Throughout your career, you will acquire many items of equipment, ranging from the marginally useful (‘I can't imagine why I keep carting this around’) to the absolutely vital (‘Where the – expletive deleted – is it, I distinctly remember putting it in the kit?’). When you do purchase your own equipment, make sure you keep any equipment manuals in a safe place, and photocopy the parts you most often use for reference and carry them with you if necessary.
If you have several items of one type, e.g. rechargeable batteries or XLR cables, it is good working practice to have them individually identifiable. In this way, you can for example establish a routine for cycling through the batteries, ensuring each gets regular use; and should problems develop on location, faulty items can be easily identified when you return to your base.
If anyone else uses your equipment (even a producer or director listening on headphones for a few minutes) always check that it is still working correctly before you pack it away at the end of the working day. You should also establish a routine for regular equipment maintenance.
Headphones
Without a doubt, the one item you MUST have is a pair of headphones, and you should take a reasonable amount of care when choosing your own pair. Your decision will in the main depend on the types of location and shoot you undertake on a day to day basis. Unfortunately no one pair will be right for every location, although after a couple of years, you'll probably own several pairs anyway. The points you should consider when purchasing your main pair are:
The quality of sound reproduction. You can only tell if your sound is of the highest quality so long as your headphones are capable of faithfully reproducing it. Seek professional advice from other sound recordists, and be prepared to spend a reasonable amount of money.
For the majority of location applications, you'll need ‘open’ headphones that allow you to hear some peripheral sound, as opposed to ‘closed’ cans which seek to minimize this. Alternatively, should the environment be extremely noisy, then you may find a pair of closed headphones are preferable. However, in these particular circumstances, depending on the noise level, and assuming you're simply trying to ensure intelligible speech, you may find that a small pair of ear phones worn under ear defenders would be your best option.
Working single person operation, you may prefer the option of a single headset to cover one ear only.
You will have to wear the headphones for long periods of time. Ensure the ones you choose are comfortable.
The ear pads on headphones often wear out, and/or become dirty. Ensure you choose a pair that have easily removable pads for cleaning and/or replacement.
Always carry a spare set. In an emergency, a cheap lightweight headset can be a lifesaver. They have the added advantage of being available for production use.
Basic tools
A very personal choice, but the most common, and vital are:
Screwdrivers – pack of jewellers with both cross head and flat blades.
Multi-function tool – a Swiss army knife or Leatherman (or a sharp blade/penknife at minimum).
Kit bag
There is a vast range of bags to choose from, look in any photographic shop for an everyday run bag, with:
Both a (comfortable) shoulder strap and carrying handle/s
Waterproof
Padded
Containing moveable internal sections
At least a couple of exterior zipped pockets.
Heavier duty bags specifically designed for video equipment can be obtained from specialist video dealers, details of which may be obtained from professional organizations.
The following are close to essential to keep in it:
Gaffer tape
Range of dry cells (do not buy too many at once, unless you use them frequently, as they have a finite shelf life, and it would be foolish to find all your batteries expiring at the same time).
Audio cassettes
XLR cables
Spare windshields and clips for radio/clip mics
Phono cables
Adapters
Test tape
Pen and/or marker
Torch (at least one).
Plus of course, whichever mics you're using on the shoot, together with their windshields and clips. Also useful:
Crocodile clips
Sash cord
4-way mains socket and RCD
Head cleaning tape
Fuses and fuse wire.
Many sound recordists are dab hands at performing running repairs on equipment. There's nothing worse than having a whole shoot come to a grinding halt simply because a plug has come off a lead, and you've no spare. Consider the following as part of a professional outfit:
Soldering iron (and/or capable of 12 V operation on location) and solder
Wire strippers
Test meter
Insulating tape.
Accessories in extremis
Depending upon the location, and the conditions (weather) and other unforeseen circumstances under which you're operating, you may find the following items useful/essential:
Earpieces
Antiseptic cleaning wipes
Parallel boxes (for feeding several headphones/earpieces)
Hairdryer (speeds up equipment drying-out process)
Direct inject box (balance transformer)
Blu-tack
Clear sticky tape
Plastic bags (waterproof)
Pouch/es for radio mic transmitters
Battery charger
Handsets (walkie-talkies) and their chargers
Thick rubber, for use under stands
Rubber matting, to cover cable runs
Whistle
Cotton wool
Needle and thread
Adhesive Velcro pads/strips
Safety pins
Tissues and toilet roll
Toupee tape
Drapes
Folding chair
Condoms (non-lubricated, waterproof).
XLR cables
Since these are available in different colours, and/or with different coloured glands, I'd advise having as many colours as possible, since it assists with identification. For the professional with the wire strippers and soldering iron, XLR cables should be wired to the IEC standard, X = external – pin 1 – ground: L = live – pin 2 – live signal/hot: R = return – pin 3.
Were all this not enough, you'll almost certainly find yourself being asked to carry various items of equipment for others, such as video tapes and camera batteries (essential if you're working by yourself!). In which case, you'll probably find that two medium-sized bags are easier to manage than one big one (and you may occasionally manage to persuade a colleague to lend a helping hand, especially if your gear comes in easy to handle pieces – see also, Flight cases and packing, below).
