The famous Dakar Rally is considered the hardest desert rally in the world. To protect its equipment, the Dutch DakarPress Team trusted in Petrol Bags, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company. The demanding 19-day shoot was in Argentina, Chile and Peru, and the team had to be prepared for all possible weather conditions. It required perfect protection, easy portability and maximum flexibility to cope with challenging shooting condition extremes. Petrol Bags’ safe backpack carrying system, combined with a Snaplock Trolley System or with built-in wheels or trolleys, guaranteed comfortable port.
The Dakar Rally route not only runs through rough terrain; it also exposes the drivers and the news teams to a variety of weather conditions; wetness, cold, extreme dryness and heat are characteristic. In the Atacama Desert in Chile, temperatures of up to 131°F are common. The location also has the highest UV Index in the world.
The Digibag DSLR Camera Bag (PD221) and the DSLR Sling Bag (PD333) protected the DSLR equipment perfectly, even when the bags were left in the sun the whole day, and the air was full of dust. In other regions, it was often raining heavily and persistently, so the crew used the PD510 Transparent DSLR Plus Rain Cover (PD510) to protect the cameras.