The tales of survival almost strain belief.
There’s the off-road endurance race car that rolled down a steep and rocky slope, but the drive team’s gear was undamaged inside their plastic storage cases.
Then there’s the military helicopter brought down by missile fire where, after the pilot and passengers escaped, the only thing salvageable inside was a plastic storage case.
And when an improvised explosive device detonated under an armored vehicle in Pakistan, ripping apart the engine compartment, a U.S. Army combat engineer was able to walk away because of the plastic case that sat beneath his feet.
The incidents are real, recounted on the website of Pelican Products Inc., which made the storage cases. The Torrance manufacturer has built such a durable reputation over 36 years in the military, aerospace, police and rescue arenas that its equipment has appeared in dozens of action films and television shows to add a touch of authenticity.
“We have always been an industrial-grade, professional-grade protective case supplier,” Pelican Chief Executive Lyndon Faulkner said. “It’s in the DNA of all of our products. They are built for very robust environments.”
No, kidding. Anything I own thats gotta be, without a doubt, protected at all costs goes into a Pelicn (or Hardigg) case of some sort. They’re not cheap but when your truck rolls over, your canoe dumps its gear, or you pull the case out of the wreckage of your house it’ll be nice to know the radios, lights, guns, and other essentials inside will be in perfect shape.
The article mentions Pelican’s acquisition of Hardigg a few years back. I remember reading about that at the time and thinking it was a brilliant move by Pelican to absolutely dominate the market and, of course, that’s exactly what happened….although it looks like it turned Hardigg into its ‘military’ division more than anything else. The Hardigg cases are also outstanding and, in my opinion, a little more hardcore than the Pelican cases since the Pelicans are designed for the general market and the Hardigg seemed to be designed with only one market in mind – the military.
The company also makes flashlights used by police and fire departments around the nation. When the Los Angeles Police Department, for example, wanted a new flashlight that was lightweight, bright and rugged, Pelican engineers designed the 7060 LED model, now standard equipment for all LAPD patrol officers.
My wife has one, the Pelican 8060
Along with Hardigg, they also bought Storm Cases, both of them better than Pelican.
I bought a Pelican display case at SHOT a few years ago, but they stripped the foam out before I picked it up the end of the final day. They refused to make it right. I figure if they treat people at the SHOT Show like that, why deal with them at all?
There are other brands out there.
You can’t talk about the 8060 and not bring up the long battery life. With all its features its proven to be knuckle-dragger proof so far. It can be used as an impromptu spotlight from the back seat of a helo also.
It’s an awesome light. Only thing I dislike is that if you want to run it on regular batts you have to use oddball c-batts rather than D-batts.