming in the wilderness is deciding between the amount of traditional camping gear and camera equipment to take as you are limited in the amount of gear that you can bring with you. I tend to lean towards more camera gear because I would rather be cold and hungry then be confronted with a black bear and have no way to film it!

There are two ways you can camp (with a vehicle and back-country) but I am going to focus on the back-country aspect throughout this post as it requires much more fine tuning and pre-planning than camping from a vehicle (which I will touch on in the mobile editing section). The main limitation that exists when deciding how much gear to bring is the size of the bag and the amount you can carry.

TYPES OF BAGS

I have tried a variety of bags as the choices are limitless but have settled on four different types that fit my style when shooting in the wilderness. These are daypacks, shoulderbags, expedition packs, and traditional camera bags. Daypacks are small with little to no frame to support the load you are carrying. They are meant for shorter treks. These are perfect for location scouts when only carrying camera and lens. Shoulderbags are lightweight and easy to take with you on longer expeditions. Expedition packs have a capacity between 65-100L and are meant for back-country travel and longer expeditions. These are perfect for longer treks as they are built to carry more weight. However, there are no dedicated compartments to protect your cameras and are traditionally top-loading bags. As for traditional camera bags, they are focused on protecting camera gear but aren’t built to carry for extended periods of time and typically can’t carry as much gear.

Finding the best solution will vary as tolerance levels and body builds differ from person to person. One recommendation however, is that you should not skimp on the amount you spend on a bag as you will be able to carry more if the pack has a better build quality. If you are unsure what size or type of bag to get when buying hiking backpacks, it is always best to go down to the store and ask for advice as well as try the bag on to see if it fits your body type. I found that only a few brands actually fit my body build!

**UPDATE: Stuart Sharpless, a filmmaker who has been working in the outdoors for the past 25 years recommends F-Stop Bags and says that they are unbeatable. Another recommendation was to try Loksak Resealable Element Proof Transport & Storage Bags verses the ‘Ziploc’ recommendations below. I have since purchased some and will comment on them once I receive them!

PACKING FOR DAY TRIPS

Packing for day trips is much more freeing than that of back-country camping as you only have to worry about the day ahead of you*. In most cases, I use my traditional camera bag, the LOWEPRO PRO TREKKER 400AW. This bag has a built in hydration system, a rain cover, lots of compartments, and even a whistle built into one of the straps . I find the size of the bag, the structure and placement of the straps, the added hydration, and the rain cover make it perfect for day trips that last up to 12 hours.

Rain gear, extra layers of clothes, mosquito spray, LOTS of water (water purification tablets if drinking from stream), and snacks are the key elements that must be part of your kit. Whether or not the sky is clear, these elements should ALWAYS be in your kit. In regards to snacks, I typically pack dried fruits, nuts and jerky and very rarely pack any substantial meals. If I am planning on shore lunches, I will bring an ice fishing rod and small cast iron frying pan (because of size) and catch my food rather than carry in. When using the TREKKER 400AW, I tend to keep these items, along with the food and water in the side and top pockets of the pack for easy access and all the camera gear in the main compartment. I will almost always have one camera out of the bag to capture any wildlife that I may stumble upon.

When it comes to camera gear, this is always changing and adapting as I buy new gear but the list below is part of the kit I took on my recent two week adventure in British Columbia, Canada. The crane was only taken on day trips.

- Canon 5D Mark II
- Canon 7D
- Canon 70-200mm 2.8L II IS
- Canon 50mm 1.2L
- Canon 14mm 2.8L
- Canon 24-105mm 4L
- Zoom H4N
- Miller DS20 SOLO 3
- Kessler Pocket Dolly v2 with Davis & Sanford Legs and Head
- Kessler Crane 8ft with K-POD
- Gorillapod Focus
- 2 x 13″ Macbook Pro’s
- Portable HD’s

* No matter how long your trek is, you should always plan for the worst and pack extra food and clothing in case you either get lost or get stranded due to the weather. Ensuring that you check-in with the local visitor centre or a trustworthy family member or friend is also recommended, no matter how long your expedition is.

PACKING FOR BACK-COUNTRY FILMING

As stated previously, packing for back-country camping takes much more finesse and care. For most trips when travelling by myself, I use my OSPREY ATOMAS 65. Because the bag is not built with camera compartments, you will have to wrap your lenses and camera bodies in clothes and then place them in ziploc bags (See image above). I keep all clothes, camera gear, and cooking utensils* in the main compartment and all food and water on the outer compartments. When packing the main compartment, all cooking utensils are at the bottom of the bag and all clothing and camera gear placed in after. Due to the top-loading nature of the ATOMAS 65, you are forced to take everything in and out of the bag when you are looking for things. However, the advantage of this bag is that you are able to carry much more gear AND it is built to support more weight. It also has dedicated straps for attaching a matte, sleeping bag, and tent. I tend to strap my sleeping bag to the outside of the bag as I find it takes up way too much room inside the bag, even with compression straps. If you choose to keep your sleeping bag attached to the outside, you should wrap it in a garbage bag to keep it dry. One of the worst things when camping is a wet sleeping bag! When packing for longer trips, I also normally have one camera out of the bag to capture wildlife that I stumble upon. I typically choose my 5D Mark II with 24-105mm lens attached.

The last part of the kit that I bring along is an over the shoulder style camera bag (THINKTANK RESTROSPECTIVE 30) for when I arrive at a desired location. I immediately take all the camera gear that was wrapped in clothes and place it in the bag for shooting around the area. I don’t carry the equipment in the bag while hiking as it is much easier to strap to the back of the ATOMAS 65 when empty. As for gear, on my trip to BC I took everything from the list above except for the Kessler Crane 8ft with K-POD. I do not recommend taking two full sized tripods as I did. You can get away with smaller photo style tripods if shooting with DSLR cameras.

One thing to keep in mind when packing is that it will take some time to find out the best way to pack your bags to fit your style of hiking. Keeping the items that you access most frequently in the outer compartments is key (camera, food, and water).

* I will touch more specifically on cooking utensils in the COMPLETE and NOT SO COMPLETE CAMPING LIST SECTION.