DIY Rain Protection for Field Recording Microphones

 

Learn how to build your own DIY rain protection for only $30.

 
 

For over a year, I’ve been looking for a rain protection solution for my microphones.

I’ve been able to make due by positioning my equipment under leaning trees and in tree holes, but some rain always makes it to my microphones and makes loud “thunking” sounds on contact.

Finally, I’ve found a reliable way to prevent these unwanted sounds.

This article will walk you through the build process and provide sound samples.

No more will I hide from the rain!

Materials

The materials needed to make your own DIY rain protection are cheap and readily available from most hardware stores. In total, the materials cost about $30.

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  1. Hog’s Hair Filter - the thick, woven hair of the filter will absorb the impact of rain drops and render them silent.

  2. Buckle Belt - the belt is used to fasten the filter to your microphones so it won’t be blown off in the wind.

  3. Super Glue - two layers of filter is required for the build, I used super glue to adhere them together with good results.


Build

1. Cutting Filter to Size

Depending on the size of your microphones, the final dimensions of your hog’s hair filter will vary.

I found it helpful to lay my microphone on top of the hogs hair and cut a piece 5” wider than the mic in all directions.

This extra material will overhang the microphone and provide additional rain protection against off-axis rain.

I used a razor blade to slice through the filter in 2-3 passes.

Duplicate this step so you end up with two identical-sized pieces of hog’s hair filters.

2. Cutting Belt Slits

In one of the pieces of cut hog’s hair filter, use a razor blade to slice a 1.5” slit above and below your microphone.

This will create a path for the buckle belt to pass through and secure around your microphone.

3. Gluing Filters Together

You could make this with only one layer of filter, but then the threaded section of belt would be exposed to the rain and may create loud thunks when hit by rain drops. Layering two pieces of filter embeds the belt between them and prevents this.

Spread a thin layer of super glue on the filter with the belt threaded through.

Do not apply glue on or around the belt. This will allow the belt to slide freely between the filters for making adjustments.

Super glue sets up extremely fast, so do this quickly.

Immediately after applying glue, press and hold the filters together for at least 30 seconds.

4. Final Result

Be sure to tuck any belt slack into the microphone to prevent it from flapping around in the wind.


Sound Sample

The above recording features light rain, thunder, and a lot of vehicle traffic noise.

Although it wasn’t the quietest location, the recording demonstrates the effectiveness of this cheap rain protection solution.

It sounds transparent and there are no rain drop thuds present.


Final Thoughts

Although this DIY microphone rain protection is for a SASS microphone, it can easily be modified to fit most microphone types and stereo configurations.

An ideal setup would suspend the filter above the microphone to avoid any transference of noise and additional transparency.

I’m happy with the performance of this design and will update this post if I make modifications to it in the future.

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Thanks for reading,
-Jared


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