Pelican cases, whats the point?

(I know people who use them for luggage, bad idea.)

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I wouldn't even consider using my old 1650 as luggage. The thing weighs about 40lbs empty, and it doesn't hold *that* much.

OTOH, my 1510 has ridden the overhead bins of many an airliner. I have also been known to check a 1520 but that's mainly because I have one of the fitted soft camera cases so I get double use out of it.

Well for personal use, all of my firearms are in their soft zippered covers, I usually just move them from house to car, car to range so they arent getting bounced around outside of my supervision.

I have a student job working with electronics, so we use pelicans to protect all sorts of $20k projectors and stuff. Worth it.

NMGonzo said:

Cue the KLR rider and his/her milcrate for his pointy stick.

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Thats ok I did that too. At the same time.

I use hard cases sometimes. Generally it is for long distance transport and for protection of my best guns.

I use a Harddigg Storm i3300 and it does a really good job for peace of mind storage and protection during travel (plane or truck). I was wondering since Pelican bought Storm, does the Pelican lifetime replacement warrant cover Storm cases? Also I know Storm cases fit alot of drag bags snuggly inside, so you can have the lightness of soft cases and the dependabilitly of hard cases. Also I know Eberlestock's Skycrane packs are made to "piggyback" certain Pelican cases.

Pelican cases aren't for casual transport, according to what I've heard they are "Bullet Proof" and I mean that in the figurative way. They are cases where you can have your laptop inside, drop it onto concrete and the laptop is fine, they are supposedly capable of surviving vehicular collisions, and also are watertight.

So Pelican cases are worth it, if you are transporting sensitive or expensive equipment in an extreme environment (sand, excessive snow, humidity, enemy guerrilla fighters) and beyond that I agree with the OP, generally useless.

Now on hardcases in general, everytime I put a gun in my car to the range it goes in a hardcase... I would kick myself if a toolbox fell over in my trunk onto the soft case and broke something.

HKSW, the new style latches on the Pelican cases is one of the things that seems easier to use than on the Starlight models, it seems like a pretty clever design.

Still, I like the Starlight case a bit better due to the ability to fit more stuff in it.

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The Starlight 352 does have a couple inches in length over comparable Pelican and Hardigg cases but the new Pelican 1770 seems to be the top dog for long gun cases at the moment with large gains in dimension in all directions. Only problem with it is that there is no side middle handle. The handle are at both ends meant for two man carry, one end having wheels at the corner for dragging around for only one man. (Storm iM3300 top (same as Pelican 1750), Starlight 352 middle, Pelican 1770 bottom)

Yes, I know, but I'm still mad at them for past busted knuckles. I still run into the old cases when we rent electronics and curse them again.

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Pelican's solution to the older latches was to sell this small plastic lever that moves your hand away from eliminating the possibility of busting knuckles.

I was wondering since Pelican bought Storm, does the Pelican lifetime replacement warrant cover Storm cases?

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IIRC< Hrdigg also had a lifetime guarantee on their cases and since now being under the Pelican umbrella, I'm sure it's the same. That is, the cases now have 'Pelican' attached to them so probably fall under the warranty.


[I admit I am a bit of a case-aholic.]

For someone above that mentioned custom fit foam, I got a Pellican 1770 with solid foam included. I think the "manual" sheet that came with them recommended using an electric carving knife to cut the foam, if it didn't, i read it somewhere.

Without the wife's knowledge ( unless she reads this ) I used the electric turkey carving knife that hadn't been used in years to custom fit my foam. Worked great.

Oh, and as many have mentioned, when the scope and rifle are more than 5k a $250 insurance policy seems pretty well worth it.
madd0c

Sediment said:

If I'm not mistaken Pelican adopts the same policy as Craftsman when it comes to a damaged product/tool. Lifetime replacement even if it's your fault.

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If I remember right Pelican cases are warrantied against everything except; shark bites, bear attacks and children under 5yr old?

For someone above that mentioned custom fit foam, I got a Pellican 1770 with solid foam included. I think the "manual" sheet that came with them recommended using an electric carving knife to cut the foam, if it didn't, i read it somewhere.

