I have just come back from a most frustrating afternoon at the V8 Supercars at Wanneroo Park raceway (aka Barbagello). Cutting a long story short, I am not enamoured at the moment towards over pompous officials who have no idea what is going on around them, and do not view what are obviously expensive cameras – video and still – with tripods and all the fruit you need for outside shoots and interviews as tools of trade of a journalist.

Consequently, I came home and watched the thing on TV; after re-jigging the magazine layout that was to contain the aforementioned story / interviews and wasting four hours of my life. However, while awaiting someone / anyone to make a decision after the disappearance of my media pass, I took advantage in the lull of stupidity to take stock of my travelling backpack used on such occasions.

Let me explain, I have three backpacks. One is used for in-the-field video trips, a second for casual day to day use where an opportunity may happen to get a shot or video and the third is when I am seriously going away for a week or so. Today, was a day for backpack one.

All large equipment is carried in hPC cases in the back of the car until I arrive at where I am going. This includes cameras, any lighting, mics, tripods and so on. It is the smaller stuff I want to mention here, a sort of survival kit of things that may not be used every time, but is there just in case.

There is no rocket science to this, but it amazes me how many people don’t think of these basics, even people simply on holiday, and therefore miss the opportunity to get either the ‘money shot’ or capture that one-off moment. Here goes:

* Jeweller’s screwdriver kit
* Basic filter kit (gradient grey, blue, ND)
* Small table top tripod (from eBay – around $10)
* Spare batteries
* Spare SD cards
* Lens cleaning kit
* Sealable plastic bags as emergency camera ‘raincoats’
* Garbage bags *2 (you never know)
* Torch and spare batteries
* Lightweight waterproof jacket
* Spare sunglasses
* Cap
* Occy strap *2
* Notebook and paper
* Voice recorder
* Basic first aid kit
* Swiss Army Knife
* Dry socks

As I said, pretty basic but useful and can keep me going in most situations. Maybe my Boy Scout years were useful after all. I am sure there are some things I could add to this; what do you carry with you? Please let me and others know!