SnoViking
Adventurer
Hey Folks, (Back Story....) So I started looking for a box to hold all my kitchen/cooking gear for when we camp. We mostly camp in national/state parks in established camp ground and rarely cook vehicle-side. This results in me transporting all my kitchen/cooking gear to and from the truck to the camp table (and back). I built a set of drawers for my truck and organized all my kitchen/cook gear in them..... and they work great.... but the gear is nicely organized in the drawer, in the truck, and not by the camp table.... So I began to search for a suitable sized box. I first considered a Pelican Case (1610). These can be had for about $120 used through eBay or Craigslist. I currently use two Pelican 1600 cases on my roof rack for clothes when we travel so I was familiar with the product. But the 1610 weighs almost 20lbs empty and the exterior size is huge compared to the interior volume. So I started looking into the Alubox and Zarges products. These boxes have a lot going for them. They're light-weight, the interior/exterior volume is much better than a Pelican case, they look good, but they're d@mn expensive. I need 40-50 liters of volume to fit all the kitchen/cook gear so I started looking at the 42 and 47 liter boxes. The Zarges box goes for about $280 and the Alubox goes for about $240 online in those sizes. That was a bit too high for my comfort zone for a box.... even a shiny box.
So I looked around for alternative aluminum boxes....... and came up empty.... Apparently Alubox and Zarges has got the lock-down on tin-foiled boxes in the US....... I expanded my search and stumbled upon Amazon UK. Alas.... lots of aluminum boxes all very similar to the Zarges and Alubox offerings. They have bozes from 29L up to 160L in various different size configurations, brands, qualities, aluminium thicknesses (more on this later), and prices. But I found about 90% of them not importable to the US. But that left 10% for me to pick from. Even with the weak dollar compared to the Euro, the prices were sooo much cheaper!
I "settled" on the Huenersdorff 47L Aluminum Box. There were only two options in the 47L range that I could import and I liked the reinforced lid design better on this one. (Here is the other one. This one had thicker aluminum but a less reinforced lid.... go figure...)
Price: Let's get the purchase price out of the way before I start reviewing this thing..... I got the box for $55 euros plus $22 euros for shipping. That equated to about $82US. And that was Amazon Prime. I ordered it on Tuesday, and had it on Friday, all the way from the little island of UK. So for $82 I felt it was a steal! (I found a warehouse deal, but the regular price is $72 euros - about $105 US shipped <-- still a steal in my opinion.....)
Initial thoughts: It felt a little thin and light. Maybe too thin and light? But upon comparing some specs and info on the web it specs out comparibly to the Zarges cases and Alubox Sports in aluminum thickness and overall weight. Maybe I'm just used to the "heft" of Pelican cases. This box weighs in right around 7lbs on my shipping scale.
Initial Quality: It is made with 0.8mm aluminum and has a reinforced lip around the lid and bottom. The handles, hinges, and latches feel surprisingly beefy. The lid and bottom portion feel a bit thin but the body feel very sturdy. There are no cast corners to help in stacking or durability. The webbing that is attached to the lid/body is decent and doesn't feel/look cheap. All the rivets are tight and appear to be set fairly well. I read some reviews on other boxes that said the rivets worked loose. I plan on keeping a keen eye on the rivets. I also like that you can purchase the optional lock kit. This kit was about $25 euros (not terrible).
My plan (even before I bought a box) was the make a wooden (cutting board style) top for the box to help distribute the force of anything on top of it and that's my weekend project. I'm not sure (nor do I want to test) if the lid would deform if I used it as a step stool...... I don't think it would fare the same as a Pelican 1610..... But I think with a few "upgrades" it will turn into a decent little chuck box.
The box measures our very similarly to the Alubox 42L (but an inch taller). So far I'm pretty happy with it. I'll keep updating this thread as I use the case and see how it fares. If someone is in the Philly area who has an Alubox 42 or Zarges and wants to get together for a one-to-one comparison it would be awesome! I've only seen Alubox online or from afar (on top of peoples rigs...) and have no first hand experience with them. So I can't (and won't) say this box (or that box) is better or worse. All I'm saying is here's a 47L aluminum box for less money..... that may or may not work..... You be your own judge...
Now on to the pictures!
So I looked around for alternative aluminum boxes....... and came up empty.... Apparently Alubox and Zarges has got the lock-down on tin-foiled boxes in the US....... I expanded my search and stumbled upon Amazon UK. Alas.... lots of aluminum boxes all very similar to the Zarges and Alubox offerings. They have bozes from 29L up to 160L in various different size configurations, brands, qualities, aluminium thicknesses (more on this later), and prices. But I found about 90% of them not importable to the US. But that left 10% for me to pick from. Even with the weak dollar compared to the Euro, the prices were sooo much cheaper!
I "settled" on the Huenersdorff 47L Aluminum Box. There were only two options in the 47L range that I could import and I liked the reinforced lid design better on this one. (Here is the other one. This one had thicker aluminum but a less reinforced lid.... go figure...)
Price: Let's get the purchase price out of the way before I start reviewing this thing..... I got the box for $55 euros plus $22 euros for shipping. That equated to about $82US. And that was Amazon Prime. I ordered it on Tuesday, and had it on Friday, all the way from the little island of UK. So for $82 I felt it was a steal! (I found a warehouse deal, but the regular price is $72 euros - about $105 US shipped <-- still a steal in my opinion.....)
Initial thoughts: It felt a little thin and light. Maybe too thin and light? But upon comparing some specs and info on the web it specs out comparibly to the Zarges cases and Alubox Sports in aluminum thickness and overall weight. Maybe I'm just used to the "heft" of Pelican cases. This box weighs in right around 7lbs on my shipping scale.
Initial Quality: It is made with 0.8mm aluminum and has a reinforced lip around the lid and bottom. The handles, hinges, and latches feel surprisingly beefy. The lid and bottom portion feel a bit thin but the body feel very sturdy. There are no cast corners to help in stacking or durability. The webbing that is attached to the lid/body is decent and doesn't feel/look cheap. All the rivets are tight and appear to be set fairly well. I read some reviews on other boxes that said the rivets worked loose. I plan on keeping a keen eye on the rivets. I also like that you can purchase the optional lock kit. This kit was about $25 euros (not terrible).
My plan (even before I bought a box) was the make a wooden (cutting board style) top for the box to help distribute the force of anything on top of it and that's my weekend project. I'm not sure (nor do I want to test) if the lid would deform if I used it as a step stool...... I don't think it would fare the same as a Pelican 1610..... But I think with a few "upgrades" it will turn into a decent little chuck box.
The box measures our very similarly to the Alubox 42L (but an inch taller). So far I'm pretty happy with it. I'll keep updating this thread as I use the case and see how it fares. If someone is in the Philly area who has an Alubox 42 or Zarges and wants to get together for a one-to-one comparison it would be awesome! I've only seen Alubox online or from afar (on top of peoples rigs...) and have no first hand experience with them. So I can't (and won't) say this box (or that box) is better or worse. All I'm saying is here's a 47L aluminum box for less money..... that may or may not work..... You be your own judge...
Now on to the pictures!
Last edited:
