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A follow up on the foam issues with the Craftright:
My local Bunnings store finally had the Craftright cases back in stock so I went to do an exchange, but the new case's foam was even worse with respect to residue than the one I had. The two bottom layers were very bad. The smell upon opening this case I found overwhelming*. I ended up just hanging onto the one I had, since I am only using the shell - but if a used Pelican 1550 comes along at the right price, I'm going to switch the shell to that.
I also went to Super Cheap Auto since they have their branded versions of these cases on sale. There were two sizes on the shelf out of packaging that I could look at. One was this 1550 equivalent size and it looks exactly like the Craftright. The foam still had that same vile smell, but much less strong, and the residue was only bad along the back edges of the foam (on all layers). On the plus side, the SCA case has 3 full layers of pick and pluck foam. With less residue, more pick and pluck and on sale at the moment, the SCA case seems like a better choice. They are also not boxed on the shelf so you can better see what you are buying.
The smaller SCA case was the same as the larger with respect to residue - only along the back side. It also had pick and pluck layers to the bottom. I don't know why there isn't a thin layer of solid foam like the Pelican, but definitely better IMO than the Bunnings arrangement. The quality of the shell on this case was not as good as the larger case - rough, uneven and with poorly trimmed flash - and the clasp hinges had chewed up plastic coming out of them and were very stiff.
Obviously lots of folks are happy with their cases, but for me, Pelican seem like better value, especially if time spent messing around is important. I would definitely recommend checking the foam on the cheap cases before leaving the store.
- Jayeson
* I should put into context that I am quite sensitive to rubber and plastic smells. A trip to Clark Rubber usually results in nausea, as did today's SCA/Bunnings outing.
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