It's boring. But I have to document my plein air stuff.
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I love my large plein air setup so much but.... the schlep.
It is a hard schlep and I have been trying to figure out how to make it better.
My awesome Yellowstone box weighs 7 lbs and my awesome heavy duty tripod weighs about 6 lbs.
So I'm 13 lbs in with no other gear. (this is also a $600 setup)
Remember, I walk everywhere and have subway stairs and train-standing etc to deal with.
No car to carry my load.
Because my box doesn't fit in my backpack, I have been carrying it separately and that is not my favorite. Not at all.
So I started looking at other setups, other configurations.
I don't want to get another pochade box... well actually I do want a Bitterroot Lite but that's almost $400 so.......now is not the time for that. I looked at a lot of the other plein air products out there and none of them appeal to me like my Alla Prima Pochade boxes, which are ingeniously designed.
Besides, my large setup is so sturdy I am basically windproof.
I LOVE being windproof.
So, no new box. What else can be streamlined? My dang paint weighs a LOT. I need to consolidate that...again.
My backpack. My backpack! I'm using a laptop backpack and it probably weighs a pound or 2.
I could get a new lightweight bag that is large enough to carry the Yellowstone!
So off to Amazon I went. Hiking backpacks, other packs. I found backpack airplane carry-ons that would fit my box. Then I looked at the weight. Nope.
Then....then I found THIS.
It has the right dimensions and weighs 7 ounces. And is only $18. WOW, this might work!
AND I ALREADY HAVE ONE AT HOME
THAT HAS BEEN LANGUISHING IN MY STUDIO
FOR ABOUT 8 YEARS.***
This year has been freaky-bizarre with stuff that has been in my studio for YEARS that is finding new purpose.
The Yellowstone box fits in it beautifully and there is room for all my other stuff too.
I think this will work. I tried it on. It's good.
Test run happens Saturday.
WHY DID THIS TAKE ME SO LONG?
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I bought this bag at..... maybe the museum of natural history, idk why I remember that, I could be completely wrong... it was back in my early days of plein airing when I was using my first 9x12 box and figuring everything out. I remember taking it out once and not liking it with the 9x12 box. The dimensions and shape of that box are different and it just didn't work. I forgot about the bag completely until I recently came across it looking for my camera batteries before recital.
Isn't it exciting to find purpose for something you already have! Good luck with your test run. I hope it all works out.
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