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Actually, I don't know about firearm-sized cases, but the projector/laptop sized ones we've bought come with Pick N' Pluck foam, its like perforated paper, but with foam and in 3D squares. So you just pull out the shape you need yourself.

Dok,
Pick and pluck is an option on the 1770 but mine came with solid foam and not the pick an pluck.
madd0c

Pelican's solution to the older latches was to sell this small plastic lever that moves your hand away from eliminating the possibility of busting knuckles.

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Too bad I don't have one. I have tried screwdrivers, leathermen, and channel locks, and not been able to budge the last latch. Maybe if they improved the design of their latches 20 yrs ago, I wouldn't be mad at them. I did learn that if you stand the case upright, and push really hard down on the seam, the latch might open.
But the best revenge was buying Storm cases.


The point is: You shouldn't need another tool to open a stupid latch. They knew it was a problem, but let it go.

Alternative to a "custom cut" cost....

You can also use an electric knife (I actually saw one of these in our local housewares store recently, new, for about v$14.00. Or, better idea, buy a used one at your local Goodwill store for about $3. Then, trace out the shape you want and carve away. I did this with my Pelican in order to accept two custom firearms, and that was about 18 years ago; the cutout is still working. You can also get new ones from Pelican for cheap.

The timing on this thread was interesting, because I just came up with another Pelican story from last night's shift.

My partner had his department-issued camera inside of a Pelican case that was sitting on the trunk lid of his patrol car at a crime scene last night. There were a bunch of firefighters, paramedics, and cops running around at this scene, and somehow this camera got knocked off of the car and into a traffic lane. Before anyone noticed, the case was hit by a car, and dragged under the vehicle for about 100 yards. Eventually the case popped out from under the car, and rolled across the road.

The DSLR camera inside of the case worked just fine after we retrieved the case from down the road. The Pelican case is still structurally sound/sealed, though the outside of the case is pretty beat up.

So, again, a Pelican case isn't appropriate for every gun at all times, but they certainly seem to do their job very well in some situations!

maddoc: yea, our budget does pretty well so we usually can get the nice stuff. But your solution sounds like it worked pretty fine too

Why a hard shell case? Because your application is demanding and you want to protect what's inside. Pure and simple...

Re. the different brands...

A lot of the Pelican molds have been around for 10+ years.

Pelican self certifies to the applicable mil. specs vs. paying big bucks for independent lab testing. They've been called on it, because their old style latches are prone to popping open when drop tested cold.

Better designs have come along since. The key is to keep the strength and decrease the weight.

The latch on the storm case is nicer.

Pelican buying Hardigg was a huge mistake on their part. They failed to do due diligence and found out afterwards that the Storm molds were not compatible with their injection molding equipment in CA. So they couldn't close down the Hardigg plants in MA to save $$. They are also leveraged on the deal big, big, big time. So they bring in some president bozo who's one of the architects of Microsoft’s power play market manipulation scheme and start back stabbing some of their oldest distributors. Then guess what they do???? Shocker, they whack the market with huge price increases.

The case industry is full of collusion and market manipulation, and several state attorney generals are looking into Pelican's acquisition of Hardigg. The key is government contracts.... and these crooks routinely put 200% or higher mark up on the items they provide to Uncle Sam.... while throwing their weight around to crush any potential competition.

Check out the Explorer line of injection molded cases. They are the newest molds and they are very well designed.... light, strong, poly pro., an excellent catch, etc... The lid design allows you to open the lid to a set angle, or completely remove it.

Ameripack in NJ, is the principal distributor the them. Google around and you'll find them

Yes... as you may have guessed, I work in the industrial shipping container industry... and no, I'm not on the tab for any of the companies I mentioned... though we buy, customize and resell cases from all of them. And yes.... I do have a chip on my shoulder towards Pelican.

edited to add..

SKB also makes a nice case...
Underwater Kinetics is still moding out of ABS and their cases are among the heaviest.

Whatever you do.... be carefull regarding the foam inside, as the polyurethane will outgas for some time and the gases are trapped in that nice water tight case. I had a muzzle loader I built from a kit stored long term in a Pelican case with a poly-urethane foam set and had the blueing corrode

I'd suggest airing the foam out for a good long time and then placing your guns in a gun sock prior to putting them in the case. Desicant and VCI paper or emitters will help as well.