When you spend the time and money it takes to purchase custom hard plastic shipping cases, you expect a quality case inside and out. However, if the case manufacturer just dumps a cheap piece of case foam in your case, you definitely aren’t getting your money’s worth and here’s why.
- Case Foam Varies In Quality
You might think foam is just foam, right? The quality of foam varies, and many manufacturers will use what is known in the industry as “pick and pluck foam.” This type of foam is inexpensive and the quality is poor. Over time, it will break down and basically become useless in terms of protecting your equipment.
At Bel-Air Cases, we create custom foam inserts for all of our carrying cases and hard plastic shipping cases. We use the highest quality foam possible and create custom cavities to fit your equipment perfectly. You’ll never receive a case from us filled with cheap pick and pluck foam.
- Case Foam Is As Crucial As A Tough Exterior
Typically, people invest in custom hard plastic shipping cases because they need to protect expensive items and equipment during transport. We all know how tough the transportation industry can be on cases, which is why your case needs to be built from durable materials and designed to handle impacts.
However, the interior of the case is just as important. High-quality, custom case foam also absorbs impact and holds your equipment in place, so that bumping and jostling won’t affect the items in your case. When you use cheap foam, it doesn’t fully absorb these impacts and the cavities aren’t customized to your equipment so the items in the case get jostled about more than they would with a fully custom case.
- Cheap Case Foam Forces The Customer To Do The Work
When a case manufacturer hands off a case filled with a chunk of pick and pluck foam, the customer is forced to cut away at the foam to create cavities for their equipment. Why should the customer have to do the work? What if the customer cuts away too much foam?
We believe that if you are spending the money on custom hard plastic shipping cases, then you shouldn’t be forced to cut and pick away and create your own foam interior. Additionally, you end up throwing away a bunch of excess foam. Why should a customer have to pay for foam they are just going to toss out? This seems silly, and it’s a huge waste of money and materials.
- Cheap Case Foam Looks Cheap
At Bel-Air Cases, we take pride in creating custom carrying cases and hard plastic shipping cases that are attractive inside and out. If you want a truly professional case, custom case foam is crucial. Not only does it protect your equipment, it just looks more professional.
No matter how carefully you cut away at pick and pluck foam, the end result just looks sloppy. Over time, this foam will begin to break down, as well, which means your case interior will look less and less attractive over time. Our Bel-Air Cases are meant to last for years and years, and still look great as time passes, and that includes the interior.
- Custom Case Foam & Cheap Foam Cost About The Same
It might seem like opting for cheap case foam is highly cost-effective, but that’s just not true. We typically can produce hard plastic shipping cases with custom case foam for about the same cost as you’d pay for a case with cheap pick and pluck foam.
Cheap foam breaks down fairly quickly, and you’ll end up spending more money to replace the pick and pluck foam. Additionally, the cheap-quality foam doesn’t protect your items nearly as well as custom high-quality case foam, which means you may end up with damaged equipment that you must pay to repair or replace. In the long run, spending a few dollars more for a custom foam insert will save you money.
Our Custom Cases
At Bel-Air Cases, our made-to-order custom hard plastic shipping cases are designed using high-density polyethylene plastic. This material is ideal because of its high durability and light weight. It can take the abuse of transport without damaging your equipment, and the light weight helps reduce your shipping costs and makes it easier for customers to handle.
Each case we design can be entirely customized. In addition to a custom exterior size and custom case foam, we can customize the colors, handles, latches, wheels and more. We have a huge selection of custom features, and if you don’t see precisely what you need, we probably can find it. With Bel-Air Cases, it’s all about choice. We also can add in a molded in logo, custom decals or custom engraved plates to elevate the professional look of your case.
Our cases also meet ATA specifications and most MIL specifications. We have designed hard plastic shipping cases for aerospace space companies, as well as the military, so we know how to build cases that can handle just about any situation.
If you need custom carrying cases or hard plastic shipping cases with custom foam inserts, give us a call at any time. We can design cases for audio & video equipment, medical equipment, lighting equipment, military equipment, diagnostic equipment and just about anything else. We’ve been designing cases for more than 50 years, and we look forward to working with you on your case project, whether you need just one custom case, 500 cases or somewhere in between.