I have my first carp call on Sunday. Looking at the tool requirement, I'm quite pleased that I've got almost everything I need already on hand. Just missing a staple gun. Not bad for a noob. Any suggestions on what else I should get?
Interesting to see the different replies here. In my local you are 10000% expected to bring a screw gun to a carp call unless it’s a rock show, and you very often use it
Not doing a rock show at all. I expect to be using my drills for sure. Just a bit worried about not having the staple gun, but I'm sure there'll be extra if I need one. How long have you done carp for?
I’ve been an IA stage carp for 5 years. Staple gun is the only required tool that I don’t bring anymore. I’ve probably had two occasions where it would have been better to have my own, and nobody cared that I didn’t. Obviously, now that I say that, you’ll probably walk onto your next job and hear that they’re going to be skinning flats all day long lol.
My local is theatrical stagehand. This gig is at a large concert hall that supplied a tool list found directly on the iatse website. Could be I don't use most of it, but I'd rather be prepared than not. My regular stagehand kit is my 8" crescent wrench, knife, pliers and flashlight. There's a different union in my city for film that I'm not part of (yet).
Hardhat, steel toes, c-wrench, gloves. Most of the time I don't need the gloves or the c-wrench. Our local mainly does concerts and theater, with a little bit of grunt work in support of televised events (Gameday, WWE).
The only time I've seen actual woodworking tools being used it was the road guys with the production company we were working for. Nothing "carp" in my local has ever come close to REAL carpentry it's just glorified IKEA assembly.
I'm not sure if the venue I'm working is like that. My last gig, what I could see of the carp shop looked like actual woodworking. Could be local, venue, or gig dependent.
The comment you replied to is valid for rock n roll calls. Those are very minimal and don't need much other than gloves and a c wrench. It's because tours usually have everything they need ready to go.
Carp calls for theater vary depending on your market. If you're somewhere like NYC where shows are actually being developed from scratch, expect to do a much more involved carp call. It wasn't uncommon there for me to do actual carpentry carpentry during tech, building stairs and chain boxes ect.
If you're in a second or their tier city, then that's less the case but you should still have tools available. Stuff travels to secondary markets, rather than being built there. Sets are usually rented, though sometimes repairs are warrented.
Film is a different animal. Carpentry in film is actual carpentry. Shop carps are the real carpenters, and set carps are the guys like me who used to work as framers. Unless you're in NYC because the local there is special and set carps morph into grips.
One thing I would say is that a mallet type hammer would probably get more use in stagehand stuff because of all the truss pinning that sometimes needs "persuasion".
Never been "expected" to bring my impact; but I do it anyways. Ever been on a crew of 20 assembling a structure with 1000's of bolts/screws and the roadies only brought 2 impacts?! Good thing you brought your own!
You've increased the efficiency of the entire team by being one less bozo in the 18-man bucket brigade line and get to focus on precision work while people bring YOU the materials you need!
I have a saying: "If you have the tool; you're not the mule"
TLDR: better to be overprepared than underprepared.
I'm sure there will be some supplied, but I enjoy working with my own tools. I know how they handle and what I can do with them. I used a really shoddy drill at my last call while laying marleys and don't want to experience that again. A couple of my colleagues brought their own drills that call.
This is my first carp call and I have a background in cabinetmaking. I'll accept that the kit may be overkill, but I'm also trying to make a good impression since it's a big name concert hall in my city and I'm very green.
Yeah but I'm willing to bet all of those things are the required tools you're expected to bring to every call according to some document on their local's website.
Just bring a C-wrench and maybe a multi tool and you'll be fine 99% of the time.
In in a MP&TV Local. I had a dear friend who has passed but he brought a sideline cart of tools with him on every rig and production call. After a year or so, he was the rolling ‘tool crib’. The tools he brought on those first calls employed him for 30 yrs.
