Made a Home-made Bean Bag—What to fill it with?

I’d been trying to decide on a bean bag to purchase when an internet search turned up a really good description of how to make your own. Well I filled mine with black oil sunflower seeds and it weighed 17 lbs. I’d like to find a lighter fill material that will decrease the weight. Any suggestions?

Those that might be interested in making your own can see the plans for Fred Hurteau’s butterfly bean bag at:
http://naturephotography.fredhurteau.co ... llhead.htm

Directions were easy to follow, but the original plans resulted in a bag that was just slightly too small (IMO) for my Sigma 300-800. So I lengthened the original pattern by 2.5 inches and widened it by 4 inches. The other modifications including flattening the top of the pattern and narrowing the V-shaped seam on the saddle bag portions. The result was a really stable but heavy bean bag.

I’m very pleased with the bean bag, (especially since I used materials on hand—so the only cost was my time). However it is heavy. What can I use that will lighten the load?

Dry beans are great because you can safely dispose them and can easily get them if you don't want to travel with the weight.

I use corn cob pellets in mine. Walmart sells 8 lb. bags of the pellets in their pet supplies department for about $4. They're heavy enough to be stable but not overly heavy. I have a Molar bag, it weighs about nine pounds.

Buckwheat hulls work very well.

Kitty Litter works for me, and i give it away at end of Trip...Cheap..a Sin to muse Food and Discard it..

I use bird seed whenever possible. The birds will love it when you dump it on the ground (I try to choose a wildlife reserve or park-type area) before boarding a plane and it will not go to waste. I just got back from Iceland and was unable to find birdseed or beans or anything else suitable for filling my bean bags. Fortunately, I didn't need them anyway.

By the way, the reasons your beanbag is so stable is 1) the design and 2) the weight. Filling it with something lighter will make it less stable. I use 2 bean bags, placing one on top of the other, the bottom was is about twice the size of the top one. Each bag is lighter and easier to handle but when combined, they provide just as stable a platform as one large bag.

Thanks for the replies so far. I've been playing around with ways to lighten the weight myself and ended up filling the bottom 2/3's of the bean bag (the legs or saddlebag portion) with sunflower seeds, then used poyester fiber material (used in pillows, stuffed animals etc.) in the top portion. I placed the fiber material in ziplock bags. The result was a bag that weighed 12 lbs, with the heaviest weight in the bottom (to keep the bag well seated on the car door/window) and a lighter, well-padded top portion.

I like the poly beads but they seem near to impossible to find these days.

I've tried birdseed and beans which work fine but recently switched to dried peas available at the bulk store. I find the size of these are perfect as they mold to my lens/camera better than the larger beans and the birdseed.

In terms of the weight issue if shooting out of your car it really isn't an issue...I have several bags, some smaller, some large molar types. The larger molar bag weighs the most and provides the best (stable) platform to shoot from when using large lenses in my experience.

Goya dry pinto beans in mine for years ...

Goya dry pinto beans in mine for years ...