Of all those plastic foam watertight cases -- the Calumet is the best price new -- any comments as to the superiority or value of the various brands? Are their any less expensive yet decent quality competitors? Any problems w the Calumet?
I'm looking for a larger one to hold an 8x10, so shipping costs also factor in. Some dealers want $60 to ship a Pelican 1620. The Calumet of similar size ships for only $20.
Frank, take a look at the cases Amvona sells - they are very good value. I got very lucky and won the auction on eBay for their 4618N case for $31 plus shipping. I use it for my DSLR gear and I am very happy with the quality. The case normally sells for about $110 at Amvona - still a very good price.
Juergen
I've looked at the Calumet cases in the store, and they seem quite well made. The big ones are also quite heavy, though not necessarily heavier than Pelican. I was going to get one for my 11x14" camera, but the case that worked best was about 30 lbs, which would be fine just for shipping purposes, but I haven't tried to travel with it, and I wanted something more practical to carry around.
I have a "midsize" Calumet, it's well made; I'm happy.
I've got a Pelican that I really like, got it on clearance at a local camera store. Most of the Calumet gear I've seen and owned (light stands and Caltar lenses) are top-quality stuff. If I was looking for a new case today and had to pay shipping I would probably go with the Calumet but I'm cheap like that
You could probably return the Calumet if you got it and was disappointed with the quality. They still have really good customer service.
An underwater photographer I used to work for used to modify large coolers for shipping cameras and strobes and now I do the same thing. I have a carry on size Pelican container and the rest of my gear goes in a cooler that has a stainless steel cable running over the top from two eye bolts in the side.
Yes someone could break into the cooler but not qucikly, quietly or easily and a slighlty beaten up cooler does not look like a good score anyway.
All the eye bolts, cable etc. must be stainless steel but not heavy guage.
Drill the eye bolts holes and use huge SS washers on both sides of the eye bolts inside and out. When the eye bolts are tight with a nut on the inside use a cutting wheel to cut the long thread off right at the nut. Cutting the bolt makes the nut secure on the eye bolt as it cannot turn off past the left over metal burr.
Cover the plastic if you use a cutter that throws hot metal that would melt the plastic.
Once the eye bolts are in both sides of the cooler about half way up get stainless steel cable and secure it to one eye bolt with a small cable clamp and tape over the entire clamp and the cable at that end with electricians tape.
Run the cable over the top of the cooler and pull it through the lock you will be using (which is in the eye bolt) and have the clamp ready to set the tension. Make sure the cable is tight enough the the lid will not lift out of the grooves. It should be tight enough that you have to put the lock shaft through the eye bolt, and the eye of the cable, and pry the cable tight in oreder to be able to close the lock. The cooler hinges are not strong but if the lid does not have the clearance to open even if the hinges are cut the cooler may be harder to get into than a Pelican Case which typically only has one locking point.
Once you have the cable tension set correctly tighten the clamp and tape all over the cable connector and over the overlapping cable. You might use two rolls of tape. The electricians tape covers all the sharp edges, covers the clamp so it can't be undone, and makes one smooth cable out of the cable and the return end.
You can also set up a small soft grip on the middle of the cable half way along the top, which is big enough for one hand.
This may sound like a bizzare set up but it is so nice. The cable is a rock solid handle and it's fairly low profile above the top of the cooler and a longer shoulder strap can be clipped into the eye hooks. The cooler itself is light and doesn't look high dollar. The cooler also makes a great solid seat, and can be at the bottom of a heavy stack of things as they are tough. In the event that it does get destroyed, which would take a lot, its about $25 to replace.
A Pelican case will make thieves eyes light up much faster than an old cooler.
This may be nothing even remotely like what you are looking for but hopefully someone will find the infomation helpfull.
And if it was snatched - Hey have you seen anyone around here with a Pelican Case?
Your name can be two feet long on the white top of a cooler as well.
Have Fun!
Frank, my 2 pelican and one Storm case were put to the test a few weeks ago. All three were in the back of my truck when I rolled it (4 times) up in Canada. They were ejected many, many dozens of feet away and I actually landed on my large pelican 1650 case and slid on it (whole truck on it) for a good ways before rolling some more. Needless to say, the cases are pretty scuffed up but every single item in them was exactly where I had packed it. Nothing was broken, nothing was even moved. Hell, I had a 8x15 wooden field camera in one of the pelicans and it was fine, ground glass too. I had a sinar, a wista, a hasselblad, about 10 lenses, oh, and a vintage whole plate camera along with film holders, meters, etc. etc. split between the other two and were all fine. I will never buy anything else. No coolers, no calumet, no off brands. Spend the money, it is good insurance.
You can see my 1650 case here after I retrieved it from about 500 feet down the road.
OK Hollis, the obvious questions are what the hell happened and are you OK???
Yeah, yeah, Im fine. Seriously, not a scratch, bump or even sore the next day. Unfortunately, I had to come back south and ended up in OKC where my folks live so I could enjoy their hospitality. Had to wait on my insurance check and get a new truck as well.
Regardless, I highly recommend the area - just beautiful. Come to think of it, there were some lava beds that I was heading to down that road I never got to see. Crap.
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