If you’re on a tight budget and you don’t want to spend for a ThinkTank Bag or similar and really need one, well think again because you can just make one for yourself for just under $50.

The materials I used here were old foam/mattress that’s just lying around and a Samsonite bag. You can get the bag for a cheaper price at Ross or Marshalls (here in the US). For the foam, I found out that they have those at Jo-Ann fabrics. I used a bread knife to cut the portions of the foam to match my gear and it should at least be smaller than the actual camera that you have for it to be tight (please see photos below).

Also, I put in 3 layers of foam (just match the size of the foam to the size of your bag), lower layer and then middle, this has the cutout for your gear and last would be the cover or the third layer to protect everything from falling. So there you have it, all your gear in one bag!

Gears inside my DIY ThinkTank bag are the ff:
Canon 7D
Canon T2i
Tamron 17-50mm 2.8
Tokina 11-16mm 2.8
Canon 50mm 1.8
Tascam DR-100
Audio Technica AT875R
Litepanels Micro
HDV Z96 LED lights
DigiFinder Pro

Plus the tripod, wireless lav mics, eneloop batteries and other accessories.

I hope you find this useful. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks!