Budget cases: cheap equipment case options for your business

Many businesses will – correctly – believe that cutting corners when specifying packaging or protective cases can actually cost more money in the long term.

This is particularly true where costly or specialist equipment becomes damaged because the case it is stored and transported in isn’t up to the job. Beside the monetary costs of replacing the damaged items, it can also risk wasted time on site for staff, as well as damage to your business’ hard-earned reputation.

Often, however, the problem simply lies in choosing the wrong type of case for the specific application.

In fact, once you know what the most suitable case type is for your tools, equipment, environment, application, or use, it allows you to begin exploring budget case options. Frequently, these provide the exact same levels of performance and features as the well-known, higher priced brands that are available.

This guide provides a break-down of not only which cases you should use for which application, but goes on to highlight the cheaper options that you would be wise to consider.

Before we look at the protective case options, it would also be remiss to not mention foam inserts.

This is another area where businesses can sometimes want to cut corners – often with catastrophic results.

Foam inserts, particularly those tailored to your specific tools or equipment, will help to protect items. Often, they are the single biggest factor in whether your equipment remains well protected, or becomes damaged.

So, regardless of the protective case you choose, selecting an appropriate foam insert is just as important.

Saying that, any experienced foam converter should be able to provide a range of options to suit your specific budget, working with you to provide a solution that is not only cost effective, but provides longevity and excellent protection too.

When businesses or individuals are looking for a tough, waterproof protective case, they usually think of Peli. In fact, “Peli case” has become a term used to describe all cases of this type.

And whilst these cases can be cost effective in the long run – preventing costly damage to equipment and usually being offered with a lifetime guarantee, their upfront costs can be eye wateringly high.

Whilst there are a number of options that are cheaper than Peli Protector and Peli Storm cases, most notably Explorer and Nanuk, the lowest cost option when looking for a case of this type is B&W.

Manufactured in the Netherlands, B&W cases are in fact the cheapest waterproof cases currently available.

However, they provide all of the benefits and features you would expect from one of the more premium options. This includes comfortable handles, pressure release valve, easy to use latches and locks, inline wheels on larger cases, and an all-round seal.

This latter point means the cases are fully waterproof (IP67 rated), whilst the polypropylene outer also makes the cases exceptionally tough. They have even been tested to various military standards.

All of this means that B&W cases are the most cost-effective waterproof cases for protecting specialist tools, service engineers’ kits, broadcasting equipment, and anything that needs to be kept safe and dry.

Whilst Tekno cases are also a great option if you need a small case (i.e. to save space, protect smaller items etc.), there are a number of other budget case options that should be considered here.

Firstly, Hofbauer Minibag cases are – as the name would suggests – a range of smaller sized cases. As with Tekno cases, they offer a surprising range of features and excellent performance (in a similar manner to the majority of Hofbauer cases).

Although there is a limited range of sizes, the small dimensions of these, alongside their modern appearance, makes them an excellent choice for applications where larger cases are not required.

But what if you have really small items or tools to protect? Or need cases that are to sit within larger outer cases as part of a “kit” of products or equipment?

Whilst this is another area that Peli dominate (with their Peli Micro cases), another option is the SKB 3S range.

Despite being amongst the smallest cases you can buy (the internals of the smallest option being only 100 x 60 x 24 mm) these case are incredibly tough. In fact, they are crush proof, IP 67 rated (being fully watertight) and have been tested to exacting military standards (much like the larger SKB cases, including the popular i Series range).

Surprisingly, sometimes the way to save the most money when looking at protective cases for your business is to specify custom built options.

This is for a number of reasons.

Firstly, when selecting an “off the shelf” case model, you typically need to select a case which is slightly too large (so as to accommodate all of your equipment safely). This additional space is effectively wasted – making the cases more costly to ship and store (not to mention more difficult to handle).

Secondly, if you are using custom foam inserts, an oversized case will affect your costs here, too. The additional material needed to fill that case will obviously cost more, but can – surprisingly – actually reduce protection levels as well.

So what are your options?

Well, for many, a standard flight case will do the job excellently.

These can be specified to the exact size and shape you require, enhancing the efficiency of your business. However, traditional flight cases, whilst relatively low cost, do come with the caveat of comprises on both performance and longevity. They are also not typically waterproof.

This is where EXOCase should be considered. Whilst a considerable step up in terms of costs from standard flight cases (making it difficult to describe them as a budget case), EXOCases are both waterproof and significantly tougher than flight cases.

In fact, this makes EXOCase a competitor to waterproof hard cases such as Peli, but also a viable (and lower cost) alternative to roto moulded cases for many applications.

And of course, the longer-term cost savings that can be achieved by using custom sizes, also applies to any EXOCase you use as well.

Whilst many businesses can be surprised at the cost of protective cases, this guide hopefully indicates that there are a number of cheap equipment case options that you can consider.

It is of course imperative that you select a suitable case for your application. Choosing the wrong option (whether low cost or not), that subsequently leads to damaged kit, is a false economy.

Should you need any help in selecting the right protective case for your business however, then GWP Protective can help. As impartial, independent suppliers of the widest range of protective case options in the UK, you will be able to source a suitable case (and foam insert) regardless of your budget or other requirements.

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