Travel Bag/Case for Celestron Evolution 8

[lune lupine]

Hi  - I am growing in confidence with my Evo8 and contemplating taking it further afield than the back garden! I've come across this case for the optics (Geoptik) which look reasonable (unless others can tell me otherwise) but what I was wondering was do I need another such case/box for the arm/mount? It looks robust enough not to need special protection or am I making a big mistake?  Presumably tripod is ok to be folded down and not allowed to roll around etc in back of car.  At this stage all travel I'll be doing will be in the car (also have child seat can use in a pinch!). Thanks again for all help folks - really appreciated.

[brantuk]

Geoptic's a good make for ota cases. Whether you bag the head or not seems mostly to be a personal preference (some do, some don't). I don't cos it's pretty sturdy and sits flat in the boot or on the back seat. Same for the tripod - not really necessary unless you're a bit ocd lol. Main thing is to ensure the ota is protected, cushioned, and everything strapped down so it doesn't roll and collide. Hth

[noah4x4]

Another option. Take a look at the robust plastic boxes manufactured by the Really Useful Box Company or similar (stocked by B & Q).  These are really strong and cheap. I use a 64 litre for my Nexstar SE4 mount and its OTA inclusive of the scope's original foam packaging that fits snugly with room to spare for some accessories (like Tracer battery etc).  The tripod I just fold.

The larger Evolution 8" has similar sized original foam packaging for EACH of the OTA and mount. I have not yet transported mine, as I tend to use the smaller SE4 on my travels, but suspect that both EVO 8 OTA and its mount would benefit from protection. You would hence need two similar boxes if kept in their original foam. However,  I see no reason why the mount and OTA cannot be stored together (e.g. like I do the SE4) if transported by car and if you purchased some inexpensive camera kit protective foam. Then just one of the mid range boxes (64 litre plus) might suffice. I simply carried my original foam down to B & Q and tried the various boxes for size  (note they normally quote external dimensions, so do check internal). 

[lune lupine]

5 minutes ago, noah4x4 said:

Another option. Take a look at the robust plastic boxes manufactured by the Really Useful Box Company or similar (stocked by B & Q).  These are really strong and cheap. I use a 64 litre for my Nexstar SE4 mount and its OTA inclusive of the scope's original foam packaging that fits snugly with room to spare for some accessories (like Tracer battery etc).  The tripod I just fold.

The larger Evolution 8" has similar sized original foam packaging for EACH of the OTA and mount. I have not yet transported mine, as I tend to use the smaller SE4 on my travels, but suspect that both EVO 8 OTA and its mount would benefit from protection. You would hence need two similar boxes if kept in their original foam. However,  I see no reason why the mount and OTA cannot be stored together (e.g. like I do the SE4) if transported by car and if you purchased some inexpensive camera kit protective foam. Then just one of the mid range boxes (64 litre plus) might suffice. I simply carried my original foam down to B & Q and tried the various boxes for size  (note they normally quote external dimensions, so do check internal). 

ah nice! most things in ireland are more expensive than uk bit these boxes are looking good. I've retained the foam cases that came with the scope so this could be a good combination. Think i would get sep. boxes for mount and scope and stack securely etc.