Case Junkie Support Group

Hello, my name is Jason, and I'm a case junkie.

I don't know how it came to this...where it all went wrong, exactly. Here is my story, in the hopes it saves others from making the same mistakes I have.

It all started with a beat up plastic tub. My parents wanted to get rid of it, and I needed something to keep my camping gear from getting wet in the back of my truck (2000 Ford Ranger at the time). I used it for years, strapping down the lid with bungee straps, to keep it from blowing away while driving down the highway. The bottom eventually developed holes and cracks, and it was relegated to a landfill.

In 2018, I bought a Tacoma. By this time, I wasn't single anymore, had two kids just out of diapers, and was looking to start camping with a family in tow. It was time to get some new cases to hold all the gear. So I went to Walmart and bought two of these.



They fit nicely between the wheel wheels and were just the right height. However, the lids were too flimsy to stay flat when slightly overfilled with sleeping bags, pillows, etc., so I still had to bungee strap them down. One also cracked at the handle on the end when lifting it while loaded, and had to be duct taped.

When I got a bed rack and needed a case I could strap down to it and lock, it was obvious my Walmart cases were not going to work. After looking at various SKB, Pelican, Plano, Roam, etc. options, it occurred to me I should look at milsurplus options, and lo and behold, I found this Hardig M249 SAW case.



It was very well built, perfect size to hold a 6p tent and all the stuff that goes into a tent for a family of 4, and that also allowed me to compress camping gear down. It made me realize life was too short to be using Walmart tubs to carry gear anymore, and opened my eyes to the benefits of a stout waterproof case. However, it was heavy, and fully loaded, took 2 people to move it.

Over time, I had also come into possession of various Pelican cases, too.



I got two of the yellow ones when my firm was throwing out old survey equipment. The Air cases came later, when traveling for work became more frequent. The pelican cases are nice, they hold up to abuse as evidence by this Storm case that has seen a lot of pickup beds at work over the last 15 years, but they are also relatively heavy, and the sides are bulky and an inefficient use of space.



While I still use the Air cases for air travel for work, I was running out of both space and payload in my Tacoma for camping trips and it got me thinking...

This is where I definitely got in too deep...I started looking at aluminum cases (Alubox and Zarges). They are light weight (good for payload reduction), walls are as thin as you can get (good for pickup bed tetris), lockable (good for racks), stout enough to compress gear, water/dust resistant enough, and they look so sexy. They are also expensive. Very expensive.

Well, I started out just buying one. It didn't take long for the hook to be set, though. One wasn't enough, I needed another fix. Over time, I have replaced all my cases for camping with these.



I have 2 of the smaller one, but I wasn't going to lug it across the house for a picture. The are all Zarges K450s or K470s, bought used or on sale. If I was so wealthy as to pay full retail, I would probably mixed and matched sizes differently to maximize the space in my bed, but overall, they fit pretty good.

I am so infatuated with these cases, I now spend all my free time perusing the internet for my next fix, even though I have no need to get more.

I need help. So, I'm starting this thread for others that might have also wandered into this trap. To commiserate that is, not to get me to give up my Zarges. I'm taking them to the grave, and probably going to ask I be buried in one...or more.