Organizing my light stands and gear

Since I don't have a dedicated space for shooting I needed a way to store my light stands, softboxes, backdrop stand, etc. I decided that being able to roll the whole kit from one end of the house to the other would be the best solution. I took a standard wire rack shelf (love these things) and added good casters. Then I used 4 and 6 inch PVC to create a set of storage spaces. The Ravelli ABSL kit fits on the end with the Westcott 7" Umbrella. Everything else is setup so that nothing breaks the plane of the shelf unit. That should minimize the number of times I ding the walls rolling it around. With sand bags on the bottom, it is plenty stable. It is not hard to move around with my wood floors. The plastic boxes hold swivels, diffusers, egg crate grids, etc. The top shelf has my bags.

That's a nice set up.
All this stuff can end up all over the place
and takeover a room.

Very nicely done!!!

thanks for the idea, i think i will be doing something like this.

sick setup! i would definitely copy your rig if I only had that much equipment.

Awesome Setup! I definitely need to do this!

How much did this cost in terms of materials?

bigburpsx3 wrote in post #17397335
How much did this cost in terms of materials?

Estimate - more than you would think.

The base wire rack was $50 on sale at HD.
Casters - $18.
2 x 2' of 6"PVC sections - $20
12 x 4" end caps - $30
12 x 4" couplers (acting as collars) - $20
2 cans of flat black (wire rack was already black) - $12
30' of 4" PVC = $40
2 x 6" drain grates - $10

Total - around $200. OMG - Don't tell the wife!

Good idea, thanks for sharing.

Is it just me, or are the photos not showing up for anyone else? Would love to see this setup (I also have the Ravelli ABSL kit).

Try reloading the page, a couple of times if necessary.

How do you keep the tubes from shifting? I expanded the photo but I don't see any fixtures to keep them in place while you're moving the rack.

codearachnid wrote in post #17435110
How do you keep the tubes from shifting? I expanded the photo but I don't see any fixtures to keep them in place while you're moving the rack.

There are two banks of 6 pipes (3 front, 3 rear). Each bank is glued together (pvc cement) and then rests on the forward part of the mid shelf. The long pipes also rest on the lower shelf. A couple of strategic zip ties (just 2 or 3 per bank - on the side and bottom) keeps each bank in place.

For the side pipes, there are 2 x 6" and one 4" pipe. They are zipped tied together. The 6 inch pipes have a drain grate on the bottom that rests on the bottom shelf. More zip ties to keep it all in place. The grate has been trimmed so that not much sticks out around the outer edges.

mike1812 wrote in post #17434904
Is it just me, or are the photos not showing up for anyone else? Would love to see this setup (I also have the Ravelli ABSL kit).

Did these come up for you? Hosted on smugmug.

really really digging this.
I bought a giant calumet trap case to keep all my stands etc and a light stand bag for the few i use when i'm mobile.
this is awesome, i'd love to have everything laid out so i can just grab what i need.. kinda like a gun rack haha. no space, so the trap case stays under the bed unless i need something!