Rode Videomic Suspension Bands Alternative DIY

[Beau]

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I received my Rode Videomic in the mail a few days ago (bought it from a bloke here on HV20!), and the seller kindly told me the suspension bands were broken (he offered me a great deal in return). As far as my research took me, I found four solutions to replacing these necessary rubber bands. I thought I'd share what I found:

1. Call Rode customer support and have them mail you a few bands. I've been told they're pretty nice people, and I'm free lil' rubber bands aren't hurting their business.
Downside: I want them now, and patience is a virtue I'm working on... but have not mastered.

2. Buy 8 of them... yes only 8 little silicone bands... on B&H for $12 (+ $3-4 in shipping).
Silocone Rode Videomic Bands on B&H
Downside: I'm cheap, and seriously... "8 quantity?"

I was going to list #3 as Adorama's deal, but it was just as laughably absurd. I couldn't: A bag of 8 for $12!

3. Go to the orthodontist and ask them for some those rubber bands you stick on braces and then you walk out with a huge headache because they tightened your teeth into oblivion. Downside (in case you can't already tell): After 4 years of braces, I wouldn't be caught dead in there.

Best option:

4. Get a whole package of heavy-duty, high quality O rings in 5 minutes for $2.50 at your hardware store. Here's the brand of O rings I bought (you can note the brand/type below in the picture). They're just the right amount of tension. They stay in place wonderfully and provide excellent stability with no squeaking (if you've tried regular rubber bands crisscrossing, they squeak like a maniac).
Hope this helps some folks out there who had the same problem as me:
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[mementomori23]

I love you

[bmsweb]

Fantastic Idea!

[drapeama]

I did something very similar for my shockmount. Can accept pretty much any size/type of microphone:

[toshiro]

Thanks for the tip! My suspension bands were getting really squeaky. I tested your DIY idea to replace them here:
http://vimeo.com/21185234

[Philminder]

Very nice! I was considering building my own new shockmount so I didn't have to deal with the squeaky Rode one, but this looks to be a much, much cheaper and simpler solution, and very easy to fix again if the problem ever comes up. I'll have to try this out soon.

[opel_g]

Very nice! All but two bands are broken on my mic. I also have an extra Rode videomic with all broken bands. I assumed Rode's suspension bands would be overpriced and left the extra one alone. That is until now!

[Daniel Rutter]

I just use little rubber bands from the newspaper shop.

[DiViD]

Nice! I'm going to have to try this. My suspension bands squeak like a mouse!

[DiViD]

1. Call Rode customer support and have them mail you a few bands. I've been told they're pretty nice people, and I'm free lil' rubber bands aren't hurting their business.

I also emailed RODE and they are happy to send me replacement bands free of charge

[iggy097]

Thanks for this, saved my shoot today.

[Lou van Wijhe]

I got them from Polymax in the UK. You need the following sizes:

Røde Videomic: 9 mm x 2 mm c.s. (cross section) NBR 70 ShA
Røde Stereo Videomic: 18 mm x 2 mm c.s. NVR 70 ShA

Both sizes cost 6 pounds per 20.

Lou

[fromtheraw]

I created a video about this tip:

Thanks for the great idea!

[drapeama]

I created a video about this tip: [...] Thanks for the great idea!

Thanks for the video, and promoting the forum as well! I liked the video! Thanks again!

[Lou van Wijhe]

A nice video indeed. There's a where-to-get-them-tip for European residents here.

Lou

[Dr. Benway]

My suspension bands were getting really squeaky.

My suspension bands squeak like a mouse!

Oil them. I use Singer sewing machine oil.

http://www.singerco.com/accessories/...ll-purpose-oil

[Erik Bien]

It shouldn't come as any great surprise that O-rings work as well if not better than the figure-8 bands from RODE: when I bought my RVM 10+ years ago, it came out of the box suspended by O-rings!

[Tunguy]

It shouldn't come as any great surprise that O-rings work as well if not better than the figure-8 bands from RODE: when I bought my RVM 10+ years ago, it came out of the box suspended by O-rings!

I know this response is long after the original post!! But boy, am I glad that I checked it out! I went to a local O ring distributor (in Durban south Africa ) and got 10 O- rings for R9 ( equivalent of $1 US) and they work fantastically.