Pelican Interior Organization

[College Kid]

I know that I can pick up the soft side organizers (camera organizer) or the pick and pluck foam. But I am not sure if either of those are the best solution for basic camping gear.

I recently aquired a couple of Pelican 1630's for organizing the rear area of the D2. I plan on using one for a kitchen/around camp stuff, as well as some basic tools. The other will hold tent sleeping bags and other soft gear I don't want to keep sort of clean, although I haven't fully decided on this yet as I have some large dry bags that work well currently.

What are you guys doing for organizing the inside of large Pelican Cases?

 

[SWITAWI]

Don't have one myself, but this might help you for the kitchen setup - http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/68390-Pelican-1650-case-what-to-use-it-for

Look up the 1654 Padded Divider and the 1659 Lid Organizer.

 

[1leglance]

I wrapped all my kitchen kit in clear wrap, then I sprayed the expanding foam used to seal door & window cracks.
After it dried I pulled my stuff out & unwrapped then it all went back in snug & comfy.
So far this system has worked very well on a number of trips not letting my cast iron bang against my light plastic cups and such.
Try it for yourself.

 

[College Kid]

That's not a bad idea, altough I have a question, how did you make layers? the boxes are so deep I worry about alot of wasted space.

Just a quick edit from above, they are actually 1630 boxes

 

[AeroNautiCal]

Don't forget that these Lid Organizer's wide range of size, shape and capacity makes them ideal to mount on any vertical or roof surface in the cabin and living area's in any camper, van or truck, as is also possible with the Blue Performance Cabin Bags.

 

[Herbie]

I wrapped all my kitchen kit in clear wrap, then I sprayed the expanding foam used to seal door & window cracks.
After it dried I pulled my stuff out & unwrapped then it all went back in snug & comfy.
So far this system has worked very well on a number of trips not letting my cast iron bang against my light plastic cups and such.
Try it for yourself.

I would LOVE to see some pictures of the results of this!

 

[NLXTACY]

I wrapped all my kitchen kit in clear wrap, then I sprayed the expanding foam used to seal door & window cracks.
After it dried I pulled my stuff out & unwrapped then it all went back in snug & comfy.
So far this system has worked very well on a number of trips not letting my cast iron bang against my light plastic cups and such.
Try it for yourself.

Thats actually a really good idea. My company purchases about 500 Storm (Pelican/Hardigg) cases a year and each one has custom laser or water jetted cut foam inserts that are permanently attached to the case. There is company called the Foam Shop which is part of George B. Woodcock (love the name, we refer to them as Splinter Penis) in Chatsworth, CA. All we do on our end is either send them Solid Works files OR send in the product itself and they make a custom foam insert and work on tetris-izing the products to best fit. They do doors, trays, whatever. One of the technicians at work bought one of the Pelican Tool cases and had foam inserts made for all the drawers and a slot for every single tool he had. Pricey but was pretty bad ***. Been thinking about doing the same with the kitchen box I have now once I go with a Storm for it.

 

[hochung]

I've used the 1660 with the padded divider. It's a deep case, and the padded divider comes in 2 layers:

Maybe you can fab something similar?

 

[1leglance]

Ok here are some pics of my Kitchen Pelican that I made using spray expanding foam and plastic cling wrap.

This is what you see when you open the box. No rattles really and I used most all the space. Of course I want to redo it again to try & get a better layout but hey I am happy for now.

With the stove & dutch oven gloves removed you can see a bit "deeper" into the case.
The Alum pot has a Coleman single burner white gas stove as backup/water heater for quick morning beverage or heating water for cooking/cleaning/washing.

My plates are stainless steel stove burner covers. They are a bit thin so I am looking at Goodwill for some heavy pie tins and will be trying those in my next trip. They should insulate the food well, have a nice rim to work with and clean up easy. But for $2ea the burner covers work well.

This closeup shows how some of the cling wrap stayed with the foam. I am ok with that. You can also see my cast iron double skillet that becomes a dutch oven. I love this thing as I get a deep & shallow skillet and a dutch oven in 1 shot.

This close up of where the pot/white gas stove fit shows how the foam looks inside. It ain't pretty but if I was worried about pretty I would be a member over on Expedition Exchange.
The foam holds really well. I have been using this setup for 6months or more, bouncing around some serious washboard trails and no complaints at all.

A little google action will help you find ways to do this with t-shirt material or other close knit stuff if you want a nice look. My concern was the cloth holding moisture/dirt.
If I was to do it over (which I am sure I will) here are my thoughts:

Line the entire case with a garbage bag or something so the foam could lift out if I either don't needed it or want to change it.
Test painting the foam or do something about that horrible color
Figure out how to hold all my cutlery in something other than a rolled up blue hand towel.

Oh and lastly....if you do this, make sure to let the foam sit WAY longer than you think...24hrs at least as it stays wet inside for a long time. And wrap your stuff in a way that some of the plastic CAN stick as it will be easier to remove the item.

 

[College Kid]

That's a great set up. Unfortunatly due to the depth of the 1630's I don't think it would work. Now that I am thinking it through thou I may be able to do a lower level with foam and then use the top layer for soft goods. like tent and sleeping bags. Things that would come out first.

I agree thou, need to do something about the colour.

Anyone know if there is something to remove the residue if you were going to do a test and need to re do it??? It's a pain to get off your hands thats for sure.

 

[1leglance]

If I was going to do it again I would cut open a big black garbage bag to use as a bottom liner so I could remove the foam structure intact if I wanted to change things, or use the case for something else.

 

[life_w_vagabonds]

That foam is no joke. Whatever it gets on it will not come off. I have always wanted to spray a whole can to see how big a blob it would make.

Is sound an issue for you? If not I would make dividers out of hard board (like peg board with out the holes) You can fit them together vertically with slots and tabs. You could do several layers by fitting horizontal pieces with a finger whole. Hard board is cheap and sturdy, I can usually find a damaged piece at Lowes and get it at a discount. You could do a cardboard mock up and play around with it before you started cutting.

 

[College Kid]

That foam is no joke. Whatever it gets on it will not come off. I have always wanted to spray a whole can to see how big a blob it would make.

I am pretty sure every guy who has used the stuff has had that thought!!!!

Your peg board idea is a good one. It has my head going on a couple of ideas. I'll post up some plans once I get them mocked up.