watertight boxes.....

[herm]

I am sure this is a frequent topic here. my goal is to make a thread that is easy to search for that will present some options to the traditional and extremely, overly expensive pelican / nanuk / etc. cases. please link to the other threads and I will consolidate the links in this post. I think the cariboucases has great ideas, but many of us operate on budgets that make them out of reach. maybe they can offer cases from an overseas manufacture that are more budget friendly.

I am sure that there are more options than this, please add to the thread by posting a link to cases you think are great.

Water tight with seal:

obvious #1, ammo boxes and their plastic brothers found at most sporting goods stores and places like cheaperthandirt.com, cabelas, bass pro....

flambeau defender series

these look pretty good. I may order a few. much cheaper than pelican and made by the same parent company. these may be a good compromise between price and quality.

Here's another cheap Pelican Knockoff similar to your Bolton case, only it's slightly larger @ 22.75"x15"x7" Inside 20"x12.25"x7" $59.97

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-028001L-28-Inch-Structural-Toolbox/dp/B000KN470Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1300773553&sr=1-1"]stanley tool box with water seal[/ame] 28 in tool box

flambeau dry boxes similar shape to the ammo boxes but a bit larger

One that I have looked at is the waterproof storage trunk from the container store:
container store boxes
It may be a little large for my purposes, but at $40 it is a fairly good $/liter ratio for water-tight storage.

china:

chinise manufacture site

i am sure if we could get 100 or so ordered of whatever size they can make we could get a great deal, though i have never tried this. maybe caribou could offer something like this for their budget minded market.

water resistant as tested by forum members:

rubbermaid action packers at you local ace, some walmarts, online. these are resistant to water but will leak in a heavy rain or when buried in the snow in your truck bed.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-1172-ActionPacker-Storage-24-Gallon/dp/B00002N6SQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300775116&sr=8-1"]action packers[/ame]

 

[Little Red]

Storage box options for roof rack?

I am currently looking for a couple storage boxes to place on my roof rack.
So far I found the Rubbermaid action Packer & Plano Sportsman’s Box
They are both affordable and seem they would work well for gear storage on top of my roof rack.

Probably going to purchase one of these in the next couple weeks, when I do I will post a short review here.

 

[herm]

great! Thanks for the input. I have 2 of the 24 gallon action packers. I use them in the bed of my truck and have used them on my roof rack. I have found they are too large for me. I can stuff too much stuff into them and they get too heavy. they do leak a bit in heavy rain and snow. I am looking for somthing a bit smaller and lower profile so that i can orginize my stuff better and make it more accessable.

 

[Ruined Adventures]

Here's another cheap Pelican Knockoff similar to your Bolton case, only it's slightly larger @ 22.75"x15"x7" Inside 20"x12.25"x7" $59.97

 

[JPK]

I have used two Owens Products diamond plate aluminum ATV boxes on the roof rack of my LJ for four and a half years. They carry recovery gear, trash bags, spares, a machette, tools, you name it...

The boxes feature locks and padle latches like a pick up tool box and gas strut lid supports (one of each of the above per box.) I thought they might leak, but the have stayed dry in even the heaviest of down pours while I'm driving 70mph, in feet of snow, through the truck wash, etc.

The boxes are attractive in appearence, offerred in bright aluminum and black powder coat (which has held up without flaw on mine) and offered in three sizes, small, medium and large. The boxes themselves are relatively light.

The ones I use are the smalls @ 32"lx12"wx6"h. They are bolted to my rack through the bottoms with rubber grommets for seals.

Medium boxes measure 34"lx12"wx9"h; large boxes measure 35"lx12"wx12.5"h.

Prices I saw on the web ranged from $189 for the bright small to about $260 for the black large. Owens and other truck box makers offer other sizes too, but for the most part the skip from about the size of the large ATV box to too damned big.

For permanently mounted storage I don't think they can be beat.

Here is a link to Owens: http://www.owens-pro.com/index.php

But you'll find better photos at web retailers than the Owens site, imo. Here's a site with a good photo: http://www.buyautotruckaccessories....-series-diamond-tread-atv-utility-tool-boxes/

JPK

 

[RusherRacing]

I have one of the $25 dollar Plano boxes - same as linked above.

I love it. It goes on the front of my 4x6 "tire trailer". I keep all my spare fluids, spare brakes pads, rotors, and a tool kit or two. It has truely taken a beating over the last few years and has held up great. I highly recommend it.

Not waterproof but does ok in rain.

I also have some similar to this
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-QUANTUM-Attached-Lid-Totes/dp/B002SMYTM8"]Grey totes with attached lid[/ame]

They work great for keeping my food and kitchen stuff organized while camping.

 

[coastsider]

You get what you pay for

Pelican cases may be expensive, but they are bomb proof (you can drive your truck over them), 100% watertight, 100% dust proof, have a pressure equalizing valve for altitude, are lockable and come in a gazillion different sizes and configurations. I guess it all boils down to what you want to protect and keep dry. Personally I would not trust my expensive camera gear to anything less than a Pelican case, on the other hand if it's less delicate piece of equipment go cheap. I personally use action packers for my other gear that is not so delicate. Another good waterproof solution is to use dry bags like NRS, they make superb gear for kayaking and white water rafting (so you know it won't leak). I use these to keep dry all my soft gear and clothes, they also make dry boxes, check it out here.

 

[herm]

http://www.flambeau-cases.com/defender-cases.htm

these look pretty good. I may order a few. much cheaper than pelican and made by the same parent company. these may be a good compromise between price and quality.

i agree coastsider, pelican cases are and my be literally "bomb proof". I would love to have one for my telescope, but paying my car payment may be more important. (and the case would cost as much as the telescope). I will probably invest In one when my finance gets her 7D for lenses and everything (she is a journalist).

 

[Ala5ka]

There are a ton of Hardigg cases on Craigslist right now for around 100 bucks, or try searching for military boxes and some warhead carriers popup in the search

 

[Rando]

I do field research in harsh environments for a living, use plenty of Pelican and Hardigg cases, and agree that they are water tight and robust. However, I think that they have become 'expo status symbols' for a lot of people. Personally I use a smaller pelican case for my DSLR, but that is it. There are plenty of cheaper lighter and more space efficient cases to use for camping/travelling and it is a great idea to make a list of these.

One that I have looked at is the waterproof storage trunk from the container store:
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/storage/totes?productId=10024301&N=71235

It may be a little large for my purposes, but at $40 it is a fairly good $/liter ratio for water-tight storage.

 

[herm]

great contribution. i will add that site to the links above. those boxes look like good options. too bad they only come in clear. One could paint them though. I would not want to advertise what is on the rack to the public.

 

[Little Red]

I am currently looking for a couple storage boxes to place on my roof rack.
So far I found the Rubbermaid action Packer & Plano Sportsman’s Box
They are both affordable and seem they would work well for gear storage on top of my roof rack.

Probably going to purchase one of these in the next couple weeks, when I do I will post a short review here.

UPDATE

So I ended up buying 4 Rubbermaid Action Packer storage boxes.
I got 3 medium boxes and 1 small box (the large boxes are just too big to load on the roof rack without having a ladder)

I got to test them recently during my camping trip (link here).

The boxes where stored inside during the day when I was driving but at night I would put them on top off the roof rack to make room to sleep in the back.
We had multiple nights with lots of rain and all the contends inside the boxes stayed dry.
They are very tough too and I expect them to last me a long time.

Here is picture showing a couple of the boxes:

 

[SWITAWI]

I have 2ea of the small (8gal) and medium (24gal) sized ActionPackers myself. They work very well, though it is very easy to get the medium-sized Packer pretty heavy. I'm planning to try this eventually - http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/11757-Waterproofing-an-Action-Packer. The pictures are gone now, but it's pretty obvious what he did to try and seal them up better.

 

[Rattler]

Are the Action Packers pretty decent about not letting water in? I am debating on a couple smaller APs. Maybe I will try running a small bead of silicon around the top to help. I think my neighbor has one I can check out too. My plan is to use it for some clothing storage while we are camping.

 

[Rattler]

Are the Action Packers pretty decent about not letting water in? I am debating on a couple smaller APs. Maybe I will try running a small bead of silicon around the top to help. I think my neighbor has one I can check out too. My plan is to use it for some clothing storage while we are camping.

Ok. I would have about answered my own question following the link above my original post.