Do I need a Pelican case for my hid?

[woodrow]

First, I wanted to thank all of you who post in the hid forum. I have learned so much from your insights and been amazed by some of your lights.

I have a 35W Acro hid. It came with a molded plastic case, but the case has no padding. Do I need to buy a Pelican case to protect the bulb from the bumps and jolts that come with rideing arround in my trunk?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[karlthev]

Well, that's a matter of preference I'd have to say but I have cases for most of my expensive lights which I might be throwing in my trunk--I'd prefer the case rather than the light to take the probable beating--that's what they are made for!


Karl

 

[scott.cr]

Whether it's "NEEDED" is open for debate... I don't think whether it's WANTED would be a very long debate here on CPF.

If you go with a Pelican case, you can cut up the foam to put other things in there as well, such as other lights, knife, firearm, computer, batteries, or whatever else you want to trunk-carry.

I used a cheaper Platt brand tool case and a hot wire cutter to do THIS. I got the cutter from hotwirefoamfactory.com ($64). It is not a bad little "scroll saw" type of cutter, but it's best suited for small jobs due to the limited throat depth. It came with a 6 volt, 1500 mA power supply; if you have a bench power supply, you can use it instead and get variable temperature control.

If you decided to go the hot wire route, get the Pelican case without the "pick and pluck" foam, get the solid foam. The pre-cut foam is problematic when cutting with a hot wire.

 

[Hallis]

If in doubt, just buy it. That's my motto The only lights ive got a pelican cases for are my Aurora 2 and my Winelight. I should get 1-2 more though. As they really are great protection.

Shane

 

[Grox]

I don't have any large pelican cases but from the one I own and the several I have seen, they offer fantastic protection.

The light will probably survive OK riding around in your trunk but if you've gone to the trouble to procure yourself a nice light why not protect it and ensure that it works when you want it to?

 

[adamlau]

Let it bang around in your trunk to give it hard use character marks! When I started out in the construction industry, I stored my hard hat in the trunk with the express intent of marking and scarring it for a weatherized look. Who would have taken direction from a fresh out of college superintendent with a spiffy new hard hat? The characterized hard hat was meant to emulate experience through the appearance of use . That was then...

 

[windstrings]

How much money did you spend on your HID and are you trying to keep it blemishless?

also..do you have any accessories?

I have a Barnburner and I keep a small inverter, extra bulb, etc in my case.
However.. its just a storage bin.. I never put my light in it unless I'm traveling on a plane or something risky.

Around the house it sits out where I need it and can use it when I want.
If you can afford it why not?.... if you can fill in the blank as to why not.. then... you may not need it.

 

[Pila_Power]

I use a very large pelican case (bright orange no less!) to house all of my lights that will fit - obv my 17.5MCP lights wont fit.

I use the pick'n'pluck foam and have been able to fit in about 4 x mag3D's, various chargers, spare bulbs, batteries and some other tools for maintenance.

If you can afford it, I'd definitely recommend one or two. There are other imitiation brands out there that would serve just as well.

I'm thinking of getting another smaller case for any trips where I wont need the big case. I love em.

oh, when plucking the foam, try to leave at least two squares by two squares as a minimum gap around any items as the foam tends to lose its shape and can rip if there's not enough foam to hold itself together. (It'll make more sense if you know what they look like or when you go to pluck yourself.)

Edit: lol I don't *mean* to go pluck yourself!!