road cases for lights - pelicans?

J Davis

J Davis

Veteran
I need road cases for lights. In my case its Richards CDM150's fresnels x2 but I think
this thread could be about cases for any lights.

I was thinking of going with a pelican 1620 for $190+tx and no foam but before I drop the cash
I thought I would see what ya'll doing
 
Patryk_Rebisz said:
what's wrong with arris with wheels?
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It's just too big...I personally never liked it too much, but then again I know so many who have....

It really depends on what you need it for, are you traveling with them? I just use milk crates for pretty much everything and that's the standard for most production work.
 
If you do go with a Pelican style case, I would voice my preference for Storm Cases over Pelican, as the latches are better on the Storm Case.

All the Best!

Dave
 
RyanT said:
I just use milk crates for pretty much everything and that's the standard for most production work.
Click to expand...
Same. The bulk would be the ptoblem with road cases for me and the protection is more than I need as I transport everything in an enclosed utility trailer.

BTW, it's hard to find milk crates that aren't stolen. Filmtools has them and an outfit in New York whose name I can look up if anyone wants to know.
 
For the budget-minded my favorite eBay seller of used road cases is avforsale, a top-rated seller with lots of cases at astonishingly good prices. At the moment they are offering 79.
 
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I have owned several pelican cases over the years and I have always been satisfied. i love keeping my gear nice and tidy (and protected). But for my three Arri fresnels + stands I used a large Kata bag on wheels and loved it!
 
I've been doing the milk crates thing and the canvas bag thing but CDM bulbs and flo bulbs are expensive and I'm concerned about them being protected from knocks while moving lights around. I've also been caught in a few torrential downpours so thats also contributing to my road-case 'upgrade'.

I like the earlier post about Hardig Storm aka Pelican Storm have better latches. I'm not crazy about the old pelican knuckle-buster latches. Don't the new pelicans now have the hardigg storm latch?
 
A lot depends on what type of transport you are doing with your lights. If you are shipping via air or ground carrier. Go with Clydesdale type cases and pad the hell out of them. If you are what I think might be the case (pardon the pun) that is, moving your won stuff then Pelicans/Storm cases are styling. Petrol and Kata also make nice cases for lights along with Porta Brace. I picked up a used Kata Maze4 for $150 bucks used with three Smith Victor lights and stands in it on dvxuser marketplace. I sold the lights for a hundred bucks so the case was a steal. The Maze is large and will hold your stands your CDM lights and a couple of CL255's or similar along with spares and a couple of stingers and gels. Kata has a new model out now , not cheap but for local production a pretty good bag with wheels etc.
 
reallyusefulboxes.com

love these, but not suitable for couriers/freight (IMO)

I have nearly everything in them in my Merc van

S
 
Hey, glad you found a solution. If this comes up again, and you're in the Denver area, contact Film and Video Equipment. Supposedly, they're no longer in business and are selling all their stuff, but it's a long process, and they're selling a warehouse full of used cases at attractive prices. You just have to pick them up there (no shipping, I don't think).

For my own part, I travel some to do video interviews, and of course I need lights, tripod, and camera, but I rarely know anything about the space I'll be shooting in. I bought an enormous SKB case (I think the longest external measurement is 48"), and then I stuff it with padded soft cases, including two Rifa 88s, a tripod, and a case for some Lowell Pros. I can also get in a stinger and some gaffer's tape, and keep it under 100 lbs., which means I usually get only one oversize charge from the airlines. I've been asked who's buried in the thing, and it's awkward to handle sometimes (and you need a van for a cab unless you're going to sit up front and put it in the back seat), but considering it's only me, and I can only handle three bags by myself, it works well.
 
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