Use protection to prevent STDs

[neuroanatomist]

<p class="MsoNormal"]That&rsquo;s right boys and girls, it&rsquo;s very, very important to
use protection to prevent Serious or Total Damage to your photography
gear.<span> Although I doubt that a thin
layer of latex would help much, a polypropylene copolymer case with a
watertight seal should do the trick.
<p class="MsoNormal"]If photography is your day job, you almost certainly have
Pelican cases or the equivalent.<span>
If photography is not your day job, your camera gear most likely spends
a significant amount of time being stored somewhere in your home. <span>Pipes burst.<span>Toilets overflow. Kids spill juice.<span>
Accidents happen.<span>
Considering the investment made in gear, the cost of a durable, waterproof
case is minor by comparison.<span>
Insurance is needed too, of course, but prevention is better than
cure.<span>
<p class="MsoNormal"]For that reason, I recently decided to move my gear from a
drawer and assorted camera bags in the closet, and transfer it all to a hard
case.<span> The challenge was, which
one?<span> Even considering only the
Pelican brand, there are many options from which to choose.<span> Wheels or no wheels?<span> Padded dividers or foam?<span> Lid organizer or not?<span> Most importantly, what size?<span>
<p class="MsoNormal"]For me, wheels were not important &ndash; this case is for home
storage, not transport.<span> I wanted
the flexibility to rearrange my gear over time, meaning dividers instead of pluckable foam.<span> A lid organizer is nice for
storing the miscellaneous stuff.<span>
That still left the issue of size &ndash; there are a lot of options!<span> I wanted something relatively flat - <span>a case tall enough to store a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens vertically would mean stacking the more numerous shorter lenses, or
a lot of unused space.<span>
<p class="MsoNormal"]I decided on the Pelican 1604 (aka 1600 with padded
dividers).<span> Here&rsquo;s the new case, surrounded
by my Lowepro bags &ndash;Toploaders (Pro 65AW and Pro 75AW), a Flipside 400, and
several Lens Cases:
<p class="MsoNormal"]
<p class="MsoNormal"]
<p class="MsoNormal"]Here&rsquo;s the layout of the gear inside:
<p class="MsoNormal"]
<p class="MsoNormal"]I decided to store the lens cleaning solution in its own
waterproof micro case, since it doesn&rsquo;t make sense to have gear in a waterproof
case then store liquid inside that case.
<p class="MsoNormal"]So far, I&rsquo;m quite pleased with the case.<span> It&rsquo;s big, but not too big.<span> It&rsquo;s not light &ndash; 26 pounds of gear and
16 pounds of empty case.<span> But it&rsquo;s
easy enough to carry from room to room or up a flight of stairs, and that&rsquo;s as
far as it has to go.<span>The fact that I wasn't limited to black or tan as color choices, as is the case for many of the medium and large cases, was a nice bonus.
<p class="MsoNormal"]<span>I have only
two concerns at this point:
<p class="MsoNormal"]First, there&rsquo;s not as much extra room as I had hoped there
would be.<span> It&rsquo;s not a big issue &ndash;
it does hold all my gear, and it&rsquo;s not tightly packed, so I can reorganize to
make more room (I&rsquo;m hoping for a 35mm f/1.4L II and wishing for a 5DIII).<span> Also, I&rsquo;ll likely get a Pelican 1510
before my next airline trip, so I&rsquo;ll have two cases among which I can distribute
my gear.
<p class="MsoNormal"]Second, the [url="http://www.pelican.com/support/guarantee.php]Pelican guarantee[/url].<span> Not the tag line (&ldquo;You break it, we replace it, forever,)
but the fine print.<span> It
specifically excludes damage caused by shark bite, bear attack, and children
under five.<span>I know it&rsquo;s a tough case, but I&rsquo;ve
seen what my two year old can do! [:O]
<p class="MsoNormal"]Bottom line, I highly recommend getting a tough, waterproof
hard case to store your gear around the house.
<p class="MsoNormal"]--John
<p class="MsoNormal"](Ps. As near as I can determine, this thread was the last
one posted before the server went belly-up earlier this week &ndash; the above is my
attempt to recreate it from memory.)
<p class="MsoNormal"](Pps. Forum seems to still be having trouble with TDP-hosted images - I know Bryan is working on it, but for now I'll just link these from elsewhere.)

[Sinh Nhut Nguyen]

Looked at the tittle, post too long to read, just looked at the picture so where are the condoms?


PS, great stuff man![]

[btaylor]

Good stuff John. Pelican cases are fantastic. We use them underground to hold a heap of different instruments and they're fairly indestructive. Although I had a remote blasting box hooked up which was blown off the wall during blasting then run over by a 50 tonne loader - it didn't survive that one.


Have a look at Storm Cases as well for your next buy. They are very similar to Pelican cases in construction but I find the latches to be a lot more user friendly. i.e the good old Pelican "knuckle buster" latches can be a pain in the... finger if they get a bit tight. Pelican actually bought out Storm a couple of years ago and started selling them as Pelican Storm cases so they must be the goods. I've got a couple at work and they're just as robust.


Ben.

[Daniel Browning]

Great post, John. Thanks. So far I've mostly been using backpacks. Lots and lots of backpacks. But I'd like to get a hard case.

blown off the wall during blasting then run over by a 50 tonne loader - it didn't survive that one.

