My last video was all about my clean ergonomic iPad centric desk setup. Today we’re going to talk about what I take with me when I head out of the house with my iPad Pro for the day. I’ll mostly leave my bag out of it for now because it’s in flux, and depending on what I’m doing I take different bags.
In reality I have three setups. First, if I’m walking out and around town for the day I have a fairly minimal setup because there are few unknowns and I get to travel really light. At worst I call my wife for a ride, or maybe borrow a friend’s car while their at work to get something at home.
My second setup is when I’m going out of town for the day. There are more unknowns. I may see rain, and who knows what type of work surface I’ll end up with.
My final setup is when I want to take my camera with me. I may have a tripod, and video gear, and lenses and…a whole bunch of other stuff. This setup is the most influx currently.
Let’s step through my setups.
Walking out the door for the day
First, is walking out the door for a few hours, maybe the whole day. This is my bare minimum setup. My bag choice for this is a Timbuk2 Catapult. It’s small, repels rain decent enough for a bit of riding and carries just what I need, plus a bike lock if I’m riding for the day.
Let’s get the main things out of the way. I need my wallet, iPhone 6S Plus, and iPad Pro. My current iPad Pro case is from Ztotop and work well for use around the house and anywhere I don’t need to type on my lap.
My day out keyboard is currently an Apple Magic Keyboard, but I wish I hadn’t donated my Logitech K811 to my family because they key feel on that is so much nicer.
For audio I take the Plantronics BackBeat Pro because they’re noise cancelling and comfortable. I charge theme every few weeks, and don’t really pay attention to their battery level. They’ve never been out of power.
The most recent addition to my iPad EDC has been the Powerbeats Pro. They’re fairly comfortable and will stand up to rain or if I’m riding my bike that day, I can still wear them with a helmet on.
Heading the next town over
The next type of day I do is one with more unknowns. Will I be working in the local coffee shops with lots of seating and options across the road with good workspaces, or will I get stuck with less than optimal working spaces. Will I end up walking a bunch and who knows what will happen with the rain. To accommodate these extra unknowns, I need a few extra things.
My current leading bag, and the one I’ve had for years, is the GoRuck GR1 (I did a video on this already) for this. It handles light rain well, and if it’s really bad I throw on a rain cover and I can be confident that my stuff will stay dry. This is also the bag I use when it’s a heavy rain day around town, or if I have a few stops and pickups to make, just because it has more storage than my Timbuk2 Catapult.
For this setup, my only real change is swapping out the keyboard and case in my EDC to the Brydge Keyboard (I did a video on the Brydge keyboard). The Brydge adds weight to my setup for the day, but also adds so much versatility. If I get stuck with a lap only work surface, it’s not a problem. They keyboard is great and the battery lasts for weeks.
I also add a travel mug to this because it means I can avoid the waste of using disposable cups a few times in the day. I can also top it up with water before I leave a workspace and handle my thirst.
All the rest of the stuff in my small carry is the same.
Taking Photos
This is my most in flux bag currently. I got a Peak EveryDay messenger for cheap so I’m testing it out as my photo bag. I also will take my GR1 with a Lowe Pro Viewpoint CS80. Either setup is great and fairly easy to use, though the Peak Messenger does allow a bit faster access to my camera stuff because it’s a dedicated photo bag. For that I trade off the dual shoulder carry so if it’s a long day my shoulder gets sore.
My currently camera is a Canon 90D, which marks the first time I’ve purchased a camera when it’s technology was current. I bought my previous camera, Canon 60D, in the last year it was manufactured.
My most used lens is an 18-55mm 3.5-5.6. 99% of my video is shot on this because it gives me a wide field of view and means I don’t have to have the camera so far away to get what I want in frame.
I also carry my 50mm 1.8 and 24-135mm 3.5-5.6. In fact the 24-135mm has been my favourite lens for a long time. It’s been over 50 foot waterfalls with me in the back of a whitewater kayak. It’s shot so much of my kids. The only thing I don’t love is that it’s a bit tight, hence the 18-55mm lens. If I was on a full frame camera I’d likely go with the 24-135mm all the time.
I carry two extra batteries, but if I’m full on my main battery I’ve never had to dip into the spares. I have them all numbered and when they’re full I show the numbers, and flip it over when they’re empty.
I carry a single 64GB SD card, and that’s always been enough for what I shoot. I have a 32GB spare, but it’s not actually fast enough to handle 4K footage so I need to replace that with a second 64GB card.
If I’m shooting video I’ll toss my Rhode Video Micro on the camera with it’s windscreen. Video also means I have my tripod.
My camera strap is the Peak Design Slide, and I also toss in their rain cover just in case rain happens.
The final piece of my camera carry is my GoPro Hero 7 Black. I have a spare MicroSD for this, but my 128GB card means I have 4 hours of video so I have never used the spare. I’ll also toss in the two batteries I have and a mini tripod so that I can set it up and shoot timelapse or video or…whatever with it while I’m going.
The One Thing I Never Carry with my iPad Pro
If you paid attention, you’ll note one thing I almost never carry, a spare battery to charge things. Over the last few months I’ve realized I simply don’t need it. Most recently I left the house at 9am, started working on my iPad by 9:30 and went all day working and watching videos and then doing meetings till about 10pm. Through all of this my iPad was at 43% and my iPhone was at 50%. In fact, I’m much more likely to need extra battery at home as I watch more streaming video and that seems to kill the battery. When I’m out I tend to do less of this.
Because my daily work when I’m out doesn’t eat through battery, why would I carry one with me?
The only time I can see making an exception is if I knew I had a heavy day of video editing. Clearly this would eat through my iPad battery faster and I’d need to have extra power. But for now I don’t do video editing out and about so I don’t need to worry about it and don’t carry a battery.