Foam inserts or dividers?

[peter lagus]

I am thinking about buying a Pelican case for my LF gear that I can check as luggage. You can get a case with cube foam that can be configured for your individual gear, or you can get padded inserts. Which provides better protection for your gear? I know that carry-on is always better, but with the airlines slowly reducing the allowable size for carryons, I'd like to get ahead of the curve.

Pete

[Peter Gomena]

I prefer the padded inserts. The cubed foam eventually deteriorates into little crumbs that get into everything.

[Rick Rycroft]

I have had both foam and padded inserts in my several Pelican cases. While the foam has not yet deteriorate in my 20-year-old cases the inserts are much more convenient for changing what you want to pack in the case. I've changed out the foam and replaced with the pads in all my cases now.

[Jim Andrada]

The only case I have that still has foam is the one that holds my microphones and audio recorder, which are really light weight and REALLY delicate, and really small.

The cubes will eventually crumble and if there's any weight on them they'll tear and it's hard to get things close together without weakening the foam to the point of it being useless. And if you leave a couple of inches of foam around things it uses up all the space and you can't get anything into the case.

Padded dividers are the way to go.

[Drew Bedo]

I love ,my Pelican rollaround for travel. It fits in the overhead and is rugged enough for the hold if that has to happen.

I have prefered padded dividers for packing camera gear generally, but have found an alternative to both padded dividers and cubed foam.

I am slowly transitioning my gear into PhotoBackpacker storage boxes. These are a system of semi-rigid protective storage boxes designed for large format gear. Different sizes accommodate lenses and cameras from 4x5 to 8x10 formats. They pack into my Pelican carry-on nicely. They are set up with hook-and-loop patches to allow them to securely snug sown and lock up together.

Check it out at:

www.photobackpacker.com

Cheers

[HMG]

I have some foam that's at least 20 years old and still does not show any signs of deterioration. But foam does vary significantly in quality and density. I like sheet foam that I can cut to fit my gear (freeze it, then cut with sharp filet knife). I can "design" different inserts for different purposes. I use higher density foam and leave at least 1" between items (less if it's for things like hoods or film).

I have one case with a padded insert. I just don't see how they provide as much cushioning as foam; though I can't say they don't provide enough. If using the padded inserts, you could always wrap a bit of the small bubble wrap around items when checking as baggage.

As I understand, there are 2 issues. One is impacts when items are dropped and the other is the constant vibration when in flight.

[Alan Gales]

The sheet foam that HMG suggests protects the best because you cut it to size. I have owned this and also the Pick-n-Pluck cubed foam and used them with medium format gear. Sometimes with the cubed foam I couldn't get a snug fit with every item in the case. Some of my lenses were able to move slightly. I have no experience with the padded dividers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C-e96m4730&feature=kp

[Ginette]

Even great quality foam show deterioration with age, in museum we use ethafoam 100% polyethylene and even this deteriorate. If the foam contain polyurethane it is even worst. Good for shipping but not for long-term storage.

Like Drew, I set-up my gear with PhotoBackpacker camera and lens cases and their holders bags.
For the 5x7 kit, I use their backpack but for the 8x10 kit I will go with a Nanuk 945 case (bought from Ari recently).
Everything fit nicely, it can be fixed with velcro to the case, In my case it is so thigh that it is not needed but I will do it for the Cascade holders in the cover.

If you are worried about shocks, you can add additional protection like lens wrap or camera wrap like Chamonix do. Or add some layers of microfoam (polyethylene, polypropylene or polyester foam) in the bottom of cases. But don't use plastic bubble wrap, at least for long-term storage, in direct contact it can imprint bubbles pattern in the objects, expecially in polycarbonate like roll film holders.

[Jim Andrada]

Foam can actually cause damage to contents. A few years back we were doing 1 meter drop tests on some high precision mechanisms about the size and weight of 4 x 5 press camera (but they weren't cameras!)

The boxes were filled with high quality foam with a slot cut for each unit. When the boxes were dropped on the corners, the foam transmitted enough force to the product to bend fairly strong sheet metal. The solution was to cut away all the corners of the foam packing to allow the box to crush slightly before impacting the foam liner.