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Rain and wind protection


Constantin

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Next month I have a project coming up, where I'll be spending two weeks on one of the isles in the North Sea. I've been there before and know that it can get very windy and very wet quickly. In fact, even if it's not actually raining, there is a lot dew from the sea (if we are at the beach, which we will be).

So far I have kind of gotten by using a Rycote regular kit with windjammer and the sock. When it got wet I added the Rainman.

But this isn't ideal, as the Rainman isn't really made to go over the windjammer.

A friend of mine recommended putting a dry condom over the mic. This will dull the sound, but it'll keep the mic dry and wind-free. This could be only for the worst of bad conditions.

So what else there when it's raining and windy?

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My two go to's are:

A home made rain cover over the fur for heavy water situations.  I haven't tracked down exactly what the material is, I originally purchased a cut to size air filter from home Depot and threw out the frame.  The filter material has a fine synthetic thread and a fairly tight weave.  It has little discernable effect on the sound, and essentially no water gets through, even after long exposure to rain.

Also have been impressed with the effectiveness of a cinella piano.  I don't use the rain cover they sell, just the fur, but the rain cover comes with a bottle of nickwax.  Coating the fabric (neoprene?) cover with nickwax and the medium fur, and I haven't had any water get inside, even when shooting I heavy rains for hours.

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I'll second the Cinela Piano with the Kelly. I was out a couple of weekends ago in the middle of a rain storm, and generally rain all day heavy at times. I had the CMIT (I know! it actually does fine in rain and humidity!) inside the Cinela rig without any issues. Listening back later in the control room it sounded really really good! Ofcourse the camera department had to stop shooting because the Red got a bit too wet/moist but sound was fine!

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Dry condoms + cable ties worked well for me in water risky situations on transmitters. When I experimented with tools back in the days, I've tried one over a 416, but the sound was rather poor above water. The test was mainly to improvise hydrophonic applications, that worked more or less. If you want to go the condom-on-mics-road, for shorter mics, you might try finger stalls instead of condoms. Ask for "Fingerlinge" in you local pharmacy or cut some rubber glove. This will obviously only protect the top of the mic, not the XLR.

I've boomed for a sound mixer who pulled out a shower cap (Duschhaube) he got from some hotel room that went over the fur of a WS4. It worked well and was very transparent in light to medium rain (without wind) and did not crackle.

Regarding (north sea) beaches, apart from wind and water noises being the biggest enemies, once the prop department had a rake around, that helped making an actors path through crackling shells.

Will you be in the mudflat aka Watt?

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The kit getting damp has never been an issue for me, but it is more an issue of hearing the rain drops hitting the windshield. To stop this, I've had good experiences with the air con filter material. I bought a 3m long sheet of it from an air con service centre for about £5 and cut it to size so that it was folded in half. Bongo tie it around the windshield and it worked a treat. It absorbs the impact of the rain drops and channels the water to the lowest edges. A bit of nexcare tape around the xlr connector and the boom is sealed from the worst weather.

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The self-made aircon covers are great, because you can have several of them and swap them out as they get saturated with water. I have put a rainman over a furry cover before. Hard to seal up, but it's ok, the rain doesn't usually come up from underneath :-)

 

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6 hours ago, thunderfm said:

The kit getting damp has never been an issue for me, but it is more an issue of hearing the rain drops hitting the windshield

Cinela Piano with the Kelly you dont get any raindrop sounds. You could always get a second one to keep swapping them out each day if you need to.....Simple, elegant, efficient...ha!

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The Kelly is great for reducing rain drop noise, especially with large drops, but is mostly ineffective for keeping water from soaking through.  The nickwax coating is supposed to take care of that, but it can soak through over time.  I have found the nickwax + medium fur to handle full days of rain with no drop noise and no leakage. YMMV.

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A little information, based on our first experimentations few years ago. Looking for the lowest "sponge effect", the Kelly foam was the best material in comparison with many other ones. The only BIG risk is to apply the waterproof treatment (Nikwax) on the foam itself ! If you do that, the speedy water drops will go inside the foam cells very easily but will NOT go out !!! The Nikwax treatment is definitely made to be generously applied on the fabric under the foam.

Philippe from Cinela

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Thanks everyone for the advice. So it seems like the consensus would be the airfilter stuff. Someone also recommended to me using a larger basket, so I'll try that as well.
I have been tempted by the Cinela route, but I don't really feel like buying a whole new kit for just two weeks of shooting, to be honest.
I have a Cyclone with Windjammer and a stereo Rycote with sock and windjammer, plus rolls of filter material, I feel like I'm all set.

