Weirdest Ways You've Rigged Up Equipment

[Drue Bernardi]

What's the weirdest way you've rigged up a piece of equipment either due to your good rig breaking or lack of mounting or other circumstances.

For example during a recent chase I realized that my old rig for my camera (home made) would not work in the vehicle I was in. Out of options, I set up my tripod in the passenger seat, and used two bungee cords to hold it steady. This was accomplished by extending the two front legs into the floorboard, putting the back leg into the seat, then using the bungee cords to secure the tripod. One wrapped around the passenger door, the other around something in the center console, and both met and wrapped around the center bar of the tripod. Worked well for something thrown together in about 10 minutes.

 

[Bob Schafer]

I don't know if this is "weird", but I created a cage out of smallish PVC piping to hold my laptop in place above the passenger seat in my sports coupe. I placed a priority on doing it in such a fashion that it could be easily installed and removed, in case someone wants to ride with me. Removing it requires nothing more than unscrewing two wing nuts, and I can have the whole thing out in about three minutes. Similarly, the laptop goes in and out in seconds.

Then, I have draped a small blanket over the thing so that the display sits deep down in the works, shaded from the sun (and rain if the passenger window is open). It's all anchored to the floor and sides so it barely budges regardless of bumps in the road, and flexible enough that shocks are further isolated from reaching the computer. Of course, the computer is only turned on when I am parked in a safe location with the engine shut off, officer <wink wink>. Pic:

 

[Dan Robinson]

I'm using an old CPU heat sink as a lateral brace for my Jotto desk upright. It was exactly the right size and shape for the job. It fits between the upright and the center console and helps to prevent the jotto from swaying.