when you're a one-person crew, every item you carry has to earn its place. there's nobody else to hold your backup bag. there's no production van parked around the corner with spares. whatever's in your bag is what you've got.
i've been doing solo shoots for years — docs, corporate work, social content, behind-the-scenes. over time i've developed a packing checklist that covers the essentials without turning me into a pack mule. here's what's on it and why.
the golden rule
if you can't carry it comfortably for an hour, you've packed too much.
i'm serious. the difference between a productive solo shoot and a miserable one often comes down to whether you're fighting your bag all day. every time you stop to adjust a strap or dig through a pocket, you're losing moments. and on a solo shoot, moments are all you've got.
one bag. one trip from the car. that's the target.
camera and lenses
the body, obviously. plus one zoom and maybe one prime if i know i'll need it. i used to carry three lenses everywhere. now i carry one zoom and i'm faster for it.
the zoom (usually a 24-70 or a 28-200 if i want range) stays on the body. the body goes in a WRAP and into the main compartment of my bag. if i'm bringing a second lens, it gets its own WRAP. (if you're still using socks or t-shirts for this, read stop wrapping your lenses in socks — i learned the hard way.)
no lens caps. the wrap covers both elements. this saves me about thirty seconds of fumbling per lens swap, which adds up.
audio
this depends on the job. for interviews: a wireless lav kit. for run-and-gun: the on-camera mic. for both: a wireless kit with an on-camera backup.
everything audio-related goes in one POUCH. the large one, usually. wireless transmitter, receiver, lav mic, spare batteries for the transmitter, a windscreen, and a short xlr cable. one pouch, one grab, done.
the reason this matters: audio gear is the stuff you're most likely to forget. it's small, it's got multiple pieces, and you don't think about it until you're standing in front of your subject going "hold on, i need to find the receiver." having it all in one labeled pouch eliminates that.
power
separate POUCH. medium size. in it:
- two camera batteries (charged, obviously — i mark charged batteries with a small piece of green CINETAPE on the contact end)
- laptop charger
- one small power bank
- one usb-c cable
that's it. this pouch goes in my bag first and comes out last. it's the one thing that can ruin an entire shoot if you forget it.
the battery marking trick is worth explaining. when a battery is fully charged, i put a tiny strip of green tape on it. when i pull a dead battery off the camera and replace it, i peel the tape off the dead one. at a glance, i can see how many charged batteries i have left without turning anything on.
storage and data
my main ssd lives on a SCREENMOUNT on my laptop. it comes with me automatically because it's literally attached to the computer. (i wrote a whole post about why this matters: the dangling ssd problem.)
in my small POUCH: two sd cards (both formatted and ready), a card reader, and a spare empty ssd. the spare is there for backup offloads. if i fill a card on set, i can dump it to the backup drive on the spot.
label your cards. i use small pieces of CINETAPE on the card case. (i have a whole labeling system that goes deeper on this.) "A" and "B" for active cards. "FULL" gets an orange tape flag when it needs to be offloaded. this sounds neurotic until you're on location with four identical-looking sd cards and no idea which ones have footage on them.
accessories pouch
the small POUCH holds the things i always need but never want to dig for:
- usb-c adapter
- spare sd card
- lens cloth (although the inside of my WRAP does this job too)
- CINEMARKER
- two small rolls of CINETAPE
- a couple of cable ties
this is the "everything else" pouch. it catches the small items that would otherwise float around the bottom of my bag getting scratched and lost.
the packing order
this matters more than people think. i pack in reverse order of when i'll need things:
- power pouch goes in first (bottom of bag). i won't need this until mid-shoot at the earliest, and the weight sits well at the bottom.
- wrapped camera goes in next, standing upright against the back panel for padding.
- audio pouch goes in the middle. accessible but not in the way.
- small accessories pouch goes near the top or in a side pocket. i reach for this constantly.
- laptop goes in the laptop sleeve. ssd is already attached.
everything has a place. every place is a pouch or a wrap. nothing rattles, nothing touches anything it shouldn't.
the pre-shoot check
before i leave the house, i run a thirty-second check:
- batteries charged? (green tape check)
- cards formatted? (quick look)
- ssd has space? (already know because it's been mounted to my laptop since last session)
- audio kit complete? (open the pouch, visual scan, close it)
- cinemarker works? (quick test line on a piece of tape)
this isn't a formal checklist i print out. it's a habit. it takes less than a minute and it's saved me from at least a dozen "oh no" moments.
what i leave behind
just as important as what you pack:
- tripod stays home unless i specifically know i'll need it. most of my solo work is handheld or on a monopod. a tripod in a one-person setup is dead weight 80% of the time.
- external monitor stays home unless it's an interview day. the camera's built-in screen is fine for run-and-gun. one less thing to mount, power, and cable.
- lighting stays home unless i'm doing controlled indoor work. solo filmmaking with lights means you're also the gaffer and the grip and the director and the sound person. that's too many hats. i work with available light and a small reflector.
- the "just in case" lens. you know the one. the 85mm you never use but always pack because what if. leave it. you won't miss it.
the one-bag philosophy
the whole point of this list is to fit a professional shooting kit into a single bag. not a pelican case and a backpack and a shoulder bag. one bag.
it forces you to make choices. and choices make you faster. when you've got fifty things to choose from, you hesitate. when you've got exactly what you need and nothing more, you just shoot.
the gear doesn't make the film. the filmmaker makes the film. your job is to make sure the gear doesn't get in the way.
pack light. pack smart. go make something.
build your solo kit. start with the POUCH 3-size bundle, add a WRAP, and mount your ssd with SCREENMOUNT. or browse everything →
more from THE CRAP TIMES:
- the dangling ssd problem — why your ssd shouldn't hang by a cable
- stop wrapping your lenses in socks — the real cost of bad gear protection
- what's actually in my bag — my full daily carry breakdown
- labeling your gear so you don't lose it on set — a simple system that saves hours
