Since we have large number of new members on the BBS (the total just from yesterday to today jumped by 10 or so), I thought I'd post another note about cases (this seems to be a popular subject anyway :)

In the past people have mentioned the Pelican products and two models which I know a few people are using are the 1400 and 1200.

Fastrack mentioned to me a couple of nights ago that his brother had just picked one up around here (Toronto) on sale. I hadn't even thought to look at the sale prices. Lucky for me he mentioned it. I picked up a 1200 model for $64 Canadian (that's about $2 US) after all taxes. Ok, it's really about US$40 (or $34 before taxes). The cheapest on the net is US$30 and I was previously thinking of getting one delivered to my hotel in San Francisco next week - this turned out to be less hassle for about the same money. The 1400 model was priced at C$100 which is about US$62.

Here are some links to product information, including dimensions (exterior and interior):

Pelican 1200
Pelican 1400

And now here are two pictures of my 1200. One closed from a better angle than the pic at the store above, and one open with the empeg inside.

Case Closed
Case with empeg (same pic as attached to the left)

My main cause for protection is bumping, not long drops. I have a bad habit of scraping things on brick walls, etc. (a nice Swiss Army watch... My newly upholstered SeaDoo seat... My driver's side door once... :)

The 1400 model will easily allow storage of some RCA cables, ethernet cable, serial cable, the power adapter and the faceplate for a head unit. The 1200 as pictured above is obviously a far tighter fit, but nice for the empeg alone or with remote. I got a little creative and stuffed the small power adapter in the corner - I just have to put the cord in a better place (like at the bottom of all the padding if it isn't going to be used regularly).

Pick-and-pluck foam is a pain in the arse, let me warn you. :) I thought it was segmented on all 3 axis, but it's actually only done on two. So each division isn't a little cube, but actually a tall strip that goes from top to bottom. I found that the best way to deal with it was to forget about trying to "pick" to fit the depth of the empeg - that's a waste of time and will give poor results. It's better to just remove the silhouette of the empeg cleanly from the block. Then all your pick-pieces aren't all shredded. The foam in the 1200 is a little taller than the empeg, so you'll want to add another layer on the bottom. You can do that with pieces of the stuff you just pulled from the middle, or you can put another piece of foam from somewhere else, cut to fit. If you wanted to, you could even now cut the part you removed from the centre cleanly with a knife to get the same type of effect as if you had plucked it piece by piece by hand (but it will be a lot neater - ie. not all torn up)

In any case, it takes a little longer to stick the empeg into the case than it does into a bag, but it's well shielded from bumps, bruises and weather (the case is also water-tight (probably at surface or a few inches only) and should float - I won't be testing that :)