Don’t get screwed: the emergency kit every photographer and videographer should have

What are the vital parts of gear you always carry with you to shoots? The essentials should include more than just camera gear to get you covered if you experience a problem with it. In this video, Jay P. Morgan gives you quick tips how to make your own emergency kit if anything goes wrong with the gear during shooting. It fits in two small boxes, yet it can get you out of a big trouble.

Jay always carries two plastic cases with dividers, and they are full of all sorts of 1/4”-20 screws. This is the one like on the tripod mount. Also, manufacturers often make accessories with this screw, so it’s universal for photographers and you can use them on all sorts of gear.

The first box

Your first box of the emergency kit should contain different kinds of 1/4”-20 screws:

• All sizes of 1/4”-20 screws: from super-short to long, they can all come in handy.
• 1/4”-20 screws with thumb tightening
• Hex head screws, again in several different sizes
• Allen wrench – hex head screws and an Allen wrench are convenient when you don’t have enough space to use a screwdriver
• 1/4”-20 screws with handles 
• 1/4”-20 knobs
• 1/4”-20 tripod pieces
• Inserts/reducers from 1/4”-20 to 3/8″-16

The second box

The second box includes a variety of tools for making 1/4”-20 holes and for threading the 1/4”-20 screws that are messed up at the end:

• Drill bits and taps
• Interior threads
• Exterior threads

These two boxes may come in handy in a variety of situations. Bolts and threads get lost and get worn out, so you will need to re-thread something, tighten it up or connect it. Jay gave a few examples in the video. Once, there were no bolts for Ken’s camera handle to put it on a C300. Then, Jay had a problem with Sony a7R II. He messed up the threads up on the bottom of it. So he used the tools from his emergency kit and re-threaded the 1/4″-20 on the bottom.

You can divide all the pieces in little compartments in the plastic case by their size and shape. This way they stay organized and you can access them quickly whenever something goes wrong. So, prepare these two boxes the next time you head to a shoot and don’t let yourself get screwed if something gets broken.

[Don’t Get Screwed: Camera Equipment Emergency Kit- Quick Tip via The Slanted Lens]