Pelican verses Zarges
- Thread starter Corey
- Start date
TangoBlue
American Adventurist
I'm with Corey on the military-style cases. They are light but durable and water proof; I wouldn't say they are GIANT, but merely large. I travel with 2 and it keeps all my gear dry and organized. With all the gear deployed they make for great extra seating arrangements around the camp table, too. The government vendor makes a large selection of various sizes that can suit anyones requirement.
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
I forgot to mention, I am down to one case now instead of using two.
Wish my case was the 16" high one, but it is 12" high.
I am working on organizing my gear better, and leaving some stuff behind.
Next season unpacking the five star grand hotel should be a lot easier.
Wish my case was the 16" high one, but it is 12" high.
I am working on organizing my gear better, and leaving some stuff behind.
Next season unpacking the five star grand hotel should be a lot easier.
Wasted space
Since Zarges cases are aluminum they don't require a very thick or reinforced wall to hold a lot of weight. You will find that Zarges cases have very little wasted space on the inside. Especially for our electronic rackmount cases. Much less sway space than our plastic/composite competitors and a huge range of sizes. Custom cases are available and unlike plastic we don't have to create a mold to make a new size making custom work attainable.
Since Zarges cases are aluminum they don't require a very thick or reinforced wall to hold a lot of weight. You will find that Zarges cases have very little wasted space on the inside. Especially for our electronic rackmount cases. Much less sway space than our plastic/composite competitors and a huge range of sizes. Custom cases are available and unlike plastic we don't have to create a mold to make a new size making custom work attainable.
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
Just saw in the August 4Wheeler magazine that Paul of Equipt carries these.
http://www.equipt1.com/companies/alu-box/
I might have to try one out.
http://www.equipt1.com/companies/alu-box/
I might have to try one out.
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
New ECS case
As seen earlier in this thread (ECS cases) and my camping gear review thread, I ordered another ECS case just now.
This one though is not a footlocker like the other two.
I am down to just using one of the two ECS footlockers I used last year, but with the Goal Zero Ranger 350 battery kit, five Light A Life LED lights, my Powerfilm solar panel, I wanted a case in which to keep all of the solar stuff well organized.
I was carrying the Powerfilm solar panel and cables in a Pelican case with its cables, but now everything will fit in the new ECS case, and it takes up less room than using the second footlocker.
The new case will stack/interlock on top of the one footlocker I will be using for other gear.
ECS Loadmaster Single Lid Case LM2121-12
Sized at:
Outside Dimension
Length x Width x Height
20.8" x 20.8" x 12.0"
Inside Dimensions
Length x Width x Height
17.8" x 17.8" x 10.75"
Will have a full review of the case in my gear review thread first trip out.
Late getting out this year due to a leg/knee injury.
As seen earlier in this thread (ECS cases) and my camping gear review thread, I ordered another ECS case just now.
This one though is not a footlocker like the other two.
I am down to just using one of the two ECS footlockers I used last year, but with the Goal Zero Ranger 350 battery kit, five Light A Life LED lights, my Powerfilm solar panel, I wanted a case in which to keep all of the solar stuff well organized.
I was carrying the Powerfilm solar panel and cables in a Pelican case with its cables, but now everything will fit in the new ECS case, and it takes up less room than using the second footlocker.
The new case will stack/interlock on top of the one footlocker I will be using for other gear.
ECS Loadmaster Single Lid Case LM2121-12
Sized at:
Outside Dimension
Length x Width x Height
20.8" x 20.8" x 12.0"
Inside Dimensions
Length x Width x Height
17.8" x 17.8" x 10.75"
Will have a full review of the case in my gear review thread first trip out.
Late getting out this year due to a leg/knee injury.
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
My new ECS case came Friday.
Here it is stuff full of the Goal Zero Ranger 350 kit, my Powerfilm solar panel, five of the Light-A-Life LED lamps, and other misc. staff.
There is room for five more of the lights to sit on top of the solar panel box.
You can daisy chain up to twelve of these light with the 350 kit.
Very happy with the new case, it was the perfect size to house all of my solar equipment and the Goa Zero stuff.
The new case will lash on top of one of the ECS footlockers I bought last year.
Here it is stuff full of the Goal Zero Ranger 350 kit, my Powerfilm solar panel, five of the Light-A-Life LED lamps, and other misc. staff.
There is room for five more of the lights to sit on top of the solar panel box.
You can daisy chain up to twelve of these light with the 350 kit.
Very happy with the new case, it was the perfect size to house all of my solar equipment and the Goa Zero stuff.
The new case will lash on top of one of the ECS footlockers I bought last year.
SKB Cases
I searched the forum and was surprised to not find a single reference to SKB Cases. I have two and two Pelican cases as well. SKB is mostly known for their musical instrument cases, but they have a line of waterproof and military cases.
I haven't bought any in a while and have not done any price comparisons, but my understanding is that SKB are priced better than Pelican. I like my SKB cases better than my Pelicans, because of the latch system. It's a double latch system which makes closing and opening the latches much easier than my Pelican.
I recently broke an SKB latch. I called the HQ to find out how I go about buying a replacement latch. They asked for my address and sent two latches free of charge. You don't often see a company stand behind their product like that. VERY happy with my SKB's.
LINK TO MILITARY / WATERPROOF SKB CASES
I searched the forum and was surprised to not find a single reference to SKB Cases. I have two and two Pelican cases as well. SKB is mostly known for their musical instrument cases, but they have a line of waterproof and military cases.
I haven't bought any in a while and have not done any price comparisons, but my understanding is that SKB are priced better than Pelican. I like my SKB cases better than my Pelicans, because of the latch system. It's a double latch system which makes closing and opening the latches much easier than my Pelican.
I recently broke an SKB latch. I called the HQ to find out how I go about buying a replacement latch. They asked for my address and sent two latches free of charge. You don't often see a company stand behind their product like that. VERY happy with my SKB's.
LINK TO MILITARY / WATERPROOF SKB CASES
762X39
Explorer
I have a basement full of plastic cases by Pelican but mostly by HPRC and Explorer. They range in size from a laptop case to a six rifle safari case to a huge footlocker about twice the size of the old issued footlockers. All of them are sturdy and somewhat weather resistant. What I hate about all of them is that they weigh 6 times as much as a comparably sized Zarges case. If you don't think weight is important well than go with a plastic case. As I have learned, weight costs (especially as I have to fly from time to time on bushplanes to get to my work sites). I am changing over to Zarges cases for the weight savings alone.
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
I have a new black ECS footlocker case being built for me, should be here within a few weeks.
The normal footlocker size is 33" long with an option of 12, 16, or 20" high.
The newer size they just introduced on their website is 25" long, and the same heights as the longer case.
I had cut back down to just one of the footlockers of the old size (always trying to pack less, as I take to much ) now this newer size will give me more room in the rig, and my box I recently picked up a month or so back for my Goal Zero solar stuff will fit on top of the higher 16" footlocker, but still clear the ceiling by several inches.
This will allow me pack other stuff around the smaller footlocker better.
You can see the new sizes here.
The smaller footlocker though does not have the option for casters, I wish it did.
http://www.ecscase.com/outdoor-and-firearms/loadmastertm-footlocker
You can also see the size difference between the regular sized footlocker and the new one in this PDF file at the bottom of it.
http://www.ecscase.com/media/files/ECS_Loadmaster_Footlocker_Case.pdf
The normal footlocker size is 33" long with an option of 12, 16, or 20" high.
The newer size they just introduced on their website is 25" long, and the same heights as the longer case.
I had cut back down to just one of the footlockers of the old size (always trying to pack less, as I take to much
) now this newer size will give me more room in the rig, and my box I recently picked up a month or so back for my Goal Zero solar stuff will fit on top of the higher 16" footlocker, but still clear the ceiling by several inches.This will allow me pack other stuff around the smaller footlocker better.
You can see the new sizes here.
The smaller footlocker though does not have the option for casters, I wish it did.
http://www.ecscase.com/outdoor-and-firearms/loadmastertm-footlocker
You can also see the size difference between the regular sized footlocker and the new one in this PDF file at the bottom of it.
http://www.ecscase.com/media/files/ECS_Loadmaster_Footlocker_Case.pdf
SWITAWI
Doesn't Get Out Enough
So being responsible for my snorkel fixation wasn't enough for you? Now you want me to abandon my beloved Action Packers? Stop the madness!
:coffeedrink:
Thanks for the heads-up on the new case, Corey. Looks like that 25" length is perfect for use in the FJ Cruiser with the back seat still in the upright position all the time. Looks like the 12"H model should fit fine, and the 16" variant might be a tight squeeze at the top, but I don't think I could fit the 20"H version in back there lengthways between the back seat and an MPAC rack on the back door. Hmmm... Next thing you know my boss wants to know why I'm out in the back of the FJ with a tape measure.
:drool:
:coffeedrink:
Thanks for the heads-up on the new case, Corey. Looks like that 25" length is perfect for use in the FJ Cruiser with the back seat still in the upright position all the time. Looks like the 12"H model should fit fine, and the 16" variant might be a tight squeeze at the top, but I don't think I could fit the 20"H version in back there lengthways between the back seat and an MPAC rack on the back door. Hmmm... Next thing you know my boss wants to know why I'm out in the back of the FJ with a tape measure.
:drool:
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
I know I know, I am a bad influence on paychecks
I gave away all of my Action Packers during spring cleaning this year with the exception of one of the smaller ones to hold the dry food stuff.
I just dig how these interlock to each other like Legos, and I bought some new ratchet straps off of Amazon a few weeks back to cinch them down good.