r.paterson Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 Hello is anyone using the Portabrace Silent Ao633s bag in the field and if so how do find it? Thanks Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonG Posted June 7, 2019 Report Share Posted June 7, 2019 I did for a few years. I liked it a lot. Despite the fact that the popular way to go is with heavy rigid bags, I wanted a low profile and lightweight bag. The PortaBrace bag that came with the 633 was perfect. The only thing that I disliked about it was that for whatever reason the 633 would sag on the left side despite putting things underneath it to hold it up. Something about how it is held into the bag by the side traps, the left side just doesn’t keep it upright like the right side does. I used a couple different ones and they both behaved the same way. It wasn’t the end of the world, but annoying enough after a certain point to where I switched my bag out for a $30 tactical bag from Amazon that I saw another mixer using. That bag had been ok but has had its own drawbacks as well, mainly storage space and accessibility to the card port. But for $30, not bad. I don’t feel bad about it since I didn’t spend over $200 on a purpose built bag that adds eight pounds to what I’m carrying. I did however add a Dashboard just to keep things looking decent. Here is a shot of the PortaBrace bag. You can see that I was using a larger BDS, and my comtek transmitter was on the outside. Since this bag has no pockets, the translucent rain cover that is folded over on the front is where I would store various things. This is the tactical bag. I had to modify it to make it work, I’d be happy to explain more in detail if you want to know just what I did. But basically I cut open the top and folded it back. The mixer and everything else is basically one large block that slips in rather tightly. There are small pouches on the right and left sides that I had to cut through on the inside to pass cables. The left holds my Comtek transmitter and the right holds a G3 transmitter that I am temporarily using for camera hops. The front holds my smart battery and some top stick, as well as backup record cards and a few small doodads. I added an old PortaBrace leather handle to this which you can see folded over the front, and an old PortaBrace shoulder strap visible down the back. @mradlauer made me some nice low profile cables that tie this whole bag together which you need if you want to fit anything inside the side pockets, or not damage the output cables of the SRs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.paterson Posted June 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2019 Hi Jon thanks for the great feed back..Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Bluemke Posted June 9, 2019 Report Share Posted June 9, 2019 I’m using the AO-1.5 silent for my Nomad rig and I really like it. It’s at least half the weight of my Orca OR-34 or my KTek Stingray medium, but it doesn’t feel cramped. I also like the ability to add or subtract storage via Molle based bags depending on what type of work I’m doing that day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heckcareder Posted June 10, 2019 Report Share Posted June 10, 2019 On 6/8/2019 at 4:15 AM, JonG said: I did for a few years. I liked it a lot. Despite the fact that the popular way to go is with heavy rigid bags, I wanted a low profile and lightweight bag. The PortaBrace bag that came with the 633 was perfect. The only thing that I disliked about it was that for whatever reason the 633 would sag on the left side despite putting things underneath it to hold it up. Something about how it is held into the bag by the side traps, the left side just doesn’t keep it upright like the right side does. I used a couple different ones and they both behaved the same way. It wasn’t the end of the world, but annoying enough after a certain point to where I switched my bag out for a $30 tactical bag from Amazon that I saw another mixer using. That bag had been ok but has had its own drawbacks as well, mainly storage space and accessibility to the card port. But for $30, not bad. I don’t feel bad about it since I didn’t spend over $200 on a purpose built bag that adds eight pounds to what I’m carrying. I did however add a Dashboard just to keep things looking decent. Here is a shot of the PortaBrace bag. You can see that I was using a larger BDS, and my comtek transmitter was on the outside. Since this bag has no pockets, the translucent rain cover that is folded over on the front is where I would store various things. This is the tactical bag. I had to modify it to make it work, I’d be happy to explain more in detail if you want to know just what I did. But basically I cut open the top and folded it back. The mixer and everything else is basically one large block that slips in rather tightly. There are small pouches on the right and left sides that I had to cut through on the inside to pass cables. The left holds my Comtek transmitter and the right holds a G3 transmitter that I am temporarily using for camera hops. The front holds my smart battery and some top stick, as well as backup record cards and a few small doodads. I added an old PortaBrace leather handle to this which you can see folded over the front, and an old PortaBrace shoulder strap visible down the back. @mradlauer made me some nice low profile cables that tie this whole bag together which you need if you want to fit anything inside the side pockets, or not damage the output cables of the SRs. Hey Jon. I am also using the same bag and I like it. What I did is that i taped 2 empty boxes that came with the dpa lav and slot it under the mixer. This elevate the mixer for a very nice height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonG Posted June 10, 2019 Report Share Posted June 10, 2019 2 hours ago, heckcareder said: Hey Jon. I am also using the same bag and I like it. What I did is that i taped 2 empty boxes that came with the dpa lav and slot it under the mixer. This elevate the mixer for a very nice height. That looks very nice. You did experience the odd sagging on the left side though correct? I can’t help feeling like the straps that hold the mixer in on the left and right sides are sewn differently, and no matter how I played with the velcro, I couldn’t get it to stay up. I put various things underneath but always had the same problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Westgate Posted June 10, 2019 Report Share Posted June 10, 2019 Used a Portabrace for my 664 but it fell apart in Italy Totally converted to Orca for my 644 and 633 mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heckcareder Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 17 hours ago, JonG said: That looks very nice. You did experience the odd sagging on the left side though correct? I can’t help feeling like the straps that hold the mixer in on the left and right sides are sewn differently, and no matter how I played with the velcro, I couldn’t get it to stay up. I put various things underneath but always had the same problem. So far no sagging. Been quite good since I placed the boxes below. are you still using that bag? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonG Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 2 hours ago, heckcareder said: So far no sagging. Been quite good since I placed the boxes below. are you still using that bag? No, as I mentioned in my reply to the OP, I switched over to a more compact tactical bag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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