Telescope storage

[toshapetriji]

Hello

 

I'm interested what sort of hard case storage people are using and where they are sourced. Cases specific for a scope tend to be extremely expensive and I'd like to find a nice alternative.

 

I need to travel out of town to find darker skies and will use a case frequently so would need to be sturdy.

 

thanks.

[BGazing]

Looking at your signature, I would say that a soft bag is sufficient. Small catadioptrics and the assorted equipment can fit into a good photo bag or photo Rucksack.

Hard cases are normally not necessary, we all tend to baby the heck out of our equipment, though.

[RT65CB-SWL]

I just use a 'cheap' aluminium/camera cases on wheels.

I would like to store my 'scopes in a 'Peli' or similar... but have you seen the prices of them!  

If I am travelling 'light' then I use one these backpacks...  

...and these to 'store' my eyepices...  

Edited May 18, 2020 by Philip R

[Dr Strange]

Hard cases are expensive but done correctly will provide unrivaled protection including protection from the shaved apes at the luggage facilities at airports. You can get custom ATA cases that are used to transport scientific and professional audio/video/photography equipment on line. They are expensive but not as expensive as you might think. Another option is the Pelican line of cases. These too are used to transport scientific and professional AVP equipment. And again are expensive but not as expensive as you might think. There is a site: https://mycasebuilder.com that will make custom inserts for you. In general 50cm or more of protection on each side of the equipment is recommended.

I use Pelican cases for my eyepieces, binoviewers, my travel scopes, and my AZ-GTi mount. For scopes transporting via car I don't use any protection because I am driving and am more careful than others would be. For air travel, like I said, my scopes, EP, and mount are in Pelican cases. The other value of them is I can put zip ties or a lock on them to keep sticky fingers out of them. I clearly label everything and the cases pass X-Ray with no problem so there is zero reason for the US TSA to be going into them. If a lock or zip tie is cut I immediately call out the police and won't touch the case other than to remove it from the belt. 

[BGazing]

4 hours ago, Dr Strange said:

Hard cases are expensive but done correctly will provide unrivaled protection including protection from the shaved apes at the luggage facilities at airports. You can get custom ATA cases that are used to transport scientific and professional audio/video/photography equipment on line. They are expensive but not as expensive as you might think. Another option is the Pelican line of cases. These too are used to transport scientific and professional AVP equipment. And again are expensive but not as expensive as you might think. There is a site: https://mycasebuilder.com that will make custom inserts for you. In general 50cm or more of protection on each side of the equipment is recommended.

I use Pelican cases for my eyepieces, binoviewers, my travel scopes, and my AZ-GTi mount. For scopes transporting via car I don't use any protection because I am driving and am more careful than others would be. For air travel, like I said, my scopes, EP, and mount are in Pelican cases. The other value of them is I can put zip ties or a lock on them to keep sticky fingers out of them. I clearly label everything and the cases pass X-Ray with no problem so there is zero reason for the US TSA to be going into them. If a lock or zip tie is cut I immediately call out the police and won't touch the case other than to remove it from the belt. 

I hope we can agree that the level of protection needed for checked-in luggage and something that is in the luggage compartment of one's car is different.

Now, whether checked-in luggage is the option in the near future...that is another issue.

[Dr Strange]

Of course. But some people want the level of protection that a ATA or Pelican provides no matter what. For me it is a use case situation. Since I do some airline travel with my equipment, for the equipment I do actually airline travel with I have the cases. For the other types of travel it isn't financially worth it to me.

 

Frankly if you are just traveling by car then you really don't need a case. If you want to protect it a blanket will do fine. If I am traveling by car with equipment that might bang into each other I use a moving blanket to pad the items that are fragile. You may want to consider that as well since a soft case will likely be more expensive and will end up providing the same level of protection. 

[Louis D]

When traveling by car, I try to keep my telescope equipment in padded duffel bags in case the car is broken into in the parking lot.  Pelican and flight cases positively scream "STEAL ME!".  My camera equipment comes into the hotel room each night because I keep it in dedicated camera bags for easy on-the-go access.  That, and I have to recharge batteries and make backups each night.

Come to think of it, if you want a rigid case, I would get a hard-sided cooler, bubble wrap your scope, and put it in the cooler and the cooler in your car.  It will be well protected and won't be an obvious theft target.