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Pelican Case for Carry On


TomBoisseau

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Someone here, a long time ago, said they were using what was considered a technically slightly oversized Pelican case for "carry on" and said they had neve been stopped.  I'm curious what model that might be.  Many cloth carry on bags when "stuffed" often do exceed the posted dimensions, but I've never seen anyone stopped for that. 

 

Tom

 

 

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Here's a list of the four cases Pelican considers to be carry-onable. There are four, two Pelican and two Storm:

https://www.pelican.com/us/en/products/cases/carry-on-cases

 

Like most of us, I have a bunch of Pelican cases and like/tolerate them. And I sometimes use them for carryon. But the thing is they give up a lot of space to ruggedness, handles, foam, etc. So there's not as much storage space as in some fabric+foam cases. And a few times I was forced to gate-check my case. I tried to schmooze my way out of that (usually I can), but the airplane crews; thoughts were, and they all said this, that case is rugged enough to withstand being checked into the hold. It was, and everything was fine. But both times I wasn't thriled.

 

So I'm looking at some of the fabric+foam(+sometimes some caging) cases out these days. I own a Tenba Cineluxe bag for my C300 (soon to be replaced with... I don't know what) that I like a lot; really thoughtful and rugged design, imo. Available as a roller or shoulder (I have the shoulder version), and I think there's a carry-onable version: https://www.tenba.com/collections/cineluxe/shop

 

They also have the Roadie line which has (IIRC) versions that fit both international and US carryon size restrictions. I guy I work with likes his (it holds his RED camera): https://www.tenba.com/collections/roadie/shop

 

I also see Think Tank Photo bags on jobs (I don't fly a lot, but when I do, it's usually with a camop who also wants everything in carryon). Here's at least one of their lines that aim towards carry-on status: https://www.thinktankphoto.com/pages/rolling-cases

 

And I need to revisit Porta-Brace. In general, I like their stuff. Not necessarily as fancy a design as some of the other companies, but their cases have always worked well for me (even if a couple of their audio bags haven't): https://www.portabrace.com

 

Porta, and I think the others, have size calculators on their sites so you can restrict search results to bags that fit US domestic and international carry-on restrictions.

 

Also, the thing that has helped the most is to convince the client that you need to fly business or first class to ensure overhead space for key camera and audio kit. Not always doable, but I sure like it when it is...and not so much for the fancy food and big seats, but for the peace of mind that comes from guaranteed (IME, at least) overhead space. 

 

At least, that's my current thinking. Here's an article and chart that might be helpful, especially if you need to travel outside the US. Big chart with lots of airlines current restrictions. Well, current as of last month or so. I don't know if anything will be changing in 2019:

 

Airline Carry-on Luggage Size Restrictions: What You Need to Know

https://www.travelandleisure.com/style/travel-bags/airline-carry-on-luggage-size-guide

 

 

Google, and a bunch of people here, will know more. HTH and I look forward to reading about other people's experiences and recommendations.

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I use the pelican storm im2500.

The latches are much nicer in the storm series than regular pelican (or skb, hprc, etc)

 

What made me pick this case specifically is that I can fit a small VBD pole horizontally in the case. Which means I can fit all the gear I need for a small doc style shoot plus a change or 2 of clothes in 1 case with my sound bag as my personal item and fly without checking a bag. 

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10 hours ago, Shastapete said:

I use the pelican storm im2500.
The latches are much nicer in the storm series than regular pelican (or skb, hprc, etc)

 

I too have a Storm im2500. I like it, but the carry handle and all that reduce interior space. And yes, the latches are really nice. But on a couple Pelican's I've bought in the last couple of years, also have nice easy-open latches...Not as nice as on the Storm, but much better than the old fingernail-ripping ones on Pelicans of yore. 

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I once had, but have since lost a little latch pryer/key designed for Pelicans. Something like this US$8 opener. Mine was plastic/resin, but this one is also bottle opener!

https://nalpak.com/Peliease-Latch-opener

 

P-ease__19397.1511203763.jpg?c=2

 

 

And you can get after-market replacement latches... I'm not sure if they have models/sizes that fit cases with the old-style Pelican latches, but I might poke around (unless someone here already knows). Also available in a bunch of different colors. One set as an example: https://nalpak.com/pelican-handle-latch-color-set-for-1610-1620/

 

P-HL-1__23474.1525724221.jpg?c=2

 

 

 

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