I have an irrational love for geared heads, even though I never had my hands on, let alone owned one before. They fascinate me, the mechanics, the fluidity of the motion, they have that special aura. I soaked up all the info I could gather from the internet, whether Worral, Mini-Worral, Moy, Mitchell, Technohead, Panahead, or the king of geared heads: the Arrihead. And every now and then, just out of curiosity, I’d look at ebay and other sites, if somebody was selling a geared head.

Ever since I was in film school, I wanted to work with one, but I never got the chance. I told myself that someday I’d buy one! Well, I spent the first years paying back student loans. Additionally, I was mostly doing work where a geared head just wouldn’t make any sense. So, it remained a dream.

After a long time, I had started a family and income became steadier again (unlike me, my wife thankfully has a real job, so as a freelancer I was taking care of the kid until he was ready for kindergarten), I was finally ready to buy one. I knew, that geared heads were becoming a relic of the glory days. If I’d ever buy one, I might not use it on a production, ever. I knew that. And I was OK with it. It was still my dream. But meanwhile they where nowhere to be found. The affordable ones anyways.

And then, suddenly, I saw a listing at one of the big rental houses: an Arrihead at a criminally low price! After a few minutes of thought and speaking to my wife, I called them, and a few days later I literally drove from one side of the country to the other to pick it up. And now, finally, I am the proud owner of the seventh Arrihead ever built! For the first two months of owning it, I’ve been practicing for about an hour every night. It really is a dream come true.

That was over a year ago and it’s still one of the best purchases I’ve ever made, even when I still haven’t brought it to any set. Others buy motorcycles during their midlife crisis. Well, my motorcycle is an Arrihead.