A motorbike friendly bag of tools; Take 2

On my 17th birthday I received a tool kit.  I thought it was the worst present ever.  I now spend a significant portion of my disposable income on tools.  I've written on the subject before.

Recently, the time came to retire my beloved CineBags Cinematographers Bag.  After three years of cruel abuse, the shoulder strap finally gave up.  It also turns out that a heavy, over-the-shoulder bag is not so motorcycle friendly.  Too many motorbikes on the road.  Handlebars can tangle with shoulder straps.  Kind of a safety hazard.  

I limit my possessions to two carry-ons, two suitcases and three toolboxes, so I am pretty particular about my bags. I loved my cinematographer's bag more than I've ever loved a bag, but it was time to try something else.  

So I bought a CineBags Revolution Backpack.  I do not use in the manner for which it was designed, which has some minor drawbacks at times, but it's working out very well for me.  I'm sure I'll get used to it.  The Special Edition fits nicely with my signature colors.

These are the things I carry for a one-bag day (when I leave the toolboxes at home).  The gear gets heavy, so I pull the computer gear if I can not imagine a need for it on that particular day.  If I'm going to be shooting in tight quarters, I throw in some more light rigging gear from my grip box.  

The new bag holds much more than the old one, so photographing the contents presented a bit of a challenge.  All packed, my backpack looks like this:

I make movies for a living, so I like to sport CineBags.  They are useful, so I own a few.  "Life on Location" is a good way to describe the last four years of my life in Saigon.

That rain cover sure comes in handy during the Vietnamese rainy season.

More pictures and an itemized list of the contents after the jump.

"RBF" Always good for a smile.

Folks do take notice when I pull my business card from that holder.  

The backpack has many pockets, but I added a pouch because I wanted to get to my pens faster. 

This bag is designed for carrying a camera kit.  Using it to hold my tool belt and a selection of tools is sub-optimal, but not so bad.  I organize my bag so that I can immediately grab any given item with my eyes closed.  I don't think I've had time to get proficient with this one yet. 

Here's my tool belt and the other stuff which I store in the camera compartment:

Here's what I put in the other pockets:

And here's a few more pictures because my blog editor took the night off.

One can never have too many flashlights on set.  Sawyer's 99.11% DEET bug juice is a tropical essential.  

As promised, for the truly curious, here's an itemized list.  I'm prepping to shoot a feature, so I needed to make the list anyway.  I still think it's crazy, so I won't mind if you do too.

CineBags Revolution Backpack

2 - Black Diamond Neutrino Carabiners

Luggage Tag

CineBags Belt Loop Tool Pouch

Pilot G2 Retractable Pens

Retractable Sharpie

Retractable Sharpie Hi-Liters 

Small Dry-Erase Marker w/ Eraser Cap

Moleskine Notebook

ID holder

Photon Micro-Light II LED Keychain Light

Camera Compartment

Setwear Belt

Filmtools Gaffer's Glass & Lindcraft pouch

Sekonic Dualmaster L-558 Light Meter & case

Setwear 2-Pocket Light pouch

Chalk holder

Leatherman Charge Ti

Gerber box-cutter

Innova 5-LED flashlight

SetWear Clip-On Utility Pouch

Cardellini Green Laser Pointer

Retractable Sharpie Marker

Black Pilot G2 Pen

iPhone 4S w/ essential apps

Artemis

Panascout

pCam

Helios

Sunseeker

SetWear Glove Clip

SetWear Pro Leather Gloves

Gill Sailing Gloves (thumb & forefinger exposed)

Mega-Combo Wrench

Line Tester

2- Ground Lifters

Cube Tap

Pignose Adapter

Monofilament

Matte Photoblack Tape

1" Orange Gaffer's Tape

1" Light Blue Paper Tape

Skinny-Mini Cardellini Clamp

Cardellini Green Laser Pointer Clamp

Mini Cardellini Clamp

Matthews Mini-Gobo

Mini 5/8" Spud w/ 1/4-20 Male & Ring

Space Blanket

Waterproof case for iPhone 4S

Demo Reel DVD's

Front Pouch

Goldfold Notebook

Retina iPad 4G 32gb

Silicone back case

iPad Smart Cover

Laptop Pouch

17" MacBook Pro (2011)

Top Pocket

Band-Aids

Sawyer's 99.11% DEET Bug Juice

Sunblock

Tissue Paper

MBP Power Adapter & Cable

4x5.65" Tiffen 1/8 Black ProMist Filter

4x5.65" Tiffen 1/4 Black ProMist Filter

4x5.65" Tiffen 1/4 White ProMist Filter

Top Pocket Zipper Pouch

Sharpie Liquid Graphite Retractible Pencil

Retractable Sharpie - Ultra Fine Tip

Black Pilot G2 Pen

Silver Sharpie

Lens Cloth

Left Top Pocket (has CineBags artwork)

G-Tech 750gb HDD w/case

FW 800 cable

USB cable

Left Bottom Pocket

iPad Charger & Cable

Headphones

Advil

Right Top Pocket

SUUNTO MC-2G Global Navigator Compass/Clinometer

Big Measuring Tape

Small Measuring Tape

no-name ultra bright LED flashlight

Business Card Holder - with cards

Right Bottom Pocket

Petzl LED Headlamp White/Red

Spare SureFire 3.2V Li-Ion Batteries

2 - MatthTies

Optional Grip

[   ] Kino bulb holder w/ 5.8" baby pin

[   ] #2 Grip Clip w/ 5.8" baby pin

[   ] Putty Knife w/ 5.8" baby pin

Not pictured...

[   ] LaCie USB Thumb drive

[   ] Leatherman tool bits

[   ] 4-in-1 Mini Screwdriver

[   ] Earplugs

[   ] Small Red Laser Pointer

[   ] Spare AAA Batteries

[   ] Panavision Fine/Broad tip permanent marker

[   ] Pelican VB3 2-LED flashlight

[   ] Small Filmtools Lens Cleaning kit

[   ] Insert Slate