Great location case for Alien Bees!

[bill c.]

I was perusing the aisles at the local Home Depot the other day, and

happened to see a soft-sided rolling tool case. Right next to it was a

display of the electrician's tool boxes I had bought the week before

as case/protectors for my Alien Bees.

 

I had bought the Bees as the heart of a quick, light location kit

when I didn't want to haul around my Comets, and they were working

fine for that. But I was keeping them in a Pelican case, and I was

wondering if I could do a bit better. I tried two of the electrician's

boxes in the case, and they fit side-by-side, so I bought it.

 

The result has been great, the smallest two-head strobe-oriented

location kit I have ever used. The electrician's boxes protect the

Bees and at the same time allow very easy access. Using Bogen 3373

stands, a pneumatic background light stand, and Wescott

super-collapsable umbrellas, I can be ready for a lot of what comes

along. The lights even fit in the in the kit with their reflectors

attached, which saves a lot of set-up and take-down time.

 

Here's a pic of the case, with a film SLR beside it for scale.

 

Bill C.

[bill c.]

Here's a shot of most of what is in the kit. Of course, it also carries the power and sync cords and a three-way plug adapter, and there's still more room inside.<div></div>

[bill c.]

Here's what the electrician's box looks like with the Alien Bee inside it. I had to remove a bunch of straps and metal fittings on the outside of the electrician's box to cut down on weight, clutter, and to keep it from scratching the lights.<div></div>

[bill c.]

Here's how the Alien Bees inside their boxes fit in the case. (BTW, these images are well under 100KB and less than 450 pixels across, so I have no idea why they aren't displaying below the postings). -BC-

[bill c.]

Here's a shot of the way the flaps on the electrician's boxes close over the Alien Bees to protect them from the lightstands and etc. that gets put on top of them. The sides of the electrician's boxes and the flaps have a hard but flexible component to them that protects the lights and at the same time allows them to adapt to the light's shape a little bit.<div></div>

[bill c.]

Both cases are made by the McGuire-Nicholas company. The Electrician's Power Box is product 1DM-22128, but I'm afraid I can't find the label off the rolling tool bag to get the product number off of it.

 

While the whole kit may be less expensive than what you'd pay for something made by Domke or another premium photo-case maker, that doesn't mean it's cheap. The rolling bag is about $40 and the electrician's boxes are $29, so the whole case kit will run close to $100. But the lights are protected by what is effectively a double-walled system, and as you can see by the first image the kit is surprisingly small for what it's got in it. It's about half the volume and weight of the Pelican, but I'll still use the Pelican when I have to do tough travel or go by plane.

 

Best regards, hope some found this helpful. -Bill C.

[nghi_hoang]

Bill, this is awesome. Thank you! I don't have the Bees, but the White Lightning X series. Still, this is very helpful.

[bill c.]

Glad you liked it! I found the label from the rolling case. It is a McGuire-Nicholas 20" rolling tool bag, product #1DM-22320W. McGuire-Nicholas' phone number is 1-800-468-7000 (USA only).

 

-Bill C.

[barry_kenstler]

Thanks for passing on the info. Considering the significant cost of high-quality strobe cases, I'm sure others will adapt your ideas to their gear. I may be making a trip down to Home Depot this very weekend.

[brian_tao]

Thanks for all the effort into taking the pictures to illustrate your find, Bill! I already have two of the AB padded cases, but it would be nice to tuck everything into a single bag (and rollable is even nicer). It looks like you have fairly compact light stands too... I'm not sure if my Manfrottos (which extend to 13 feet) will fit inside. So for now I'm stuck carrying a longish canvas bag for the lighting and backdrop stands.

[bill c.]

Brian- Yeah, the kit is limited in terms of how big the stands can be. The Bogen 3373's can go up to about 7 feet plus, and you'll notice that I have a weight at the bottom of the stand for stability.

 

The main things I plan to use the kit for are location headshots and bridal portraits. The background stands fit in another, longer case, and the hair light is a little 285 that fits on top of the BG stand. This way I can deal with the problems of setting up a portrait venu at a church, and then be able to quickly rip it down and bug out to the reception. I'll still have the big stuff for fill at the party, if it's a really massive room, but the tear down after that isn't such a wild rush unless I have another job later.

 

I've been doing the headshots lately with just one light, and it's a dream to carry the background (a folding system), all the lights, and the camera in just one easy trip from the car. I used to haul in the Comet 2400 WS pack and two heads in a custom case, which weighs a ton.

 

Now if I could just figure out how to get a 22" beauty light into that little rolling case... -Bill C.