Bryco MiniDV 50 Tape Storage Rack

So, you’ve got all those MiniDV tapes lying around from your various documentary projects and the obvious question presents itself: where the heck am I going to store all of these? That’s the question I recently found myself asking after buying a large quantity of bulk tape-stock and finding I had no place to store my masters.

After foraging around the internet for a good long term tape storage options, I found what has now become my favorite MiniDV tape storage solution. The MDV-50 by Bryco is a molded plastic rack which will hold up to 50 tapes in either a vertical or horizontal manner (Bryco also makes smaller versions for 8 and 24 tapes respectively).

The MDV-50 is solidly built but light enough that you can hang it on the wall, which its manufacturers seem to be suggesting, since the back has three mounting holes in it that allow for either vertical or a horizontal placement. Although it would seem that hanging them on a wall would be optimal for space saving, the MDV-50 is wide enough that it can also free stand upon a tabletop.

Besides size and sturdyness, the main factor motivating my purchase was the price per unit. The MSRP for the MDV-50 is a reasonable $18, though I was able to get two for $30 total from tapeandmedia.com (the 8 and 24 tape versions are signifigantly less expensive).

Bryco also makes a similar version of its MiniDV tape racks designed specially for both large and small format Sony DV Cam tapes, for those lucky ones of us who can afford to use them.