What!? I'm going to make sure I get one that can survive being run over by at least 100 tonnes. []

[Richard Lane]

Thanks for the very thorough review, I really enjoyed it!


It looks like one of these cases might be in my future!


Rich

[btaylor]

What!? I'm going to make sure I get one that can survive being run over by at least 100 tonnes. [img]/emoticons/emotion-5.gif[/img]

Hmmmm.... good luck!

[neuroanatomist]

Have a look at Storm Cases as well for your next buy. They are very similar to Pelican cases in construction but I find the latches to be a lot more user friendly. i.e the good old Pelican "knuckle buster" latches can be a pain in the... finger if they get a bit tight.Pelican actually bought out Storm a couple of years ago and started selling them as Pelican Storm cases so they must be the goods. I've got a couple at work and they're just as robust.

I was looking for a case for carrying on a plane, and debated the Pelican 1514 (1510 with dividers) vs. the Storm im2500. One of the things I hate about buying cases/bags online is that you can't test the fit of your gear. Both the 1514 and the im2500 meet the airline requirements and have very similar exterior dimensions. But the internal dimensions (more important for obvious reasons) are a bit different - the Peli is 0.4" deeper, whereas the shallower Storm is 0.5" wider and 0.75" taller. While those don't sound like much, 1/2" can make the difference between a lens upright vs. on its side, or a gripped body not fitting.


I decided on the Storm im2500. To be honest, part of the decision was that it comes in yellow (which matches my Peli 1600, but also stands out better than basic black or desert tan). The latches are much easier than the Pelican (even after they updated them to the double-throw style). As it turns out, that 0.4" of height makes a difference - the 5DII is a very tight fit in the im2500 lying on its side (it wouldn't fit upright in either case without removing the grip).


My first thought was, "Should I return this for the Peli?" But then I thought some more - about why I want/need the case. The only other time I've traveled with my gear by plane (Boston to San Francisco), I simply put it in my Lowepro Flipside 400AW and carried it on the plane, and around town in the same pack. That was a direct flight, and we had a car once we got there. For our trip to China, I'm facing the realistic possibility that I'll have to check the bag at some point - thus the hard case (and a set of Tamperseal locks). But, traveling around China, I'm not going to take a hard case with me walking around! So, if I pack my gear in the hard case for the trip, what do I do with the Flipside 400AW that I'll need to carry it around during the day? Fill it with socks and underwear and check it? Seems a little silly...


The solution is obvious, and Bryan suggested it in one of his hard case reviews - remove the dividers and put the padded camera bag(s) directly in the hard case. Here, the 0.5" of width is definitely in the Storm's favor - the loaded Flipside 400AW is a tight fit for depth in the empty im2500, but it turns out the limiting dimension is width, and while I can get it into the Storm, I think it wouldn't fit into the slightly narrower Peli.


So, thanks for your suggestion of looking into Storm Cases, Ben - I think the im2500 will work out well! Once I round out my lens collection for the trip, I'll do a test-pack to make sure it all fits, and post some pics.

[btaylor]

Glad to help. I actually bought the Storm im3300 rifle case a couple of months back and it

[neuroanatomist]

I like the look of the im2400 / 2450 but will have to do some measuring. I really just want to hold the 5D2 gripped...

Measure carefully, and don't forget the padding/foam. I don't think the 2400 will work - I tried out the im2075 with the idea of keeping a gripped body (7D at the time) with attached 17-55/24-105, and a 430EX II, in a downstairs closet for quick access. The gripped 7D would not fit with the padded dividers in place - the case was not deep enough, and the im2400 is shallower than the im2075. So, the im2075 went back. The im2450 should work fine for you, though.

[neuroanatomist]

I think the im2500 will work out well! Once I round out my lens collection for the trip, I'll do a test-pack to make sure it all fits, and post some pics.

Ok, here's how it shapes up:


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-UserFiles/00-00-00-35-15/CarryOnCase.jpg[/img]


In the Flipside 400AW is a griped 5DII with EF 24-105mm f/4<span style="color: #ff0000;"]L IS, and working clockwise from there, a PowerShot S95 in a Lowepro Napoli 20 case, EF 16-35mm f/2.8<span style="color: #ff0000;"]L II, 430EX II in it's pouch, TS-E 24mm f/3.5<span style="color: #ff0000;"]L II, EF 70-200mm f/2.8<span style="color: #ff0000;"]L IS II, and the hoods for the 16-35mm and TS-E with an EF 1.4x II Extender tucked in the center. Filters, chargers, cleaning supplies, extra flash cards, etc., are in the outside pocket. The whole backpack fits snugly into the Storm im2500 with all of the dividers and lid padding removed. I think I'm set!


On a related note, I gave the im2075 another try for keeping the camera ready for (pseudo) easy access in a downstairs closet, while maintaining protection. I got the foam version, and with the foam removed except for the lid and the bottom liner, it holds the gripped 5DII + EF 24-105mm f/4<span style="color: #ff0000;"]L IS and the 430EX II, and with the lid closed it's held tightly enough that there's no movement in the case (but not so tight I'm worried about the integrity of the body). With the easy-to-open Storm latches, it's convenient to grab and shoot (as convenient as being in a drawer, at any rate, and safer).


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-UserFiles/00-00-00-35-15/im2075.jpg[/img]