Case musings

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Someone asked me how I store all those magazines.

Answer: The same way I store anything that I feel is important, worth protecting, and might be in storage for a long time: in a hard, airtight, watertight, crushproof container.

For 99% of the things I put in the Deep Sleep, the container of choice is either a genuine GI ammo can of some kind, or a Pelican (or similar brand/quality) case.

Good, quality, name-brand, effective, just-what-the-doctor-ordered cases are not cheap. Only you know how much risk you’re willing to take to save a few dollars. Will the plastic ammo can from Harbor Freight store gear just as well as a GI ammo can? Maybe. If it’s just going to sit on the shelf in your basement for the next twenty years then all it has to do is sit there, quietly waiting in the dark for that one day when life changes in an exciting new way. And that is when the extra bucks you paid makes a difference. When you grab the can off the shelf, swing it around as you run up the stairs with it, it bounces off the doorway as you grab your backpack with your other hand. You run out the door and it’s five inches of snow and freezing rain as you literally toss the ammo can in the back of the truck into a pile of slushy snow and ice. Then its a two hour drive over bumpy roads until you get to your safe place. Then you drag your gear out of the truck, some of it falls and hits the ground, some bounces off other gear, and some just gets none-too-gently shoved into a corner of the room. Now, your headset radios, battery chargers, cables, batteries, and other gear were in those cans… which would you rather have used to store those items – the $7.50 harbor Freight made-in-China plastic “GI” ammo cans or the $65 Pelican case?

Everything I put away for the future is put away because I have concerns about those things being unavailable in the future. Maybe they are unavailable due to price..or legislative action…or simple supply/demand variations…the reason doesn’t really matter; all that matters is that this particular item is now unavailable and whatever ones I have are the only ones I’m gonna have. So…I don’t mind spending the extra money for what I feel is a heightened level of protection.

Of course, not everything requires a super-high level of protection. A Glock magazine can get dropped, bounced off the concrete, get wet/snowy/dusty/dirty and survive just fine thank you very much. Not the same story for a radio. Or your medical gear. Or your other critical-and-somewhat-fragile gear.

Only you know what is and is not important enough to you to warrant the expense of high-end protection. It’s very subjective. Personally, my opinion is that anything worth putting away for the uncertain future is worth protecting as much as possible so it’s there when I need.

You’re going to have to do some math in your head. If the Made-in-China case affords you 75% the protection of the Pelican or Hardigg case is that 25% difference in protection worth the difference in price? Does the 80/20 rule apply here? As a friend of mine said when I complained about the cost of a motorcycle helmet, “Whats your head worth?”

It seems ridiculous to spend as much on a protective case as you did on the item that you are protecting, but, again, whats it worth to you to have exactly what you need, when you need it, in perfect working condition?

As I said, I’m a bit of an evil ‘yuppie survivalist’ so I spend the dollars for the Hardigg, the Pelican, the SKB cases. Or, if they’ll do the job, the virtually new genuine GI ammo cans. It’s just not worth it to me to go through the pain and labor of buying a piece of expensive top quality gear, house it in a POS knockoff plastic ammo can, and then have the lovely surprise of having that item absolutely not work when I need it most. At that moment the last thing I’m thinking is “Man, sure glad I saved thirty bucks by buying that cheap just-as-good-as-Pelican case.”

 

 

20 thoughts on “Case musings”

  1. Speaking of helmets, what is your view on purchasing body armor/bump or ballistic helmets for yourself? I may have missed your comments on this in a long past post, but I know you are not the ‘average’ guy, but someone who is paying attention and has been for quite a while now. tx in advance for yr. reply….

    • You are correct, you have missed my posts on the subject. I’d suggest hitting the search bar and searching for ‘body armour’ or ‘plates’.

  2. CZ,

    You are a man after my own heart. Nothing gets under my skin as much as seeing, or working with someone who wants to skimp (quicker, easier, cheaper) and then having to do it all over again because the “easy route” needs to be redone. It costs 10% more to do it right the first time. It costs a “*****load (insert 4 or 5 letters) more to un(****) the skimp job later. Any “engineers” or “minimalists” out there?

    If we could all live in one state, we’d either become another country unto ourselves or kill each other 🙂

  3. If I found myself anywhere that gets 5 inches of snow, I would have already shot myself. Snow is God’s way of indicating that humans aren’t supposed to live there.

  4. Good thoughts from your experience 👍. I like your reasons too… Moisture is a big one for me because my storage area at my cabin tends to get musty with slight mildew… No bueno my friend… Pelican and Hardigg are my favorites personally…

  5. Let’s just say it, it’s also a bit of a fetish: knowing that your apocalypse gear is stashed in those all those cool looking, seemingly indestructible cases, neatly piled up one on the other. It gives you the feeling that you can survive anything.

    I ​know because I have it myself, as well as millions of other organization geeks.
    Lately I have a thing for “emergency” cases in high visibility colors. I just got a bright orange Pelican type case for my “black out” gear.
    Thanks from Italy!

  6. I have found that a quality 5 gl. bucket with a Gamma lid works very well for storage of mag’s , They said stack nicely too.

  8. In my experience, the Gamma Seal lids don’t always seal as tight as you think. The other issue is that the buckets tend to become brittle with age to a much higher degree than the Pelican cases. Metal ammo cans are still the best if the gaskets and paint are good. I have had to replace quite a few buckets when they reach around 15 years of age.

    • I think you will find that the buckets become brittle if kept in bright, hot conditions. Cool dark storage should extend their lives considerably!
      All the best

      Ceejay

      • All of mine were stored indoors in my basement except for one that was stored in my shed, so negligible UV exposure and controlled temperatures except the one in the shed. From work experience, the buckets that are kept outside are only good for about five years before becoming brittle.

        • Storage near electric motors (such as home forced air heating systems) can create ozone that can degrade items like tires and some plastics. No idea what constitutes a safe distance.

  9. I have been finding military surplus Pelican, Hardigg, Storm, and other make military shipping cases in very good condition at gun shows. Prices have ranged from $20 for a Pelican 1650 to about $130 for a large one with wheels. The levels of protection are worth it to me. One recommendation, look for the ones with the newer, more easily opened latches, Also inspect the sealing areas carefully for nicks and chips.

  10. Learn to wheel, deal and search, and pay the very leastest for the very bestest.

    Then move on to the next problem that needs solving.

  11. This follows along the lines of what my dad told me years ago. Buy the best you can and later if you can afford better, upgrade.

    I use metal ammo boxes with a 1/4 inch plywood inner box for electrical insulation as protection for electronic stuff and computer media that could be rendered useless by an EMP.

    For long-term storage of ammo, I’ve switched to MTM ammo crates. I store the ammo first into vacuum-sealed plastic bags with desiccants and these go into the cases.

    For the hard cases, my choice comes from a Canadian company named Nanuk. They are as good as their US-made counterparts. But, being a veteran, I get a discount.

  13. About ten years ago I bid on a pickup and trailer load of military surplus hardigg, pelican and platt cases, bringing them home thinking I’ll never fill them, now wishing I had more.

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