Pelican Cargo Series

[BSP10]

Anyone running these in their bed?

https://www.pelican.com/us/en/discover/cargo-cases/

Pretty standard pelican case, but has a Ford mounts. Really just a convenience play, also $$$. Just curious if any has any experience/thoughts/feedback.

 

[Dustan]

Looks nice, I wonder if this will mount to the back cleats as well.

 

[zombiekiller]

i had pelican cases, they didnt hold up so well in baja. ( I tried OG pelican 1500 and 1600 series, air series, and the vault series). All but the OG 1600 cases had the tops deform enough so that the seal leaked when strapped down in the bed of my raptor.

I'm not sure how the storage boxes will stack up in the durability dept.

Then I went to Yeti go boxes. They are seriously tough. They held up perfectly to Baja. They're just a little small and once I finally ditched the bed, they really didn't fit that great in the back of the truck.

I just got a Roam Adventure company 160L case that fits my storage area platform perfectly. I'll be on its maiden Baja voyage in march and will report back with how it weathered.


If you're willing to drill a couple of holes in the bed, removable tie-down cleats are $45 on amazon.

if you get those, the boxlink brackets really aren't that important. I'd also be worried about potentially deforming the bed if you put really heavy stuff in the box. ( I carry all of my tools and spares in mine and it weighs about 500lbs ( give or take) when loaded up.

 

[Oldfart]

i had pelican cases, they didnt hold up so well in baja. ( I tried OG pelican 1500 and 1600 series, air series, and the vault series). All but the OG 1600 cases had the tops deform enough so that the seal leaked when strapped down in the bed of my raptor.

I'm not sure how the storage boxes will stack up in the durability dept.

Then I went to Yeti go boxes. They are seriously tough. They held up perfectly to Baja. They're just a little small and once I finally ditched the bed, they really didn't fit that great in the back of the truck.

I just got a Roam Adventure company 160L case that fits my storage area platform perfectly. I'll be on its maiden Baja voyage in march and will report back with how it weathered.


If you're willing to drill a couple of holes in the bed, removable tie-down cleats are $45 on amazon.

if you get those, the boxlink brackets really aren't that important. I'd also be worried about potentially deforming the bed if you put really heavy stuff in the box. ( I carry all of my tools and spares in mine and it weighs about 500lbs ( give or take) when loaded up.

I'm surprised to hear they didn't hold up for you. Pelican was always the "go to" company for dive cases. You couldn't kill them.

 

[zombiekiller]

I'm surprised to hear they didn't hold up for you. Pelican was always the "go to" company for dive cases. You couldn't kill them.

I was kind of shocked too. I expected them to fare much better based on my experiences using pelican products as weapons cases in harsh environments.

it was a bit of a letdown.

It would be great if these pelican cargo cases are a bit more robust and hold up. I may order one of the smaller ones to try out, but for the time being, unless it fails, I'm sticking with the Roam case. I've made an acquaintance of the founder of Roam. He's a really cool guy and really stands behind his products. ( and it isn't just lip service. A friend of mine bought one of their cases and took it on a trip to baja. it cracked. my friend called and initially spoke to Roam Customer service. They said that it sounded like abuse and offered a steep discount on a new case to try to help out. no thanks.

I mentioned my friend's woes to the founder. his reaction? " seriously? No, we can do better than that. send me the customer details and I'll coach my team on how I want them to handle these situations."

My friend didn't call back in. wasn't even aware that I had shared the story.

A new replacement case showed up on the doorstep with a note from the Founder apologizing for the inconvenience about a week later.

I've come to understand that no person or company is perfect. How a person reacts to a failure is the best way to judge their merit. as soon as Roam was aware of the problem, they just fixed it instead of insisting on some artificial process that the customer has to endure. No questions asked on the damage and a sorry for this being mishandled situation.


When I reached out to pelican about my 3 different case failures, during 3 different calls with their customer service, I was simply told " that sounds like abuse. Our warranty explicitly states that it does not cover abuse. Sorry."

so, while I have no intention of replacing all of the pelican stuff that I have, I probably wouldn't point anyone in their direction if there is a viable alternative.

