From Pumas to Penguins: Nite Ize Gear on Assignment

A cold dawn rose over Patagonia. Reminiscent of a wilder Wyoming, scrubland and thorn bushes dotted the plains, granite towers rising thousands of feet above. But I wasn’t looking there. My eyes were in my camera’s eye piece, my long lens fastened to a tripod, the red recording dot dully glowing, as I tracked her movement. Seeing her body fill the frame, I glanced up to realize that Petaka, the most famous puma on earth, was walking only fifteen feet away from me.  Struggling to contemplate the gravity of being so close to such a powerful animal, and trying to estimate what she would do next, I watched her confident and indifferent stride, her powerful shoulder muscles flexing and shifting, her long tail curved slightly up. Waiting for her to pass, I grabbed my RunOff Waterproof Backpack. She was heading up the gully, and I could position myself in a better spot if I hurried.

My time photographing pumas at the edge of Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park was only one experience on the assignment of a lifetime. I had almost completed driving my built out van from Boulder, Colorado to the southernmost tip of the South American continent, a journey taking fourteen months to complete. After sprinting through the Amazon jungle chasing spider monkeys, filming flamingos in the world’s driest desert, and spending a weekend in a colony of inquisitive penguins, I had found myself here, near the end of my journey, in some of the most unpredictable weather on Earth.

Patagonia is not a place where weather reports are usually trusted. Often on the brink of rain, the prevailing twenty five to thirty mile an hour winds can blow weather systems in at any time. This means that a waterproof bag is not just a good idea, but essential. What sets the RunOff Backpack apart from others is its weight, access to easy hydration, and designated gear loops. The bag is everything that you need, and nothing that you don’t. It’s the lightest waterproof backpack I’ve ever used, and is surprisingly tough for the weight. The water bottle pouch on the outside ensures that water bottles don’t leak on your expensive camera gear inside the pack (something I’ve learned the hard way), and the designated gear loops mean that I always know where my emergency beacon is, if I were to, say, sprain my ankle in front of a puma. Furthermore, the designated key loop ensures I don’t lose my van keys far away from the furthest tow service. With a twelve liter capacity, I wouldn’t expect to bring a full documentary production gear kit, but the TRU Zip waterproof zipper makes an extra lens and rain layer much more accessible than other waterproof packs I’ve used.

The small size of the pack is why I combo my packing system with the RunOff Waterproof Waist Pack. Having a smaller waterproof pack that I can cinch to my waist or sling over my shoulder means that I have immediate access to fresh batteries, SD cards, lens cloths, and other essentials for when Patagonia inevitably sandblasts my equipment or covers my lens in water. The square shape of the bag means that having access to these essentials is easy. It even has a designated phone slot.

What I like most about the RunOff Waist Pack is how it has become a grab-and-go system. As I drove across Patagonia, I would keep my camera in my lap. Armadillos, wild horses, condors with ten foot wingspans, and guanacos, a wild cousin of the llama, abound in this region. At a moments notice, I would pull over, grab my waist pack, and jump out of the van with my camera. These moments are often chaos, involving sprinting to position myself at the correct angle. This means having quick access to a battery or a new SD card in all the madness can make the difference between pride or disappointment. 

I learned this lesson well when I left my hip pack in my van and my SD card filled moments before a guanaco leaped over a fence, golden tinted granite peaks behind her. I grabbed my waist pack the next day, and luckily the guanacos had not moved much. The shot I captured of the guanaco leaping would be one of my favorite shots of my entire time in South America. 

Another piece of gear I loved in my time south is the Radiant Revolve Rechargeable + Solar Lantern from Nite Ize. Patagonia is home to the worst roads I have ever driven and the highest winds I have ever felt. This means things break, and wires come loose. At one point, the high winds nearly lifted my solar panels off my van roof ripping dime sized holes in the steel. Getting my roof mended in Buenos Aires meant removing the panels and a week without electricity. The Revolve became an essential piece of gear. Its ability to rotate and cast different angles of light meant that it could light the van well in all of the strange corners and hanging places one finds inside a van. Further, on multiple day camping trips, the solar charging and carabiner clip quickly made it my favorite camp light I’ve ever used.

Every journey is different, every trip requires different gear needs. What I’ve found in my expeditions filming animals across dozens of countries is that the simplest systems, with thoughtful solutions, allow for the highest guarantee of success. In the middle of some of the worst weather and road conditions I could imagine, I felt lucky to have my RunOff packing system and Radiant Solar Lantern.

Photo and video credit: Michael Ryan Clark