What kind of case to travel with

[Darnold9999]

Just getting a housing and strobe for my camera and am not sure what to buy to carry it around in. For local dives and to travel? Am considering a pelican case, but would like feedback form those with more experience. Is there a better option? Also how big - just big enough for case and camera or?

 

[djanni]

Just getting a housing and strobe for my camera and am not sure what to buy to carry it around in. For local dives and to travel? Am considering a pelican case, but would like feedback form those with more experience. Is there a better option? Also how big - just big enough for case and camera or?

I just bought the Pelican 1510 w/ the padded liner. It's a rolling case and the largest carry on. This weekend will be my 1st trip with it.

The Olympus pt-023 housing is big yet with 1 strobe I thought the case would be big enough to double as my reg case. Nope! Don't count on that. It's crammed full.

Nice case though. I think the equip will be real secure in there.

 

[Larry C]

I got a Pelican 1550. I thought it would be huge and have left over room. By the time I get my camera, Housing, tray, 2 strobes and arms, memory, chargers and batteries in there I ended up with so much foam cut out that there are open spaces. Everything just fits. It works out great in the car and on the boat, but it's beyond the carry on limit. I don't know if it's stowable or not. Probably depends on the flight.

 

[reidman]

Another vote for Pelican, dont let the airlines handle them or you wont get much back that is either there or works.

 

[mjh]

If you travel much on smaller airlines you might want to look at Stormcase, good quality but a little lighter than Pelican. I carry my basic setup in a backpack and all extra strobes, parts, ports, battery packs, etc.... go in the Stormcase. For local diving I just use an soft insulated cooler I picked up at Costco.

 

[Mariozi]

Another vote for Pelicans but here is my history on that
I bought my first Pelican along with my used Motormarine IIex/YS60/20mm/Macro2T.
It was a 1550 w/foam, worked great, but when witching systems I always needed a new foam set, so I bought a divider set for it which I think are much better/versatile than foam.
Upon moving to a housed SLR the 1550 was getting smaller, as I have many ports, extensions and I like big domes, thought about it and got a 1610 w/dividers. There I keep all the hardware (housing, dome, ports, arms, cables, strobes, solding iron, batteries+charger, even my wifes Coolpix housing...). The 1610 is well above carry-on limit, but I lock it and dispatch it, never had a problem.
Sensitive gear like cameras, lenses I carry on a LowePro Mini-Trekker (but I recommend the Mini-Trekker AW), it is below carry-on limit, nice to haul equipment for land photos and If I need it fits just right inside the 1550 (once I had to carry the mounted housing on top of the 1550 - w/ the lowepro inside - folating for some 50m outside a 1-2ft swell to a zodiac for a dive!!!).

This is the inside of the beast... there are more compact macro ports, base and extensions under the one shown near the dome.

Now I have the following:
- Pel1610 for hard stuff (dispatchable);
- LowePro Mini-Trekker for eletronics (carry-on);
- Pel1550 for film housing; Nikonos w/ Aqualens, macro, arms and strobes; or LowePro.

A few years ago, I used to develop my own slides on the road at night, using the 1550 as a tank for the warm water. Use to kid my friends saying that wherever one can make tea I could develop my slides!

For the new user, I recommend to start with the 1510 (which is bigger than the
1550!!!) or the 1560, but if you plan to buy a big 8pol dome and stick w/ a system for some time accumulating some accesories, go for the 1610. putting the dome standing up is a BIG space saver. For your cameras/lenses, in case of a DSLR YOU MUST BUY ONE PADDED BACKPACK, the U$100 was paid in a week of buying it when a taxi driver droped it from chest-height, with all my lenses and camera inside. In digital era maybe a Compu-Trekker AW would be my choice now, though I plan to buy one Pelican Notebook case to take the note to live-aboards.

 

[Gilligan]

I have used the Storm Case #im2400 which is carry-on size. I have taken it to Bali, Thailand and the Philippines with no issues. My only mistake was not getting the im2500 which has wheels and is still carry-on size. My daughther is getting me that one for Fathers Day

In my im2400 I put two PT-010 housings with a camera in each, my strobe, my wet mount lens, batteries, charger, other related camera/housing items and my laptop. I did not get the foam insert as it is too much trouble to cut that out for all the items I have. I use bubble wrap inside.

IMO Storm Case has a better latch system than Pelican.

The Storm Case im2500 w/o foam is currently $110.95 at cases4less.com

I highly suggest you do not put camera gear in check-in baggage.

Give some thought as to not getting a yellow case as many folks know it likely contains camera gear from the days of the Sea & Sea kits that came in yellow Pelican cases. May make it a rip-off target.

 

[Darnold9999]

Thanks to all, good stuff, really helps - if you go with the carry on, can you (and should you) mount the camera within the housing to save space for the trip? I would think that this would be a good place for it, but... what do I know. Would not do this for the larger case and send as checked baggage. If I go this way the camera goes with me in checked luggage.

 

[Tortuga Roja]

Thanks to all, good stuff, really helps - if you go with the carry on, can you (and should you) mount the camera within the housing to save space for the trip? I would think that this would be a good place for it, but... what do I know. Would not do this for the larger case and send as checked baggage. If I go this way the camera goes with me in checked luggage.

Ike has specifically recommended against mounting the camera in the housing for travel. I believe it has to do with the stress on the mounting bolt. I wouldn't think this would be a concern if it was carry-on.

 

[Mariozi]

Gillian, have you seen the new Pelican latches?
Darnold, what equipment do you need to protect?