My Lockdown Tether-Case Project

During the last lockdown, I decided to make a custom Tether-Case. I shoot most of my commercial work tethered to a laptop. In the past, I rested the laptop on my lighting case. However, this was not ideal if I needed to grab something from the bag and a client or creative director was peering over it, or when moving locations and having to unplug and repack everything.

There are a couple of really cool looking companies that make tether cases, notably Inovativ, a US company with a plethora of perfect looking Digi-kit. But their case was too big & expensive for me, so I decided to make something that was just right for my needs.  https://www.inovativ.com/shop/digisystem/components/digicase-pro/

Also iWorkCase from Germany, but they only make a large case which fits both 13” & 15”. https://iworkcase.com

BUILDING THE CASE…

STEP 1: I started with an SKB ISeries 1610-5 Waterproof Case. This is almost identical in style to a Peli-case but much smaller in size than your classic Peli 1510. I wanted the new case to fit as close to the laptop as possible. I have a 13" USB-C Macbook Pro with 4 USB-C ports, so I'd also need space to get to all of the ports and leave cables plugged in when the case was closed. I then mocked up how the case would need to work using an easily cut, black foam-board. It was important to make the laptop sit at the right level so you could rest your hands on the case and use the track-pad comfortably.

STEP 2: I realised that it would be best if the dividing sections were sloped slightly so that if the laptop were to slip. After cutting and sanding six dividing wooden boards, I turned them into two removable sections. Each section had a slot wide enough for a battery pack or a USB-C Lacie Rugged Hardrive. I also cut away slots to allow airflow next to the MacBook's air vents and for cable next to the four USB-C Ports.

STEP 3: Once the side sections were built I cut down into the two pieces that the laptop would sit on, this meant that when the laptop was in the case it would not be able to move horizontally. The final wooden component was the backboard, which just had to be cut to size and sanded. To this, I could then attach either a laptop shade or kit bags via strips of velcro.

STEP 4: Once all of the main sections were created, it was important for me to make the thing look as cool and professional as possible (I am a photographer after all!). This meant painting everything in Red and getting stuck in with some foam pads from Amazon. I use little molle bags to organise the kit and cables that go into the box. Although, since using the case on shoots I usually use the back of the case to keep a collapsable screen shade which I built.

BITS & PIECES:

SKB ISeries 1610-5 inc Vat. & Delivery £89.53

Two sheets of A3 foam board £12

Two sheets of 5mm Wooden MDF board £15

Brick Red paint £5

Sandpaper £5

1m of Velcro strips from Amazon £4.50

Assorted foam pads from Amazon £6

Clip strap from Amazon £4.50

Total: £141.53

THE CASE IN ACTION…

VERDICT…

Having been able to use the Tether-case on a number of shoots post lockdown, it's been brilliant. Moving locations is much faster, I simply have to unplug the tether cable & close the lid. The powerpack & hard-drive can stay plugged in, and I can leave Lightroom running too. I keep a wireless bose speaker under the Mac so we can all play music during our shoots too! Last week we were shooting in a stream as well, and I was so much more comfortable having the laptop tucked away inside a hard case compared to precariously resting on my lighting bag.

This also means that now my gear breaks down much more logically:

1. Camera bag - backpack - cameras & lenses

2. Lighting bag - lights, batteries, grip, etc

3. Stand bag - Lighting stands, tripod, collapsable camping stool, light modifiers & umbrellas

4. Digi-case - Laptop, USB-C power, hard drives, music.

Thanks for reading! 

If you have any questions email me at sam@sampeat.co.uk.

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