First road trip w/ 4x5 and film storage suggestions

[photobum]

I use a very old and beat up Omaha Steak foam cooler. These are much thicker than the coolers you can buy in the store. The top is held on by a strip of duct tape, looks funky. I leave it open at night by the air conditioner, then sealed up in the van during the day. Works for me. A matching cooler holds the camera bag. Hide in plain sight. The tripod goes under a blanket.

[mikebarger]

I'm making my first 4x5 road trip to Topsail Island for a week, then a week in the Smokies on the NC/TN border.

I was lucky enough to make a good score on holders on a store closing sale, hoping I don't have to unload/load on the road.

I have a small keyboard vacuum I plan to bring and igloo coolers for the film.

Mike

[frednewman]

Hi GP - One other suggestion is when storing exposed negatives - I would recommend putting each 4x5 negative in a 4x5 negative sleeve to prevent scratching of your negatives. I found this out the hard way - if there is any dirt, no matter how small will cause scratches on your negative just from the movement of the car.

Fred Newman

[mikebarger]

Good call Fred!

Mike

[Vaughn]

Hi GP - One other suggestion is when storing exposed negatives - I would recommend putting each 4x5 negative in a 4x5 negative sleeve to prevent scratching of your negatives. I found this out the hard way - if there is any dirt, no matter how small will cause scratches on your negative just from the movement of the car.

Fred Newman

And I had some high humidity static discharges happen between negatives (4x5) stored in a film box when I bicycle toured in New Zealand for 5 months. I might have been able to avoid that by just sticking some padding in the film box to keep the film from rattling around in the box.

Vaughn

[Dan Henderson]

I also wet dust my Changing Tent before and after reloading - to cut down on the accumulating dust and fine grit that seems to get everywhere

Martin

What is "wet dusting?" I recently acquired a changing tent but have not had the need to use it. I will be taking it on a trip next week.

Thanks,
Dan

[clayne]

What is "wet dusting?" I recently acquired a changing tent but have not had the need to use it. I will be taking it on a trip next week.

Thanks,
Dan

Damp rag wipe-down basically.

[lilmsmaggie]

These packs look like something worthwhile investigating: http://www.icepackstore.com

They are usuable and have multiple uses:

Cut into individual cubes and used in lunch boxes.

Cut into a strip of six or seven cubes long and wraped around thehead for headaches
or used on the neck for neck pain

Cut to size to fit small coolers; for larger coolers, create an ice
blanket by putting one sheet on bottom and one on top

Used in a sealed cooler or container when shipping perishables such as seafood or chocolates

If icing down beverages in a cooler, add wet ice to fill in around cans, then cover with ice packs to keep the ice frozen for hours (and drinks much colder!) not to mention film.

[Martin Aislabie]

Damp rag wipe-down basically.

An old Linen Tea Towel or something similar is good - you need to make sure what ever you choose doesn't leave almost as much of itself behind as you wipe up dust.

The black material at the bottom of the changing tent is very good at showing up specs of dust and dirt - just make sure you don't sweep them into the folds of the front zippered flap otherwise they fall back inside when you do up the zippers

Martin