When shopping for a decent light stand bag, you might find that most stand bags are too small, don’t have wheels or are very expensive.
If you carry just a couple of stands and umbrellas, this may not be an issue for you. But if you need to carry a trunkful of stands, an armful of softboxes or umbrellas, a few rolls of 52″ background paper and more, there is a solution.
Go to a golf store or sporting goods store and check out golf travel bags. These bags are designed to transport a golf bag full of clubs and, in some cases, even a small golf cart. They often have big outside pockets to hold various golf accessories.
Compared to light stand bags, golf travel bags are longer, bigger in diameter, almost always have wheels and, best of all, they’re cheaper (perhaps $90 to $250). Some golf travel bags fold up when not in use.
You can also get hard-sided golf travel cases. But these are heavier, bulkier and more expensive.
Possible downsides to using a golf travel bag are: the bag isn’t meant for fragile gear like cameras or lights; they have only a small amount of padding and no internal dividers; the bag is so big that you’ll be tempted to pack too much gear which will make it very heavy; it usually has the manufacturer’s logo boldly emblazoned on the side.
My current 50-inch golf travel bag is 12 years old, cost $49, has lots of scrapes on the bottom and is still working perfectly. It always carries 40 lbs. or more of light stands.
If you can’t find a suitable golf travel bag, take a look at ski bags and snowboard bags. But these are not designed to carry very heavy loads.
Keyboard cases that musicians use might work for you. Large, hard-sided cases can be very heavy.
Also consider bags made for stage equipment, music stands, sound equipment, light trusses, etc. These are often reasonably priced but don’t usually have wheels.
Of course, you could also get a custom-made bag.