I have put a rainman over a furry cover before. Hard to seal up, but it's ok, the rain doesn't usually come up from underneath :-)

Yes, I did that too, but I was always worried that the windjamming performance of the..., well, windjammer, might be reduced by tightly wrapping the Rainman around it. But I'll bring one anyway. Besides, I have a small Cyclone and the Rainman won't fit well on that. And I have a feeling that inside the Rainman there is that same filter material.
Regarding (north sea) beaches, apart from wind and water noises being the biggest enemies, once the prop department had a rake around, that helped making an actors path through crackling shells.
Will you be in the mudflat aka Watt?

Thank a lot for all your advice, Daniel, as well as the translations. It's been a while since I've seen a Duschhaube, which sounds a lot like but isn't a douchebag. I might get one anyway.
We probably won't be in the mudflat - I think, but I haven't actually read the script yet. We've been shooting on that particular isle twice before, but I've had mixed results. And it's true, the noise from the sea and the wind are the worst. Then there are seagulls, tourists, small planes flying really low, ships and so on. And sand everywhere.
It'll be fun!
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Hope it's not a hijack to brainstorm rain protecting the forthcoming ZMT Phantom from Zaxcom.

Fairly new to beta testing, but come to enjoy the process a lot. It's a, "Lest I become too comfy," thing and an exciting process that brings me into thinking company with the people who make the stuff that allows us to do our jobs.

Anyway, after not-that-gently begging Glenn, Colleen and Eric for years to get me a new 992, they have some up with this ZMT Phantom I've had my hands on since 4/24 or so. It's now May 11. Holy shit; but that's for another thread.

Gotta protect it in the water.

This collected from a FB thread on the same subject [big thanks to whomever made the link]. I'm gonna try one soonest.

http://ambient.de/en/product/qwb-re/

This is v2 of Gene Martin's excellent pole mount that's working a charm. V3 will support the little Lemo <--> cropped XLR cable.

Maybe it's the fabric from the linked pouch but configured the better to go around this device?

My boom op loves it so much.

zaxcom zmt gene martin mount v2.jpg

Edited by Jan McL
Corrected for drunken typos.
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Hope it's not a hijack to brainstorm rain protecting the forthcoming ZMT Phantom from Zaxcom

No it's great. My question has been answered (and I think there is a solution waiting to made by some manufacturer) and now we can branch out to related issues, particularly as I am also interested in the ZMT phantom
This collected from a FB thread on the same subject [big thanks to whomever made the link]. I'm gonna try one soonest.
http://ambient.de/en/product/qwb-re/

I am not convinced by the qwb yet. It quite large. I can fit my 742 in it easily. That may not be a bad thing, but for the ZMT that's a lot if unneeded bag that can be flapping about.
I have one, but never used out in the wild. I did test it under a tap and it's not watertight. That test may be a bit extreme, but I can see how water running down the pole or the tx holder or whatever can seep into the qwb relatively easily.
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On 10.5.2017 at 8:55 PM, Constantin said:

I have a small Cyclone and the Rainman won't fit well on that. And I have a feeling that inside the Rainman there is that same filter material.

DIY is the key here:
https://www.conrad.de/de/daempfungsmaterial-l-x-b-x-h-150-x-48-x-1-cm-daemmwolle-30-liter-333999.html

You will probably get this cheaper somewhere else.

Homemade rain protection:

I used it on the irish west coast in heavy wind and rain/seaspray.

the left side is closed, you slip the basket in through that gap centre left.

the little handle is there to pull it over the basket.

cheers

Christian

IMG_9651.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/10/2017 at 6:08 AM, Wandering Ear said:

The Kelly is great for reducing rain drop noise, especially with large drops, but is mostly ineffective for keeping water from soaking through.  The nickwax coating is supposed to take care of that, but it can soak through over time.  I have found the nickwax + medium fur to handle full days of rain with no drop noise and no leakage. YMMV.

Did you apply the Nickwix to the fur or the underlining? 

Might try some on one of my old Rycote fluffies. I need to reapply some waterproofing to my Goretex jacket and the garden needs watering. Perfect time to experiment.

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8 hours ago, Nate C said:

Did you apply the Nickwix to the fur or the underlining? 

Might try some on one of my old Rycote fluffies. I need to reapply some waterproofing to my Goretex jacket and the garden needs watering. Perfect time to experiment.

I applied it to the "skin", not the fur.    Doing sink tests (without the mic) water still can soak through, but it takes a lot.  I don't think the nickwax would work well applied to fur, I believe it needs a smoother surface since it works by causing water to bead up and run off before it can soak in.

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