pelican cases

Will hauling around my camera gear in a pelican case with 'wheels'....damage the AF or other finer points in a lens or camera?

My thinking is for airplane travel. I purchased a pelican 1510 hard case with foam. I want to take both my digiscoping and camera/lens along with me so I have the best of both worlds if needed. I would just pack my tripod in my checked luggage.... thanks in advance, jim

Interesting point! If you can carry your kit with you, you can at least take care of it. I have seen how the people loading/unloading the luggage throw the bags around. To me, a 4 foot toss has got to do some damage when the bag lands!
Rolling the bag around should be OK. The vibrations are small. Sudden, strong impacts are the problem!

Wheel vibration and banging it around is BAD for sensitve electronic items.
Always hand carry photo equipment.

Also Pelicans should never be Cased - FREE THE PELICANS AND LET THEM FLY ...

There's enough padding in the pelican case (or any of think tanks rollers and probably any other camera rollers) to protect your camera from vibrations by the wheels. They aren't nearly as fragile as you might think.

I had my 1514 jostled as a baggage worker tried to break in at the Naples airport. He totally screwed up the padlocks, but couldn't get it. I could tell by the twisted hasps that they bag had really been shaken. I had the dividers, not the foam. No problems at all with all the gear in my sig.

The Pelican case is the way to fly, I own the Think Tank Airport take off and it's a great case, but I have had issues with it flying where they wanted me to check it at the gate. I know of people that have had to check them and the gear got wet. Pelican is weather sealed.

Here is some good video's testing the Pelican 1514.

http://boardingarea.co​m …-a-truck-over-it-i-would/

http://boardingarea.co​m …t-off-your-house-i-would/

EL_PIC wrote in post #10849496
Wheel vibration and banging it around is BAD for sensitve electronic items.
Always hand carry photo equipment.

Also Pelicans should never be Cased - FREE THE PELICANS AND LET THEM FLY ...

I will attempt to let the Pelican free....look, a new species!

I love mine, and I prefer the plucked foam for a more snug fit of my gear. =)

I recently went to Vietnam via Singapore Airlines and I had the Pelican StudioCruzer (1510 w/compartment MBP)

The reason I chose Pelican over the Think Tank is because it's weather sealed and it's a hardcase. Yeah, it's heavier but who cares. It has wheels. Rolled my Pelican around in Frankfurt, Singapore, and Vietnam. No problems whatsoever.

At first I was like oh ****. This case already weights in at 14 lbs unloaded. After I packed my lenses, body, and MBP, it was at around 32lbs. Keep in mind, this is my carry on.

I thought it was going to be a problem at the airport but to my surprise, they were more then willing to let me board w/the Pelican despite it's weight. They one guy (manager?) he asked if I was carrying camera equipment and I said yes...then he said, ok no problem, just go on ahead.

Being as to how legit the Pelican cases look, I got stopped at nearly all the security check points...just for a swap but that's it. No other problems. Without the wheels, I wouldn't have been able to bring the case around at all.

I had to gate check my Pelican 1514 on a flight to Yellowstone and when the plane landed I saw it get some pretty rough treatment but everything worked fine after that. These cases are built to withstand the shock. When I was working we shipped delicate electronics in Pelicans (stuff that was a lot more sensitive than camera equipment) and we never had any problems with gear getting damaged. They are awesome cases, just a little bit on the heavy side.