I do like equipment gear, and I like gear better when it can streamline my workflow. Doing on-location multi-media work demands that not only do you need to be a skilled & adaptable photographer, but also a rugged packmule. Often times it's just me doing the work so for many reasons I need a well thought out storage and transport solution. I recently did a simple solo video gig where I needed my loaded 22" Hardigg Storm case, a small loaded Pelican iM2100 and a medium sized tripod. I had to walk around 100 yards then through a massively packed indoor venue. I needed to streamline this scenario to just one rolling box and 1 tripod.
I'm a big old fan of the Pelican cases for their tried and true durability and well established footprint in the secured transport solutions but I'm not at all opposed to trying new direct competitors. Condition 1 recently caught my eye as a comparable option. They look to be generally right up there with the competition but a little easier on the pocketbook. So I thought I give them a try.
Use Details
This specific box stands out to me and my purposes of lugging around camera and audio gear for two reasons - robust wheels for all kinds of terrain, ease of transport and the slightly uncommon depth of the box. The wheels are an important thing to me because I could be pulling this box over sand, grass, mud, up and down stairs, pretty much all surfaces. Pushing 13" deep gives me the ability to have two fully pre-rigged up caged cameras including external monitors fully attached. This would minimize my start time to just grab & go with the camera(s) for tripod / gimbal use rather than taking the time to build them up when on location. I can also have lenses with matte boxes already installed in there just ready to swap out when needed. With such a case depth, I can also stack lenses to maximize space. I can also stow a modified Zoom F8 recorder, some mics, wireless equipment, timecode boxes and some cables. I realize that with a deep box it may be a little uncomfortable to have to reach so far down into the to get what I need but that is the tradeoff for just having one bigger box. I can live with that because while that may be a little inconvenient, I also gain the flexibility to make this just a large item carry box. Bigger stuff like, continuous lights, small mixers, cable bundles, other boxes, gimbals, Claymore mines, etc.
Construction
I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty too much of how these boxes are built other than they're generally like the competitors - rigid, beefy, heavy, IP67 rating, made in the USA. I just want to know if it fell off of a moving vehicle or if leaving it out in any weather condition, the contents are safe, clean & dry. I also wanted the box to be small enough to fit through a regular car door. There comes a point when you're schlepping around 10-20K worth of gear that putting it in a 100 dollar Harbor Freight box just doesn't seem like the right choice.
I went with the dividers as it definitely suits my needs rather than the pick-n-pluck foam madness. The foam route for me is just a waste and is basically best for an inflexible, static scenario. Condition 1 has decent color options that I spent a stupid amount of time trying to figure out as I pretty much like all their options. I know I wanted something other than black because I have other black boxes and wanted to be able to simply tell an assistant, 'take the green box to the stage' or wherever.
Box Goodness
All in all, I'm very happy with this #286 Condition 1 box. It has given me more options for transporting my gear around for a very dynamic work process while keeping everything very safe. I look forward to treating this case with indifference knowing that it can easily take the punishment with a confident smile. An appropriate company name for a product that is ready & good to go. Rock on!