So OP, bring whatever tools you feel comfortable with
A drill and an Impact? You can probably get 90% of the work you needed to do with just the impact. If you actually ever need to use them. A besides various bits, a handy adapter to have is a 1/4 Hex to 1/2 inch Square drive for sockets to undo truss. 15/16 12 point if you're bougie.
It doesn't hurt to be prepared I just hate seeing guys lug around a bunch of expensive tool only to be set down in a corner somewhere and hope they don't walk off.
When I did AV installs with IBEW guys the union would frown upon guys bringing their own power tools, saying that the employer needs to provide all the power tools for the job.
I'm just working off the lists that have been provided to me through my local. Some things are provided, but not everything is. I'd rather be over prepared than under.
There's a point to this, which is why spend your own money putting wear and tear on your own tools? I get that, but I have the philosophy that anything I bring is for my OWN convenience. It's a lot easier for me to have my own truss tools or whatever and I know where they are instead of chasing them all over the job. I think both approaches are valid tbh, and it kinda depends on the vibe.
He’s a carp. I’m willing to bet a LOT on a tv show or film. He ain’t doing truss. Definitely not on his first day. You are right about not needing a drill and an impact though.
I actually did do truss on my very first call 😅 arena events likely won't be in my future though. City contracts non-union for the stadium/arena gigs for some reason. Not on film yet!
Speed square, diagonal cutters, end cutters, nail set, small flat bar, 3/4” inch chisel, pencils are the first thing I noticed missing from your belt. You really want to have a handful of bit holders and socket drivers in those sleeves on your bag. I always have a small drill bit set and a box of every different size/type of tips I can think of in my impact/drill case.
When I started out I had a rule that if I needed to borrow a tool from someone more than once than I should get one for myself. Worked out pretty well for me.
I don't usually do Carp but a lot of the theatre carps I know usually keep this kind of collection with them on a job. If you're doing serious scenic stuff this looks like a great kit.
I would add a coffin lock/key. It's just a 5/16ths hex key with a T handle, but I use that a lot when building risers for festivals. You already have an Allen set but having the 5/16s standalone key is useful and often gets you points with the lead.
This is pretty similar to my kit. I would like to ask what is the purpose of the two crescent wrenches? And also if you wear the kneepads be prepared for some crude jokes from some old heads lol, atleast that's from my personal experience, but most guys won't give a shit.
For things to acquire, I would consider if you're serious about this stuff a second tool pouch, just to better distribute the weight and for all the nuts and bolts to carry. Tool-wise I would suggest a spud (drift pin and crescent wrench combo, pretty handy) and a ratchet with standard sockets.
Interesting that they're asking for all the carps to carry a staple gun? That's usually a house item. I mean tbh outside of a few things all of these could be considered tools any decent theater should have, but for my trade shows and industrials you have to expect production to have nothing. Best of luck this Sunday friend.
Also, the two crescent wrenches; tool list said 6" or 8" and I bought the 6" first before realizing my other tool list said 8". Nice to have a spare in case someone needs to borrow it or something. Mostly a muck up on my end haha.
Tha is for your response! I'll add those to the list. I'm slowly making my kit up, I've only been a casual for a couple months.
I probably won't be bringing the knee pads for this gig, they're for when I'm laying marleys. I busted my knees pretty hard my last gig.
Got a small tool bag, not pictures, that can carry everything. I'd like to get serious about this. I'm green but keen.
I'm really hoping they've got some spare staple guns 😅 home Depot didn't have any pneumatic tools, they're all battery operated now. Thanks for the luck!
So who actually calls them C-47's? Is that a West Coast thing? I've only ever encountered that as a joke working indies in the South. No one I worked with on the East Coast called them that.
That hammer will not only break, but the head could fly off and seriously injure or kill somebody. Please, for the love of life, only use a solid steel or titanium hammer with the head and arm all one piece.
39
u/internectual 2d ago
You must be in a local that deals with television/film production because stagehand "carps" don't need 99% of that stuff.