Mixer, pole and mic stands
Are considered in Sections 22, 27 and 28, Sound recordist operation: mixer; pole operation; and multiple contributors, as is the use of a sound trolley in Section 28.
Hire
No matter how much you own, you're eventually bound to find yourself working with equipment belonging to the client/broadcaster, or hired for the shoot. When you collect the equipment, make sure you obtain a list of every item, together with any reference or serial numbers. This will assist you to avoid the possibility of overlooking anything when you return them, especially if they are in your care for several days or more.
Whatever you do, always treat equipment with respect, especially if is not your own. Should you find it to be faulty, report the fault to the owner as soon as possible (you certainly have no choice if the fault has brought the shoot to a halt). When returning faulty equipment, ensure you attach a label/note briefly outlining the fault, place it so that it cannot be missed when the equipment is received at base/hirer's, and notify them by phone at the earliest opportunity.
Flight cases and packing
All equipment should be fully protected for travel.
Pack in logical order, with equipment for immediate use on top for easy access.
Soft bags are good for in car and around locations, but not for airlines, as baggage handling can be severe, expect dents in cases.
For practicality, it's best to have two or more medium cases (easier to carry, and more flexible to stow in hired vehicles, which are always smaller than you wanted) than one/two big ones (too heavy), but it's advisable to check with the airline before travelling with regard to excess baggage, do they assess it by weight or number of pieces?
If you are carrying rechargeable batteries, travel with them charged, and split them between cases, if you have more than one – this helps spread the load, as they are often heavy, and should the worst happen, and one case goes missing, you have at least some means of powering your equipment
Select sturdy cases, well padded, with lots of foam in the interior – many of the specialist cases available allow you to fashion your own interior from the segmented foam.
Gaffer tape over the exterior clips/securing straps/locks to protect them from damage/accidental opening, and carry a roll of gaffer tape separately to re-seal after customs inspection.
Depending on the countries you intend to visit, you may find it invaluable to have the facility to lock each case.
Label and number each case.
Keep a list of the cases together with a guide to the contents of each, it's useful both for inspection by authorities, and for assisting in your re-packing at the end of a shoot. Take several copies of your equipment list with you (including serial numbers and item values). You will need this if you are using a carnet, and it is always useful to have it for your own records.
Camcorders should be hand carried at all times, albeit in some form of easily portable protective bag/case. For ease of stowage in aircraft overhead lockers you may choose a bag/case which more easily contains your equipment if you remove the lens (but use lens caps), viewfinder, mic (if removable) and battery and pack them around the camcorder body. It is always advisable to keep these items with you, together with a cassette in the camcorder for minimum shooting requirements, in case you should encounter any problems with lost baggage at your destination.
Vehicle
Your vehicle should not carry any distinguishing marks or logos if you intend to operate in sensitive areas. It should have an alarm system fitted, and if it's an estate, it should be fitted with security locks on the tailgate and a security cage in the rear compartment (check your insurance requirements against these items). In the event of an accident, the security cage prevents the equipment in the rear of the vehicle from being catapulted into the front passenger area, minimizing serious injury. Whatever your vehicle, never carry large, heavy or bulky equipment in the passenger compartment, always ensure that it is stowed safely and securely within the cage or luggage space.
The vehicle should also contain:
Fire extinguisher
Road maps
First aid kit.
Establish a routine service/maintenance schedule for your vehicle, and be prepared to hire a replacement when necessary.
Add-ons
Whatever equipment you use on a day-to-day basis, whether hired or owned by your client or yourself, you're bound to find that after a while it doesn't quite work the way you'd like, or that some of the switches or other functions/controls could be better sited for your purposes. I've already mentioned that many recordists are dab hands with a soldering iron, and frequently make up their own ‘bodge-boxes’ and similar devices, which can often take on the aspect of reject props from a sci-fi shoot.
If these items are completely stand-alone, all well and good, but some of these ‘boxes’ may require mounting on, or close to, other items of equipment. When the equipment is your own, you may treat it as you like, but I must reiterate what I said before about treating other people's equipment with due care and respect. Seek permission before you add any extraneous items adjacent to, or on top of a third party's equipment. You may only be using gaffer tape to attach it, which you may reasonably expect to be pretty simple to peel off after a shoot. But it only has to become damp (accidentally) and you can be left with some form of mark or mess on the equipment body, which may be difficult to remove satisfactorily.
The use of adhesive Velcro strips or patches to attach small, lightweight items to equipment makes for a tidier and more professional look to the combination overall. This is also a better option to take if the attached item has to have a dry-cell changed at regular intervals (or any other internal switching), as it's much easier to remove and replace quickly.
But those Velcro patches are there for all time, and you do not want to stick them on equipment in a position whereby any woollen clothing (or similar material) will come into (permanent!) contact with the patch/strip. Of course, you will have made sure that the Velcro ‘hooks’ are on the small item to be attached, not on the main equipment, but in my experience, the patches that are left ‘bare’ still attract any stray fluff/hairs, etc. in the vicinity. So, if you do utilize this method of attachment, at the same time as you stick the original item on the equipment, have made up a flat plastic or thin metal Velcro-backed item of the same dimensions to place over the patch/strip on the equipment, for when the additional item is not in use.