Per some direct emails and some user comments asking me more questions about sound bags I thought I would answer them in today’s post. The Kata Bag I just received is made for either a Sound Devices 302 Mixer or Sound Devices Mix-Pre which is 2 Channels. I like the bag a lot because it is very small and can also be worn on your waist instead of using a harness. It fits the 302 mixer, 2 211 Lectros, ok but when you add the Remote Audio BDS power system and Np1 battery. It barely all fits and if I had to add a Zaxcom ENG Hop it won’t fit easily. If I was running off AA and 9v batteries it would work fine but who wants to do that not me. But for my Mix-pre set up which is my back up kit/ Rental kit it works well that rig consists of a Mix-pre, and 2 Sennheiser G2 wireless. I used this set up the other day and it was a great bag for it. I think the bag would work better for my 302 set up if I made some new xlr cables out of star quad cable which is very thin and takes up less space. The only other thing I don’t like about the Kata Bag is that it lacks a decent size front pocket to carry spare batteries or a spare Np1. My favorite bag for my 302, 2 211, a Zaxcom Hop , Remote Audio BDS system is the Petrol PSDMB-302 its $150.00 from BH and gives me enough space for all the stuff listed above plus I can easily carry a Spare Np1, little plastic lav case with extra clips and an extra lav and both my 211 tx all inside that bag which makes it easy to carry on a plane. When using this set up I wear a small fanny pack that I have my spare 9v I power batteries, extra Antenna for Zaxcom hop, and spare Lithium AA in case I need to put the camera hop on a mini dv camera with no dc out plug and my moleskin/Transpore tape for laving people. I love this pag with my Petrol Harnass. In this same bag I have had (2) 302 mixer 4 Lectrosonics rx, Zaxcom Hop. but that leaves no room to spare. Which means I make the Camera assist or P.A carry the spare Np1 and other things if not I wear a bigger fanny pack. The other sound bag I own if I need more space is The Petrol Peg-z1 small audio bag it sells at BH for $220.00 and will fit a (2) 302, 442, Wendt x4/5 and most any other harddisk recorder except the Deva or Cantar. In this bag I have had 302 and mix-pre, Tascam Hd-p2 Harddisk recorder, 4 wireless, and enough room from everything else I needed including a , zaxcom hop, spare Np1 and even my afternoon snack. It have a huge front pocket with a mini net inside of it so you don’t lose small items. If i need to add extra space to the bag I have the Petrol Pmap Aux pouch that clips on the front of the bag it which easily fits 2 spare Np1, spare tx, spare cables and anything you may need. I still like to wear my small fanny pack with little things in it so I can access my 9v and lav supplies fast. The Petrol bags are much better than porta-brace because they allow for much more customization and you can configure them anyway you want unlike the porta-brace that tell you how to configure it. So in conclusion:
Petrol PSDMB-302 – great bag for 302, 2 Lectros, Zaxcom Hop, BDS system. The only thing about it I don;t like is the weather cover doesn’t come off like every other petrol bag so I just cut it off. I have a Petrol rain cover so I just use that in bad weather
The Petrol Peg-z1 small audio bag- Great for Any 3, 4 or 5 channel mixer and most harddisk recorder plenty of space and pockets.
Petrol Also makes the PEGZ-2 and PEGZ-3 that are at most sound stores and on BH website they are huge bags for even bigger jobs. I hope this is helpful.
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