Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
A lot of the stuff we acquire for preparedness is fairly middle-of-the-road in terms of cost. Some stuff is cheap, some stuff is mid-range, and some stuff is just downright spendy. Take those spendy items and put them in the environment that we are preparing against (earthquake, flood, fire, zombies, etc.) and you’ve got a recipe for frustration and loss. Some of the more expensive items are things like guns, radios, optics, GPS, range finders, cellphones, etc. So it stands to reason that we want to protect those items as best we can until such time as we need them.
There is no shortage of scenarios that damage gear – it’s 2am and its time to leave in a hurry. Its pouring rain, the ground is muddy, and the only space left in the vehicle is in the back of the uncovered bed of a pickup truck. You drag your radio gear out of storage, trip on the steps and it goes flying to land in the mud. You pick it up, run to the truck, and heave it into the back where it sits in the rain for twenty minutes as you frantically run back and forth from the house grabbing as much as you can. Then it’s a two hour ride in the rain, gear bumping and jostling against itself, gravel and dirt flying around, and crushing weight as the load shifts back and forth on the rough roads. But, finally, you make it to your destination of relative safety and you start unpacking. Now there’s two endings to this drama – your radio gear is either in more pieces when you started, and soaking wet to boot or its dry, intact and ready for use. The biggest factor in the outcome is how you protected it. And the same goes for your guns. Or your binoculars. Or your laptop.
To me, the qualities Im looking for in a hard storage case are pretty straightforward: durability, survivability, adaptability, utility, and affordability. Not necessarily in that order.
The best things I have found are the hard plastic cases made by Pelican and Hardigg. Hardigg was doing a great job of giving Pelican a run for its money so Pelican did what any smart business would do – buy them out and recapture market share. I’m going to use the term ‘Pelican case’ to describe the hard plastic cases made by Pelican and Hardigg interchangeably. In its simplest form, the Pelican cases are briefcase-shaped cases of various dimensions made from near-indestructible plastic, gasketed to be watertight, and foam padded on the interior. They are pretty much the last word in readily available consumer-marketed (meaning available to average joes and not just .mil) cases out there. I bought one of their big rifle cases for my .308 bolt gun and have been very pleased with it. I can heave it into the back of the truck, take it to the range and know that the gun will be just fine. This sort of security and peace of mind doesn’t come cheap, though. The rifle case cost me $200 all on its own. Would a $75 Dosckocil case have done the trick? For a while, maybe….but I’ve ‘sprung’ a few of them in air travel and while theyre great for traveling and keeping a gun in the closet or basement they wouldn’t be my first choice for fleeing advancing hordes of zombies in the rain or snow.
The guys at Pelican offer their cases in various sizes from stuff small enough to fit just your iPod to cases the size of footlockers. All of them are quite durable and all of them aren’t cheap. But, you do get what you pay for. On the bright side, Pelican (and Hardigg) cases can be found new and used on eBay at big savings. Often they’ll be without the foam inserts or the foam will have been cut to a shape that doesn’t suit your needs. Not a problem, the foam inserts are replaceable and can be ordered from Pelican. I often remove them altogether and put my gear in nylon pouches and then pad it with some eggshell foam…this way the gear is ready to go and still protected for transit and storage. If you can afford them, the Pelican cases are outstanding ways to ‘ruggedize’ your gear for travel and storage in adverse conditions. A year or two ago I found a closeout on small Pelican cases that had been used by Nikon for their digital cameras. Other than a Nikon sticker (easily removed) these were brand new Pelican cases. I bought all they had, sold a bunch and kept a few for myself. One of them serves as my “Glock first aid kit” containing a bunch of spare parts, disassembly tool, test cover plate, and a few other items. They also make excellent indestructible containers for personal pocket/pack-sized first aid kits.
Of course, not everyone wants to spend $125 on a Pelican case the size of a phone book. I can totally relate to that, Im one cheap bastard myself. The next step down from the Pelican case is the tried and true surplus ammo can. Assuming that the ones you get are in good shape and haven’t been dinged up too badly they are usually watertight and their metal construction certainly affords a great deal of protection to whatever you put inside. Drawbacks are the limited sizes, sketchy availability, rather distinctive military look, and lack of internal padding. On the other hand when you can find them in the size you need almost nothing works as well. I have far more ammo cans than I do Pelican cases and I use them for storing all sorts of stuff that needs to stay dry, protected, and clean.
Other than expensive electronics and guns what else needs this level of protection? Well, pretty much anything that absolutely needs to stay dry, clean and in one piece. First aid gear comes to mind. I’ve a couple Pelican cases that I bought used for about $20 each. Theyre kinda cube shaped and just the right size to hold a large first aid bag. Some folks get a large rifle case and make it into a ‘backup gun package’ – a rifle, shotgun, pistol and a couple magazines all in one place ready to be tucked under a house, left in the loft of a barn, or hidden under some deadfall. One of the larger Pelican cases or 40mm ammo cans make an excellent bombproof container for complete kits or storing a 3-day bag.
Although I try to take good care of my gear I do realize there are going to be times when babying stuff just isn’t going to be a possibility. For those times I want my gear packed in such a manner I can throw it around, leave it in the snow, bounce it around in a truck, lash it to a pack from or cache it somewhere.
As I said, eBay is an excellent source for used Hardigg and Pelican cases. Many military surplus cases are on the market these days and although they may be scratched, nicked and painted they are usually still just as good as they were when they were new. While they aren’t cheap, by any stretch of the imagination, they most certainly are cheaper than having to replace a critical piece of gear that got destroyed because you left it sitting out in the open.
