Lavs in Wind

[Arnold F.]

I have plenty of experience with hiding lavs but not as much in protecting a COS11 and B6, mounted exposed and visible ENG style, from skyscraper-top wind.  I feel like the basic wind protection they come with might not be enough and am concerned how overcovers and/or a lav furry will look.

A.

[John Blankenship]

I've had good success, wind-wise, with both Overcovers and Microcats.  I've been using mostly the Overcovers these days both on the outside and under clothing.

Depending upon the clothing color the Overcovers are sometimes less obvious than a naked mic.

In one case the talent was doing walk-n-talk standups on an extremely windy hill overlooking a lake.  I put a Sanken just inside of the front flap of the shirt with an Overcover in place.  One of the grips held a 4x4 floppy to the side to help diminish the wind, however since it was a really wide shot that only helped a tad.

Everyone (including me, I might add) was surprised how clean the sound was in almost gale conditions.

One caveat when placing the mic inside the flap of a shirt is that if the wind is coming from a direction that the flap "scoops" the wind, it'll make the wind noise worse.

John Blankenship