Pelican vs Packout for Shipped Field Tools?
My team and I currently use a Pelican 1607 full of tools (including a lot of custom tools) that we ship out to field/test sites. We also ship larger electrical equipment in Pelicans as well.
The Pelicans have been great from a durability standpoint. We really never worry about whether the equipment will survive shipping.
The one thing I don’t like is organization. At the end of the day it’s basically just a giant bin full of tools, cables, adapters, etc. and you end up digging through layers of stuff to find what you need.
I use Packout at home/in my garage and really like the modularity and organization. It seems like it would solve a lot of our issues:
- better organization
- faster setup/teardown on-site
- easier inventory control
- less digging for tools
BUT, our gear gets shipped around constantly and handled by FedEx/freight, sometimes pretty roughly. I’m hesitant to fully commit to Packout if it won’t hold up long-term in that environment. Especially after seeing videos like this:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/15nWVZb57jM/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Curious what other field service/travel guys are using:
- Full Packout?
- Pelican with custom inserts?
- Tool rolls/pouches?
- Some kind of hybrid setup?
Would especially love to see photos from people who’ve used these systems in real-world shipping/travel environments.