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Posted

I've been away from the hobby for a number of years due to lack of time (and or simply being too tired in the evenings) after having kids. We've recently moved house and now I have a bit more free time I'm digging out my gear and planning to jump back in to the hobby.

I'd really like to find some kind of case, maybe a travel case or something, to store all of my gear (lenses, binoculars, red light torch etc.) and keep it organised whist I'm out observing. I used to keep everything in a bag for life before which is obviously far from ideal. Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

Posted

Do you mean like a flight case with padded foam to protect lenses etc? These are relatively cheap, £20 onwards and you can always buy replacement foam

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Posted

I initially thought of a travel bag or something with a load of internal compartments but the flight case looks like it'd be a much more secure option. Presumably you cut the foam with a Stanley knife or something as required?

Posted

They can be cut by knife but most come with foam that can be "plucked" so you just pinch out what you need. The foam in mine has 1cm squares you can pull out and goes down about half way so it also provides padding on the bottom as well.

Posted (edited)

As well as flight cases it is worth looking at photographic cases. There is a variety and most have flexible padding arrangements. Also the plastic Really Useful Boxes come in many sizes and can be padded with foam. There are also specialist bags by Geoptik and Oklop sold by astro shops. Worth having a good look and working out what you need with a bit of spare room for extras. If it is for use traveling then you may need to spend more to keep kit safe than just for storage at home.

Some examples:

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Edited by Stephenstargazer
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Posted
19 hours ago, redneon said:

I initially thought of a travel bag or something with a load of internal compartments but the flight case looks like it'd be a much more secure option. Presumably you cut the foam with a Stanley knife or something as required?

It's also worth looking at tool boxes - the one in the picture below was £41 including foam from B&Q

434490121_AZGTITravelkit.thumb.jpg.41ba22fd1ede4bfad03052caf5084b25.jpg

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Posted

Camera bags are padded and have various inserts so they can work. I had a small one as an EP case for a while.

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Posted

I wanted a waterproof hard case but, like some others, very much prefer ones with padded dividers.  The reason is that they're hugely more flexible than foam interiors when you want to change the contents, either temporarily or long term.  

Initially I was worried that dividers wouldn't be secure enough, but in practice I've found no problems whatsoever.  That's probably why they're so popular with photographers.

 

IMG_20210911_170603_compress44.thumb.jpg.7c064c9b446548760bf29e09df6b5018.jpg

B&W 3000 case.html

  • Like 1

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