I'd try one of these new cases out for curiosity's sake, but would certainly expect it to fail, with no warranty coverage whatsoever.

 

[Oldfart]

I was kind of shocked too. I expected them to fare much better based on my experiences using pelican products as weapons cases in harsh environments.

it was a bit of a letdown.

It would be great if these pelican cargo cases are a bit more robust and hold up. I may order one of the smaller ones to try out, but for the time being, unless it fails, I'm sticking with the Roam case. I've made an acquaintance of the founder of Roam. He's a really cool guy and really stands behind his products. ( and it isn't just lip service. A friend of mine bought one of their cases and took it on a trip to baja. it cracked. my friend called and initially spoke to Roam Customer service. They said that it sounded like abuse and offered a steep discount on a new case to try to help out. no thanks.

I mentioned my friend's woes to the founder. his reaction? " seriously? No, we can do better than that. send me the customer details and I'll coach my team on how I want them to handle these situations."

My friend didn't call back in. wasn't even aware that I had shared the story.

A new replacement case showed up on the doorstep with a note from the Founder apologizing for the inconvenience about a week later.

I've come to understand that no person or company is perfect. How a person reacts to a failure is the best way to judge their merit. as soon as Roam was aware of the problem, they just fixed it instead of insisting on some artificial process that the customer has to endure. No questions asked on the damage and a sorry for this being mishandled situation.


When I reached out to pelican about my 3 different case failures, during 3 different calls with their customer service, I was simply told " that sounds like abuse. Our warranty explicitly states that it does not cover abuse. Sorry."

so, while I have no intention of replacing all of the pelican stuff that I have, I probably wouldn't point anyone in their direction if there is a viable alternative.

I'd try one of these new cases out for curiosity's sake, but would certainly expect it to fail, with no warranty coverage whatsoever.

Good to know, maybe the old Pelican stuff was better. When I was still flying a lot I always saw the pro photog guys with Pelican too. My camera cases and dive cases were pretty much bombproof. They even had pressure valves on them because they closed so tight. I'll have to remember that if/when I buy cases again.

 

[GordoJay]

Good to know, maybe the old Pelican stuff was better...

Might could be. Lots of small companies that succeed sell to bigger companies, where the bean counters immediately start cutting costs. And quality declines. I've seen it over and over again.

 

[EastEndAngler]

I travel frequently with a 1560 and 1510 size cases for work. Fully loaded with my tools as checked baggage they've survived well. One important part of my setup is Kaizen foam cut for each tool, this prevents any unwanted movement.

I remember another thread discussing Pelican cases, specifically that an iM3220 series fits under the Retrax Bed cover canisiter.

Despite the weight and my bed mat the cases do roll around in the bed because of the integrated wheels.

I run a yeti gear box behind my drivers seat. This creates a platform for the dog.

 

[WRCRaptor]

I got a pelican BX80 cargo box a few weeks ago and so far it’s working well. You do have to be carful if you are using ratchet or tie down straps not to deform the lid. Since I am not doing Baja high speed stuff I think it will fair well. Loading it heavy with lots of tools will make it difficult to tie it down for extreme Baja style driving without the lid deforming.

I was superseded the first time I ratcheted it down and saw the lid flex. I really think they want you to buy their mounting system and that would be great if it matched how my bed is laid out for off-road runs. For my normal day to day use their mount would work but I don’t want to deal with the extra work changing configurations.

Time will tell, it is a nice box but won’t fit all situations perfectly like my Yeti go box which is very nice but to small my needs and not is relegated to just my recovery gear only.

 

[Sonicsunspot]

Very surprised to hear that about Pelican cases. We pack electronic components in many various sized Pelican cases for military aviation. We’ve had some equipment travel the world in and out of war zones in the same Pelican cases (available also as commercial versions) for 20 years. Serious harsh environments, thrown around in Cargo holds of aircraft and depots. I’ve never heard of a warped lid on one.
Their stuff is pricey but it’s worth it.

BTW, even milspec Pelican is rated as water-tight for a time period, not water proof. Seems like it’s a matter seconds submerged underwater.