Pelican Case or anything else?

[rottie102]

I need to come up with a better way to store my camera gear than chucking it in a big drawer or keeping it in various bags.

Is there anything better (quality or value for money) than pelican cases?

I have no idea how big do I need it though. I guess I would go with the padded dividers, rather than cut out foam? Or is foam easy to cut nicely without making it look ste?

[markmullen]

Peli cases are good, the pick n pluck foam is relatively easy to get neat looking.

For general storage in cupboards those stacking boxes with lids work well, assuming you don't need the protection a Peli affords.

[TheRainMaker]

If you think your house will flood or get blown up get a peli they are really good.

Bit over kill if you're not taking it out the house to be fair

[rottie102]

TheRainMaker said:

If you think your house will flood or get blown up get a peli they are really good.

Bit over kill if you're not taking it out the house to be fair

So what are the good alternatives?

[Pickled]

rottie102 said:

So what are the good alternatives?

I've bought stuff from here in the past, fraction of Peli prices.

http://www.toolcasesdirect.co.uk/waterproof-cases....

Edited by Pickled on Thursday 17th July 12:27

[Colin RedGriff]

I've just used a selection of plastic boxes with lids in a couple of different heights and divided the stuff up between them. One for lens, another for flashes, filters etc.

similar to this
http://www.viking-direct.co.uk/catalog/catalogSku....

The boxes are stored in a built in cupboard. As they are not being transported the items are just loose in the boxes. When I'm out and about I just pick a bag then take the bits I need out of the box and put them in the bag

The larger things like tripods, bags and light stands are stored in large deep drawer.

[HereBeMonsters]

How expensive is a Peli Case, relative to your equipment?

[rottie102]

HereBeMonsters said:

How expensive is a Peli Case, relative to your equipment?

According to my insurance - 3%.
That's why I wouldn't want to get it destroyed because of savings on the case.
But almost £500 is still A LOT of money for some plastic, hence the thread.

[TheRainMaker]

rottie102 said:

So what are the good alternatives?

Don't get me wrong they are really good bits of kit, I think I now have over 50...
If you want cheaper have a look at waterproofcases.com they have a cheaper option as well as the Pelican stuff.

[TheRainMaker]

That URL was wrong.... It's http://www.waterproof-cases.co.uk

[HereBeMonsters]

rottie102 said:

HereBeMonsters said:

How expensive is a Peli Case, relative to your equipment?

According to my insurance - 3%.
That's why I wouldn't want to get it destroyed because of savings on the case.
But almost £500 is still A LOT of money for some plastic, hence the thread.

£500? Are you buying a solid gold one?

I got one off Amazon that fits all my GoPro stuff in for £40 (sold by Amazon, so I assume it's genuine. Certainly seems exactly the same as the ones we use at work), and even the larger ones are only around the £200 mark.

[rottie102]

HereBeMonsters said:

£500? Are you buying a solid gold one?

I got one off Amazon that fits all my GoPro stuff in for £40 (sold by Amazon, so I assume it's genuine. Certainly seems exactly the same as the ones we use at work), and even the larger ones are only around the £200 mark.

http://www.waterproof-cases.co.uk/product/peli-1730-case/ + £52 for foam + VAT

That's why I think it's bloody expensive

[markmullen]

A 1730 is mahoooooooooooooooosive though.

I have a 1600 and it is enough to take a pair of bodies with lenses, flashes etc.

Don't underestimate how heavy a fully loaded Peli gets either.

[rottie102]

markmullen said:

A 1730 is mahoooooooooooooooosive though.

I have a 1600 and it is enough to take a pair of bodies with lenses, flashes etc.

Don't underestimate how heavy a fully loaded Peli gets either.

Well that's why I said that I don't really know how big do I need it to be, so I'd rather buy slightly too big than find out that one thing doesn't fit in.

After reading up on it, it looks like the STORM should be slightly lighter and easier to operate? Maybe Peli Storm iM2975 will do, size-wise... Still £300 with just the foam

Edited by rottie102 on Thursday 17th July 16:29

[Graham-P]

I ended up with this:

I admit it's a bit OTT, I got it direct from Peli for £132 It's a very good piece of kit and will last forever but maybe for my needs (I'm not going out in the wilds to film) I should've got a Stanley tool box and some foam. Talking of the foam, they say it's a 'Pick N Pluck' foam, TBH it's more like 'Rip N Tear', a bit expensive for what is it though. This is the inside after I watched a couple of Youtube vids.


From the top left I have;

GoPro Wifi - Battery BackPac/LCD Screen BackPac - GoPro 3+ in The Frame v2. - Waterproof housing - 3 camera fixing bolts - USB cables

Battery charger - Car 12v cable - spare battery - 4 spare backdoors - 2 mini tripods

Media cards - space for compact camera Lumix DMC TZ5 - Roll bar mount and suction mount

Finally two packs of mounts/fixings.

The plastic cases for the mounts etc I got from Tesco, kiddies school pencil cases £1 each.

In the lid under the foam dimples I have a couple of spare cables and the GoPro mount that was in the original packaging, everyone says that this should be kept and comes in very handy.
It doesn't look as tidy as the Youtube ones but heho......

[mike80]

I keep all my stuff in a Think Tank roller bag, it gets transported in that all the time as well though. If you've already got something to cart it around in when you need it, surely any reasonable box / cupboard should be fine?