WTH Happened to Pelican Cases? Time to Try a Clone?

[Mountain]

I've been a fan of the original Pelican Storm cases and have a few of different types including the big double rifle 1750's (if I have the # correct). Thought I'd get something more compact for take-down stuff like O/U shotguns or AR carbines and looked at Pelican's iM3100. WTF? $304 for that thing and they no longer have the metal covers on the lock hasps. Did the Yeti cooler company buy Pelican? I never cared for their 'Vault' offering despite its more reasonable cost. Anyway, I don't really consider myself a pro NES skinflinter but $300 for a carbine case?

I'm going to try the Pelican clone made by 'Eylar'. Supposed to meet standard for 1 meter submersion blah blah blah and it does have the metal covers for the hasps. I'll come back and post feedback once I've had a chance to check it out, will be a while as they have a short backlog.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

I've been a fan of the original Pelican Storm cases and have a few of different types including the big double rifle 1750's (if I have the # correct). Thought I'd get something more compact for take-down stuff like O/U shotguns or AR carbines and looked at Pelican's iM3100. WTF? $304 for that thing and they no longer have the metal covers on the lock hasps. Did the Yeti cooler company buy Pelican? I never cared for their 'Vault' offering despite its more reasonable cost. Anyway, I don't really consider myself a pro NES skinflinter but $300 for a carbine case?

I'm going to try the Pelican clone made by 'Eylar'. Supposed to meet standard for 1 meter submersion blah blah blah and it does have the metal covers for the hasps. I'll come back and post feedback once I've had a chance to check it out, will be a while as they have a short backlog.

FWIW I have a couple SKB i series cases and I really like them. I don’t have pelicans to compare them to though.
Prices seem to be just as high now. Midway blew them out for almost nothing last year.

This one in black is on clearance but not good for an AR. Too narrow.

SKB iSeries 4909 Scoped Single Rifle Case 49 Layered Foam Polymer Tan

The 3i-4909-SR Single Rifle case holds scoped rifles up to 49" long and is part of the iSeries waterproof case line. The interior is made of high...

www.midwayusa.com

 

[Mountain]

FWIW I have a couple SKB i series cases and I really like them. I don’t have pelicans to compare them to though.
Prices seem to be just as high now. Midway blew them out for almost nothing last year.

This one in black is on clearance but not good for an AR. Too narrow.

SKB iSeries 4909 Scoped Single Rifle Case 49 Layered Foam Polymer Tan

The 3i-4909-SR Single Rifle case holds scoped rifles up to 49" long and is part of the iSeries waterproof case line. The interior is made of high...

www.midwayusa.com

Looks solid. That's a good price for the black ones. Other colors more expensive. I'll keep SKB in mind if I need something else.

 

[Boghog1]

I have a few of the old style plano all weather. I'm sure the new style are just as good but they are a bit pricey.

 

[milktree]

Look at Harbor Freight’s offerings.

Waaaay cheaper, and appear to have the same features and very similar construction.

 

[Mountain]

Look at Harbor Freight’s offerings.

Waaaay cheaper, and appear to have the same features and very similar construction.

They look identical to the offbrand one I ordered, though HF doesn't offer that ~38" size I wanted. Next time I want a 1750 clone for sure I'll take a look at HF.

My main issue is that Pelican appears to have done some cost cutting on the features while increasing price nearly 50% over the last couple years. That triggered my inner NES skinflint response.

 

[Snora]

Harbor Freight ones - especially on sale- are a crazy deal for what they are. It's noticeably worse than my Pelican case, but at half the price I'd trust it unless I was actually putting the case to its limits.

 

[LuvDog]

For hard cases, I like Boyt. I have some Eylar caseses, they're ok, but the plastic is thinner.
Nanuk also makes nice cases, and I think the holes are metal lined

 

[walter62]

BH Photo in NYC often has the Nanuk's for silly low price.

Very good cases.

 

[Steve600]

I worked for Hardigg/Pelican my entire life after getting out of the Marines. Hardigg made the storm case and Pelican made a cheaper version made in CA. (Hardigg is in S. Deerfield, MA). Hardigg Ind was family owned and when Jim and Alice were quite old back in 2005 or so, they turned over 51% of the business to their scumbag kids. They quickly sold the business to Pelican which was the competition for Hardigg. So here is the truth…. Jim Hardigg had invested a shitload of money into injection molding, buying the largest machines in the US, and spent millions and millions on molds when they got into the injection molded case business basically putting Pelican out of business. Big machines equal high pressure, and high pressure mean you can run much better material. Plus Hardigg’s had patented a much better latch which was a big selling point. So now Pelican makes the pelican case made in CA, but has re-branded the Hardigg “storm case” using their own name.

I usually don’t rant about stuff like this, but Pelican does not like veterans…. You may think after seeing their ads that they love a guy with prior service, but that is simply not true. Example: In 2017 my co-worker bought me a 3x5’ USMC flag that I kept in my locker. On Veterans day I mounted the flag on the wall behind our work area. Within 30 minutes, HR and my manager came down to the floor and told me to remove the flag. Obviously I asked why and they told me some of the employees felt threatened by the flag. I told them that I was a disabled USMC veteran and also reminded them it was Veterans Day. My choice was to take down the flag or be terminated. So I took down the flag, went home sick, made arrangements for insurance and stuff, then retired on Dec 3, 2017. f*** Pelican…. Hardigg was a cool place to work, Pelican…. Not so much. BTW I was number 7 out of 800 employees in seniority so they actually lost a small bit of knowledge that day.

 

[citoriguy]

@Steve600 - no company can replace someone who knows where all the skeletons are, no matter how hard they try.

I looked at Pelican years ago and was really intrigued, but never pulled the proverbial trigger. It seems their new stuff is now missing most of the items that made them excellent before. It’s sad, and it’ll come back to bite them.

 

[Christian]

While Pelican HR may hire and protect the pussies that work there(as well as hating vets), Pelican itself does give a 15% discount through ID.me to take away some of the ouch.

Pelican 1700

 

[Jenska22]

I think harbor freight does vet & responders discounts