# How to fill a hanging sandbag



## jborden5 (Sep 27, 2012)

I've purchased new Rosco 10lb sandbags, product # 72610 0010. These are hanging sandbags for rigging, not saddle bags.

How the heck do I fill them and close up the top? Or do you just leave them open? If so, is that really safe for overhead use?


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## Van (Sep 27, 2012)

I always put a trashbag inside them fill that with sand then tie off the sanbag. Yea, the top stays open.


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## Footer (Sep 27, 2012)

Van said:


> I always put a trashbag inside them fill that with sand then tie off the sanbag. Yea, the top stays open.



And get a good trash bag, the nice thick contractor ones. Also, be sure to use high quality sand that is DRY. Finally, all parts of a hemp rigging system should be inspected daily. It have been in places where bags leak overnight and pieces have been sitting on the deck in the morning.


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## MPowers (Sep 27, 2012)

Footer said:


> And get a good trash bag, the nice thick contractor ones. Also, be sure to use high quality sand that is DRY. Finally, all parts of a hemp rigging system should be inspected daily. It have been in places where bags leak overnight and pieces have been sitting on the deck in the morning.



If a leaking sand bag put a load or scenery on the deck, the load wasn't properly tied off at the rail.

That said, various brands of scenery sand bags have string tie closures, velcro closures, and some older versions were meant to be sewn closed. The Rosco bags have no specific closure. 

Every one is correct about lining the bag and to use DRY sand, get a heavy plastic bag as a liner and you will be much happier with the result. Use DRY sand. Stuff the plastic bag in to the canvas bag. Use a quart tin can or plastic bottle with half the top cut out as a scoop. Get a 5 gal bucket or wheel barrow on the loading dock and fill the bags with DRY sand there. You'll want a friend or something to hold the bag vertical until the it is filled with DRY sand and the liner bag is closed and tied off. While filling, lift and tamp the bag a few times to get the DRY sand to settle and fill the bag. Use a bath room scale or a spring stock room scale to measure the bags weight. If the bag is marked 25#, put 25 # of sand in, don't make the riggers play guessing games with it. BTW, did I mention use DRY sand????

If the sand is in a heavy duty liner, the open top of the Rosco bags is not really a problem, however I have always used a 50# or 100# braided fishing line (or similar) and made 2 or 3 whip closures with bags that don't have fasteners, just to be sure.

If the bags have to be stored, off of any rigging lines, hang them! Do not set on the ground or store piled up. The best storage is to simply use a belaying pin in the rail and hook the webbing over, with the bags hanging on the fly floor side of the rail.


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## erosing (Sep 27, 2012)

MPowers said:


> BTW, did I mention use DRY sand????



Is it story time? 
[SIZE=-3]Yes, this was the most appropriate smiley I could find to imply eagerness.​[/SIZE]


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## Robert (Sep 27, 2012)

I use sandbags inside my sandbags. Yes it sounds odd, but I use the type of sandbags that they fill for levees or flooding. I buy them at a large hardware supply store. Typically I placew thenm inside the snadbag and fill them with 25 lbs of sand. Actually I can fill them with as much or as little I want. If small enough I can move them if I need more weight in a bag elsewhere on the rail. They are much tougher than plastic trash bags and have a tie string already attached to them.


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## Footer (Sep 27, 2012)

MPowers said:


> If a leaking sand bag put a load or scenery on the deck, the load wasn't properly tied off at the rail.



Yup, you would be correct with that one. No one ever said the "head rigger" at this place was a smart guy.


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## MPowers (Sep 27, 2012)

Robert said:


> I use sandbags inside my sandbags. Yes it sounds odd, but I use the type of sandbags that they fill for levees or flooding. .....Typically I ....... fill them with 25 lbs of sand. ..... If small enough I can move them if I need more weight in a bag elsewhere on the rail. They are much tougher than plastic trash bags and have a tie string already attached to them.



Doesn't sound odd at all. You are one of many riggers that does that. Advantages, as you said, bags are VERY tough, come with strings ties or wire. They also "breathe" so humid air that will move into even the best of trash bags also moves out, unlike trash bags that seem to trap it over time and should be checked once a year for moisture intrusion. Disadvantage, usually come in 25# size so 50# or 100# etc. rail bags need two or more levee bags and they don't always size and shape right to fit well or you have extra unfilled portions of bag. But, Nothing is sacred or a "hard" rule, what ever works for you is good.


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## MPowers (Sep 27, 2012)

Arez said:


> Is it story time? ...



Of course a story! A very looooong time ago (late 50's), a less than educated, knowledgeable TD had some apprentice carpenters (guess who) go fill some bags with "available" sand (dirt-rock-gravel). 3 or 4 days later it got really hard to pull the scenery out (IN was VERY easy). Not a great story, no blood or guts, but definitely one of those learning experiences I have never forgotten.


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