Sizing a Pelican case

[Henryville]

I'm going to get a pelican case for a new housing. My question for the group is, what do you consider an optimal margin of space to be for a case? In other words, how much larger than the dimensions of my housing should my case be? I am looking for optimal, i.e. neither so small as to run an excessive risk of damage nor so large as to be unnecessarily bulky.

Thanks very much for your thoughts and ideas.

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

Generally, it depends on the mass of the object you are putting in the case. If it is something light, like a strobe or instrument, then you can often get away with about 1" of space (that's two cubes from the Pluck & Pick foam) on each side. If it is something that has greater mass, and therefore more of a tendency to keep moving when slammed down or bumped, then you need to upsize the foam thickness, or even better, add another layer of protection that spreads the impact from a small area across a larger area of the foam, which will absorb the energy better. Something as simple as wrapping the content in a canvas carry bag will do a great job of that, and allow you to keep your case dimensions to a minimum.

 

[divengolf]

The other consideration with whether or not you plan to use it as a carry on or check it. I have their model 1510 which, I believe, is the largest that meets carry on restrictions. I have removed all of the foam and use tee shirts as padding for the sensitive stuff. I always carry it onto the plane, never checked. Thus I can get away with a little less padding since I know how it will be handled.