DIY Low-Cost Sandbags

[gmmllc]

Ingredients:

• Play sand
• Plastic storage bags (I used one gallon with the double zipper seal)
• Canvas zippered pencil pouch (I found some at St@ples for $2.99 in the back-to-school section)

I have not tested these, so make and use them at your own risk!

Here are some pics:

[12ozLife]

But, what if the sandwich baggy go boom?

[gmmllc]

I used heavy duty (freezer) gallon bags (not sandwich size) and filled them less than half way. Then I pressed the air out when I sealed them shut.

[12ozLife]

It is a cool idea! Thanks for posting

[Murrelet]

I have a food sealer unit and tried it with sand, as it vacuums out the air, but it made them too stiff, so you do need some air for the sand to "flow".

Next I just sealed both ends without the vacuum, and it's worked very well. Make sure your sand is dry!

[gmmllc]

Thanks for the tip. I thought about using a food sealer, but I don't have one. I couldn't help but leave a little air in the bags because I did it by hand.

Is the sealer bag plastic tough enough to use without an outer skin like the pencil pouch?

[SalaTar]

Use Beans or Beads instead of sand

[24Peter]

Use Beans or Beads instead of sand

Or camping water bags if you need to travel and don't want to take your sandbox or kitchen pantry with you...

[Murrelet]

Hi gmmllc,

Seems to work okay and the plastic is tough, I just haven't used them that much to place any great wear on them. I suspect they would be about as flexible as the pencil pouches. The advantage is they are not size restricted, except for the width.

I have used beans before but actually prefer the little round green guys (can't remember for the life of me what they are called, they are about the size of a BB), and aquarium gravel works well (and you can get it in all sorts of colours).

As to the camping water bags, I've used empty 4L wine bags. As the cap pops off with a good pry, you are able to load it with sand, beans, gravel, water, whatever. Nice chrome finish as well, might make good reflectors

[SalaTar]

Water bags didnt work for me.
I like tossing them around to much .....

[Duke]

Around Christmas time the local sporting goods stores have sales on the shot in a nylon pouch type weights you strap on your ankles. 5-13 lbs work nicely and they drape quite well over tripod supports, light supports, etc.

Tough and cheaper than regular lighting weights.

Duke

[Erik Bien]

As I needed to ship my lights recently, I picked up a few drawstring "stuff sacks" at REI -- empty, they weigh virtually nothing and fit in my overstuffed Lowel DV Creator 44 kit easily. I'll buy bags of rice or lentils to put in them at the local grocery store and donate them to a local food bank when I'm done.