George, My Dead Body

How do you lug your equipment around?  As a one-man operation who often brings six light stands, two light boxes, two backdrops, a crossbar, boom, two large reflectors, and a tripod along with two camera bodies, four lenses, and three flashes, this question has plagued me.  The real solution would be to stop bringing so much stuff and learn to work my surroundings better.  And I'm moving in that direction.  But sometimes you have to bring a full studio with you.

So I started thinking outside the box.  Photography equipment is expensive, and that goes for good quality luggage as well.  I wanted something big enough to house my 45" cross bar, have wheels for rolling, handles for carrying, sturdy enough to hold 70 pounds of odd shaped equipment, and yet be somewhat compact for storage. The answer came, strangely enough, in the form of a golf bag.  I chose the CaddyDaddy Constrictor 2 Golf Bag Travel Cover. Despite its name, it's not a cover but a full bag.  I can fit my smaller light stand bag (with 4 light stands), plus two additional light stands, my big tripod, two collapsible light boxes, two 6-9 backdrops with cross bar, three umbrellas, a travel bag of equipment doodads is the side pockets, and still have room for a small electric fan. It's huge and heavy, but it has rollers.  I only wish it had a shoulder strap... but then again maybe not.  It's really heavy.  For $80 it does more and costs less than traditional photography luggage.  I call it George, my dead body.