I'm headed to Africa in June and would like to take a beanbag for vehicle photography. Can anyone recommend a brand and what they filled it with in country?
African Safari beanbag
- Thread starter jcgamble
- Start date
If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).
Larry N
New member
This is the beanbag I have used for years. I took an empty one to Tanzania and bought "beans" at a market in Arusha.
Have a great trip.
Larry
Have a great trip.
Larry
I used the Kinesis Safari Sack, because of the name 
.
Actually, it worked great. I filled it with rice in Nairobi, used it for the whole trip, and then gave the rice to our driver on the last day.
Doug Greenberg
.Actually, it worked great. I filled it with rice in Nairobi, used it for the whole trip, and then gave the rice to our driver on the last day.
Doug Greenberg
The Kinesis Safari Sack (empty) is $36 and the BLUBB (empty) is $125. That would answer the question for me right there (though for some people $125 is pocket change, so maybe I am just cheap). If it was me, in fact, I wouldn't bother with either and I would just put a sweatshirt under my lens. But as I said, I am cheap.
ricardo00
Well-known member
By any chance, have you checked with the places you are staying at? Some safari vehicles now have them available (on my recent trip to Tanzania, they did). The one I bought 15 years ago and still sometimes use in my car (think they still sell them), is from a small outfit in Texas called Vertex. I leave them in my car which often gets very hot in the summer and they are still amazingly intact. I got a couple of the Vertex molar:
Order — Vertex Photographic
Instructions for ordering our photography products. These products help photographers with camera support for camera lens. Used for all types of photography, such as nature, safari and birding where a window mount is required. Unique "Molar" bean bags a
www.vertexphoto.com
Last edited:
ajrmd
Well-known member
There are hundreds of options available from BLUBB to Lenscoat to Kinesis to TheVestGuy to making your own. A few years ago, I switched over to buckwheat shells, lighter and they don't compact. It's your choice and $.
Let me just add that there are advantages to buying an empty bean bag, especially for overseas travel. You carry it there and back in your luggage empty, and then you fill it at your destination with beans or rice. AND, I certainly got the impression that our driver, whom we did tip generously, also really appreciated getting several pounds of rice as a bonus at the end of our last day.
Thank you all for your comments. I learned a couple of things that will help with my decision.
I brought an empty lenscoat beanbag to Namibia last year. I forgot I had it with me, but I had planned to fill it with sunflower seeds.
I, too, switched to buckwheat hulls. MUCH lighter to move the bag around than if filled with rice or beans! I bought a pillow filled with buckwheat hulls on Amazon with a zippered inner lining. That went in my checked luggage with an empty bean bag. I also bought a collapsible rubber funnel. Once I got to my hotel in Africa, I filled the bean bag. After 3 trips to Africa using beans, it was a joy to use the bag filled with buckwheat hulls. I could easily move it around with one hand while still holding the D5+ 600mm f4!
The extra 3 lbs in my checked luggage was not a problem as my checked bag is usually only about 35 lbs anyway since I don't take a tripod and gimbal to Africa.
The extra 3 lbs in my checked luggage was not a problem as my checked bag is usually only about 35 lbs anyway since I don't take a tripod and gimbal to Africa.
Last edited: