Case Foam: 5 Reasons Why Custom Foam Is Crucial
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.
Equipment Cases With Wheels: Durable Custom Cases
While the transportation industry does a fine job moving cases from Point A to Point B, it’s not exactly known for being gentle with these cases. You’ve invested thousands of dollars in your equipment. Don’t you deserve equipment cases with wheels that can handle just about anything? We think so.
Whether you are tracking a Category 4 hurricane aboard a WP3D Orion or bumping along the train tracks from Yangon to Bagan in Myanmar or even blasting off to Mars in Elon Musk’s Starship, we want you to have a case that will protect your equipment in just about any imaginable circumstance.
There are plenty of companies out there selling off-the-shelf cases, and these are often fine for less expensive items or items that aren’t particularly delicate. But if you need to transport equipment frequently, it’s typically best to opt for custom equipment cases and skip the off-the-shelf options.
At Bel-Air Cases, we design equipment cases around your equipment. We’ve designed cases for just about every industry and type of equipment. Whether you are transporting diagnostic equipment, audio equipment, lighting equipment, electronics or something else, our first step is to study the equipment carefully and then design a case that meets your needs.
Which Case Do You Need?
We offer several different levels of equipment cases with wheels, and the type that you need depends upon how you will be transporting your cases.
Light & Medium Duty Carrying Cases – Our light-duty and medium-duty carrying cases are ideal for items that won’t be transported frequently as luggage or freight. With our light-duty cases, we typically recommend these for customers that will be toting their cases along in a car.
Our medium-duty cases can be transported occasionally as luggage, as they are a bit more durable, but if you need to transport items in a case frequently, it’s always best to opt for one of our heavy-duty cases. Light and medium-duty cases are ideal for lightweight items, sales kits, demo kits and OEM cases.
Heavy-Duty Carrying Cases – If you need something that can handle frequent shipment, either as luggage or cargo, a heavy-duty carrying case is probably your best bet. These cases can handle a bumpy airline ride, an off-road adventure or a quick trip up to the International Space Station. And, once you make it to your destination, the wheels and handles make it easier to move your case around a busy airport or perhaps the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.
Our heavy-duty carrying cases are built using the same materials and components that we use for our heavy-duty shipping cases. However, we form the cases on our tooling for carrying cases, which results in a highly durable case that is a little easier to maneuver in tight quarters.
Shipping Cases – If you have heavy or delicate items and need highly durable equipment cases with wheels that can withstand frequent transport, our shipping cases are built to meet ATA guidelines and many MIL specifications. We also can configure cases to meet most airline, military, government or aerospace specifications.
Custom Foam Interiors
In many cases, the custom foam interior that we design is just as important as the exterior of the case. Our cases are built to absorb impact, but the custom foam further protects your equipment from impact. We never simply complete your equipment cases and pass them on to you with a chunk of foam.
This type of diced foam, also known as “pick and pluck” foam is a common issue in our industry, but while many case manufacturers use this type of cheap foam, it really does nothing to protect your equipment and tends to break down quickly. Even worse, the customer has to cut away or pluck away bits of foam to create custom cavities for their equipment.
At Bel-Air, our foam interiors are created from the highest quality materials and crafted to cushion every inch of your equipment. We can design a case with a basic foam liner, but we also are experts at foam fabrication and can create interiors with plastic dividers, interior doors, panel mounts, shock mounts and more.
The Wheels
We can’t really feel as though an article about equipment cases with wheels is complete unless we actually talk about the wheels. Our selection of hardware includes a large variety of wheel choices. For most cases, we can add wheels and a telescoping handle, which makes it as easy as possible to move your case from place to place. If you don’t see precisely what you want, we probably can get it for you. With Bel-Air Cases, it’s all about choice.
We’ve been crafting custom equipment cases with wheels for more than 50 years, and we have the experience necessary to craft any type of equipment case you might need. Whether you need just one Bel-Air Case or 400 or something in between, we can provide you with a durable, protective case that keeps your equipment safe.
Custom Trade Show Shipping Cases
Whether you have a smaller 10×10 booth or a large island exhibit, your trade show team will have plenty of items that need to be moved from place to place. Our trade show shipping cases make it easy to transport items, but, even more importantly they protect your expensive graphics and booth components during transport and in-between shows.
Our Expo Cases
Expo cases are designed with displays and graphics in mind. It can be tough to find durable cases that can hold these often oddly-shaped items. We’ve designed these trade show shipping cases specifically for wide, lightweight items such as posters, framed art or any type of graphic materials you need to bring along for the show.
Each of these cases is built from durable, high-density polyethylene shells that absorb impact as well as keeping out moisture. This ensures that your trade show items are safe whether they are jostling about in an airplane cargo hold, sitting out on a rainy tarmac or being stored at your facility for a future trade show.
Our Shipping Cases
Our shipping cases can be used to transport many items that you might need for your trade show. This includes laptops, electronic equipment, lighting equipment or anything expensive or delicate that you need to ship.
These cases are created using the same high-density polyethylene that we use for our custom expo cases and we also create fully custom foam interiors for these shipping cases. Our foam interiors truly set us apart from other case manufacturers. We use high-quality foam that absorbs impact and protects every part of your equipment or components. We never simply hand off a custom case with a chunk of diced foam.
Not only is this “diced” foam of lesser quality, but it also forces the client to pluck away or cut away the foam to create cavities. If you are paying for a quality custom case, you should expect a custom foam interior, as well, and we are foam fabricating experts.
We can create anything from a simple foam liner up to complicated interior designs that incorporate plastic dividers, interior doors, windows, panel mounts, shock mounts and more.
Many Custom Design Options
With Bel-Air Cases, every aspect of case design can be customized and that includes the color of your cases. Our standard colors are silver and black, but we also offer an assortment of additional stock colors, including white, green, olive, blue, yellow, orange and red.
We also can add a molded-in logo to each of your trade show shipping cases, as well as engraved plates or custom decals. Not only will these logos elevate the professional look of your team, but it also makes it easier to identify your cases either at the airport or on the trade show floor.
A Few Trade Show Tips
Not only can we make it easier to transport your trade show gear, but we also have a few tips to help ensure your employees have a great trade show experience. Here are a few suggestions that our own employees have enjoyed when they were out and about working at various industry events.
- Book A Great Hotel – You don’t have to pick a posh, five-star resort but select a nice hotel close to the event center that offers a few helpful perks. For instance, our employees love staying at a spot that includes a gym, a pool, breakfast service, a coffee bar, etc. It’s best to select a hotel within very easy walking distance to the event center. After all, these employees will be on their feet all day and a long walk or Uber ride back to the hotel won’t be very appealing after a busy day.
- Give’Em A Day Off – If possible, reward your employees with a paid day off after the event. This gives them some time to rest and recharge and spend time with family. If the trade show was a plane flight away, they might be jet-lagged and exhausted, but even for a local event, trade show work can be exhausting and they definitely will appreciate a day to stay home and rest.
- Keep The Clothing Comfortable – While trade show reps definitely need to wear business-appropriate clothing, this doesn’t have to be uncomfortable. Spend some time talking with your team about clothing, and encourage them to wear comfortable shoes. While they shouldn’t wear their oldest pair of sneakers, wearing four-inch heels probably isn’t a great idea either.
- Breaks Are Essential – Trade shows can be a lot of fun, but they are a lot of work, as well. Ensure that each employee takes a few breaks during the day. Not only will they need a chance to grab some food, but it’s also good to have a few minutes to just relax and refresh.
- Hand Out Rewards
If your goal is grabbing leads or a set amount of sales, it can be fun to have a little daily contest and reward the person who excels each day as well as the person with the most leads overall. This could be as simple as a gift card to Starbucks or movie tickets, just a little something to show your appreciation and recognize a job well done.
Of course, don’t forget to celebrate with your team as a whole. If your trade show team meets or exceeds goals, why not celebrate with a special workplace lunch after the show. It doesn’t have to be fancy, even a workplace pizza party can be a great way to celebrate a successful event. You can recognize the trade show team and send out some appreciation for the team that stayed behind and kept things running smoothly at home.
These are just a few ideas we’ve thought about over the years that help make our trade show events successful. If you are in the organizing stage and need custom trade show shipping cases, we are here to help. To get started, you can head here https://www.bel-air-cases.com/contact-us/ and fill out our quick contact form or give us a call at 866-235-2472.
Custom Plastic Cases: Light, Medium & Heavy-Duty Cases
For some items, an off-the-shelf case might be just fine, but if you have something special, such as a sales kit or perhaps something delicate or expensive, custom plastic cases are essential and we can help.
Light-Duty Cases
For some uses, light-duty custom plastic cases are a perfect choice. These are ideal as attractive sales kits and OEM packaging or to tote items that are lightweight and delicate but won’t be transported as luggage. Our customers also often use these cases for medical equipment or diagnostic equipment.
Medium-Duty Cases
If you need a handsome yet durable carrying case, our medium-duty cases might be ideal. While we don’t recommend toting our light-duty cases as airline luggage, the medium-duty cases can be used as luggage on occasion. Again, these often are used for sales kits and sample cases as well as OEM packaging or to house medical equipment or electronics.
Heavy-Duty Cases
At Bel-Air Cases, we create carrying cases and shipping cases. If you need heavy-duty protection, but still want the convenience of a carrying case, we definitely recommend our heavy-duty carrying cases. These cases are formed on the tooling for our carrying cases, but they are constructed using the same materials and components as our heavy-duty shipping cases.
Do You Need Shipping Cases?
It depends. If you do have equipment that you need to ship again and again, our heavy-duty shipping cases are up to the challenge. With either our heavy-duty carrying cases or our heavy-duty shipping cases, you can transport equipment with ease. It’s really more about how you use them once they come off the plane, train or truck.
If you have a bunch of equipment, it might make sense to opt for the shipping cases. These are perfect for heavy items (over 40 pounds) as well as delicate or valuable items. They also are designed with molded protective corner bumpers and stacking lugs. These features ensure that the toughest parts of the case absorb impact instead of the case hardware or your precious equipment.
Still, those heavy-duty carrying cases are perfect if you need a case that can handle the bumpy world of transportation yet still is easy to maneuver in tight quarters. Keep in mind that we can add wheels and telescoping handles to virtually every case, so we make it as easy as possible for you to move your cases from place to place.
Why Vacuumed-Formed?
Our cases are vacuum-formed from high-density polyethylene. Vacuum-forming allows us to create cases in a wide variety of sizes and provide our clients with a myriad of custom options.
The plastic we use is known for its durability and impact resistance, and it also provides a high level of moisture-resistance. The materials we use also are capable of handling extremes in temperatures, so whether you need to use your cases at a research station near the North Pole or are planning a trek across the Mojave Desert; your custom plastic cases will be equal to the challenge.
Custom Options
While each case is built with your specific case needs in mind, we don’t simply customize the size. We also provide you with a fully custom foam interior. This might be as simple as a basic quality foam liner or you might need multiple cavities to hold your equipment. We also can fabricate interior walls, add plastic dividers, interior doors, windows, panel mounts and shock mounts.
Additionally, we can customize the color of your cases. Black and silver are the standard colors we offer, but we have several additional stock colors, including white, red, green, blue, orange and yellow.
We can create cases with a molded-in logo; add engraved plates or perhaps a custom decal. We also offer an assortment of wheels, handles, hinges, latches, feet, locks and other accessories. If we don’t have precisely what you are looking for, we probably can get it.
Get A Price Quote
Because each of our custom plastic cases is manufactured according to your exact specifications, we don’t list prices on our website. If we did, the ensuing price list would be incredibly large and probably a bit confusing to say the least.
That said, we have computerized our quoting process, and it takes just a few minutes to provide you with a price quote. If you want custom plastic cases, we are happy to give instant quotes over the phone. Just call us at (886) 235-2472. You also can click on the Contact Us tab at the top of this page and fill out our quick form.
Custom Equipment Cases: The Ultimate Level Of Protection
If you have expensive equipment, protecting it during transport is a huge consideration. At Bel-Air Cases, we’ve been building custom equipment cases for more than 50 years and can create a case to protect just about any equipment you might need to transport.
Durable Mil-SPEC Cases
For decades, we’ve been creating durable, lightweight cases for the United States military as well as the Aerospace industry. Our cases have undergone extensive testing in order to ensure that they are equal to the task even in the most critical situations.
We offer military light-duty and medium-duty carrying cases suitable for items that won’t often be transported as luggage or freight. If you do need a carrying case that can handle frequent transport, our military heavy-duty carrying cases are a fantastic option. Our shipping cases also can be built to meet almost any military specifications.
Audio & Video Equipment Cases
Got movie cameras? Studio mixers? Projectors? Microphone kits? We’ve built cases for these items as well as just about any type of audio and video equipment you might need. Our A/V carrying cases are available in three types – light, medium and heavy-duty. Our heavy-duty A/V cases are meant for heavier items or anything that will need to be transported frequently.
We also can build heavy-duty shipping cases for your audio and video equipment. With any of our cases, we can add wheels and a telescoping handle to any case, to make it easy to move it through an airport or a busy production studio or wherever you need to move it.
Medical Equipment Cases
Whether you need to transport diagnostic equipment, medical products or accessories, our Bel-Air custom equipment cases are designed and built with ease of use and cleaning in mind. Additionally, many of our clients use our cases as sales kits for medical equipment, and we can design an attractive interior that truly showcases your equipment to its best advantage.
Whether you need a heavy-duty case to use out in the field or you want a light-duty or medium-duty case for office use or sales, we can build a custom medical case that suits your needs. We also can build shipping cases for medical equipment if you have larger items that frequently will be transported by trains, planes, truck, automobile, horse and buggy or whatever it might be.
Lighting Equipment Cases
Lighting equipment is especially fragile and definitely expensive, so doesn’t it deserve a great carrying case? For years, we’ve been manufacturing quality carrying cases for many industry leaders in studio lighting. Our custom lighting cases can meet almost any application that requires the housing and protection of sensitive lighting equipment.
Other Type Of Equipment
We can build a case to hold just about anything. Whether you need to transport a microscope, computer equipment, camera equipment or perhaps a single bottle of 1869 Chateau Lafitte or several pairs of Sennheiser HE 1 headphones, a Bel-Air custom case can be the perfect option.
Our Custom Foam Interiors
While the exteriors of our cases are built to handle the rigors of transport, the materials and layout of your case interior can be even more crucial. We firmly believe that a custom foam interior is crucial for expensive equipment. We never simply hand off a case with a hunk of diced foam and expect our customers to create their own interior cavities for their equipment.
We can design any type of custom foam interior you might need, and we usually can construct foam sets for around the same price you’d expect to pay for cases filled with foam slabs or diced foam. We are experts at fabricating interior walls, plastic dividers, interior doors, windows, panel mounts and shock mounts.
Other Custom Options
Bel-Air Cases has the largest standard library of carrying case sizes, and if our library doesn’t include the exact size you need, with our in-house tooling, we can build it. And, in addition to our custom foam interiors, we have many other options for your custom equipment cases.
For instance, our standard colors are black and silver, but we do have several optional stock colors, including white, yellow, orange, red, olive, green and blue. With a minimum purchase, we also might be able to provide you with a custom color or even color matching.
We can further personalize your equipment cases with a molded-logo or perhaps an engraved plate. We also can add custom decals if you prefer. We love the molded-in logo, as it truly adds that professional, personalized touch to any case.
Of course, with our heavier cases and shipping cases, we definitely recommend the addition of wheels and a telescoping handle to make transport as easy as possible. We have a wide variety of wheels, handles, hinges, latches, feet and locks that we can add to your custom equipment. If we don’t have precisely what you need, we can probably get it.
If you are in the market for custom equipment cases, and want options that truly can provide an ultimate level of protection, our durable and attractive custom cases are a perfect option and, all of our cases are custom made in the USA. To get started, simply click on the “Contact Us” tab at the top this page.
Padded Equipment Cases: Let’s Talk About Foam
At Bel-Air Cases, we are all about customization. Our padded equipment cases can feature a wide variety of locks, latches, feet and handles, as well as molded-in logos, custom decals and much more. But we don’t just customize the exterior of your cases; we also pay special attention to the interior.
Our cases are built to handle the rigors of transport, and while the exterior of your case will absorb the impact and vibrations associated with travel, the custom foam interiors also further absorb the bumps and jostles typical when cases are moving along conveyor belts, tossed into airplanes or bouncing along an interstate in the back of a delivery truck.
Our Custom Foam Interiors
There are many ways that foam can be fabricated, for instance, you can use CNC machining to create custom foam or you can use waterjet fabrication or hot wire fabrication. The type of process that is used depends largely on the end use and the materials that are being used.
For our padded equipment cases, we typically use die-cutting and hand-cutting to craft your foam interiors. Creating a fully custom interior might include creating fabricated interior walls, plastic dividers, interior doors, windows, panel mounts or shock mounts, whatever you need to fully protect and/or display your products.
Our carrying cases often are used as sales kits, for product samples or as OEM cases, and for these types of cases, a custom foam interior might be as crucial as a custom exterior. You truly need a custom interior that shows off your products to their best advantage.
Of course, not every cases needs a fully custom interior with multiple cavities or sections, so we can provide you with a quality foam liner or perhaps layers of quality foam if that’s what you need. It’s all about choice.
What We Won’t Do
While we are happy to customize every inch of your padded equipment cases from the inside out, what we refuse to do is simply hand off a custom case with a chunk of diced foam inside it.
This cheap “pick and pluck” foam is a problem to us on several levels. For one thing, you are paying a premium for a custom case; shouldn’t the interior also be customized? We certainly believe that it should. Typically, we can construct custom foam sets for around the same price that you would expect to pay for a case filled with diced foam.
In addition, with diced foam, the customer is expected to cut and pick away at the foam in order to make cavities. Most of our customers don’t have the complicated die cutting machinery that would be needed in order to create custom cavities, so the end result isn’t exactly attractive or even perfectly designed to protect every inch of your product.
We also object to the idea that the customer pays for a huge chunk of foam and then, after cutting away at it to make cavities, they have to throw half or more of the remaining foam away. Why should customers be forced to pay for foam they aren’t even using? We believe you should only have to pay for the foam that you actually use, which is another reason why we provide custom foam interiors.
Finally, when a company passes off a cheap chunk of diced foam to a customer, this says quite a bit about the level of quality in generally. This foam not only has a less desirable appearance, it also tends to break down quickly and is not as protective in general. If any company tries to sell you a “custom” case but doesn’t also offer to create a custom foam interior, this is a bad sign.
Whether you select Bel-Air Cases or another company, we highly recommend that you select a company with many years of experience (we’ve been here for 50+ years!) that provides you with custom padded equipment cases with a custom foam interior.
Your Case Options
We can design a case for just about any type of equipment and to just about any specification you might need. If you need something that can truly handle transport and rugged environments, our heavy-duty carrying cases and our heavy-duty shipping cases are the perfect options. These cases meet ATA standards and many MIL specs, as well.
In fact, we’ve designed rugged cases for military clients as well as aerospace clients, two groups that truly need cases that can handle just about anything. Our cases can handle impacts and temperature extremes, as well as keeping out moisture and repelling water and various chemicals which might come into contact with your case.
If you want lightweight padded equipment cases that won’t be used as luggage, our light-duty carrying cases are ideal. These are perfect for those aforementioned sales kits as well as OEM cases. If you need a bit more durability, the medium-duty carrying cases can be transported occasionally as luggage.
We also design custom expo cases that are perfect for those oddly-sized items and graphics you need to transport to various trade shows and conferences. These are built to handle the rigors of transport, and we can add wheels and telescoping handles to make it easier to move the expo cases from place to place. Actually, we can add wheels and various handles to all of our cases, to make it as easy as possible for you to carry or move your case through a crowded airport, through a bustling market in Istanbul or perhaps along an uneven path deep in the jungles of Cambodia.
Each Bel-Air Case is designed around whatever will be placed inside, offering you the ultimate level of protection. If you need any type of padded equipment cases, give us a call at any time and we’ll start working on your custom case project.
Custom Hard Plastic Carrying Cases: 50+ Years Of Quality
For more than 50 years, we’ve been designing and creating quality custom hard plastic carrying cases and shipping cases. Our cases can be used to protect delicate equipment, used as OEM packaging or even used to hold samples or sales kits.
Over the years, we’ve built cases for clients in a wide range of industries. We can build hard plastic carrying cases or durable plastic shipping cases for electronic equipment, diagnostic equipment, aerospace and military equipment, lighting equipment and anything else you need to protect from the rigors of transport.
Each Bel-Air case is vacuum-formed, and we were the first company to create cases using this process. Vacuum-forming allows us to create cases in just about any size, and add whatever custom features you might need, such as wheels and telescoping handles, molded in logos, locks and much more.
Sometimes we think back to the late 1960s, when we first got started in the case business. We wonder what happened to some of our cases, and perhaps it went something like this . . .
It was a warm summer day, way back in 1967. Somewhere in the warehouse, the haunting melody of a Procol Harum tune whispered through the air. Clad in now-vintage Levi’s and a gray t-shirt, a worker hands off one of the first Bel-Air hard plastic carrying cases to its owner.
It’s first stop? A trendy camera shop on Los Angeles’ Beverly Boulevard some 45 miles away. The case’s owner chats with a youthful salesman named Marvin and purchases enough film to last him several weeks. The film is packed carefully in a handsome hunter green Coleman cooler that rests on the floor of the passenger seat of a 1965 Ford Bronco.
From there the case travels onward to Santa Monica Boulevard and heads to the sea, turning south at Pacific Coast Highway until it reaches a tiny battered cottage in the seaside village of Venice Beach.
Its owner grabs the cooler and the case and heads inside. His other suitcases are ready to go, but the kitchen table is covered with camera equipment. A tripod, a Nikon F, an assortment of lenses, a light meter. The case is opened and the camera and lenses are tucked into durable, custom-made foam cavities each one a perfect fit.
In the following weeks, the case is taken on a journey north along the California coast, taking in the sites of Big Sur, Monterey and San Francisco. Its owner heads east and snaps some photos of Lake Tahoe, then heads south and spends a day or two snapping pictures of tourists on Las Vegas’s Fremont Street.
All along the way, his trusty hard plastic carrying case keeps his camera equipment safe and secure. Throughout the years, the case would see the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Florence, the shores of Waikiki Beach, the Eiffel Tower and enjoy a relaxing trek down the Nile, secure in a comfortable state room as its owner headed out to snap pictures of great antiquities.
Eventually, after many years of travel, the case would be found in an attic in Yorba Linda, covered with dust, yet still protecting the now-antique Nikon F and its components from dirt, moisture and the occasionally jostling when its owner struggled through the attic in search of Christmas lights.
The case might be dusted off, and taken downstairs to be shown to a grandchild with a fondness for vintage camera equipment. Perhaps, it will enjoy a second life with this grandchild or perhaps it will find its way to some other camera enthusiast. We don’t really know its fate, but we do know that it was built to last. While it has a few scratches and dents, it never wavered in its ability to protect what was inside.
Of course, we don’t really know what happened to these cases, but we do know that we built them to last a lifetime. Your hard plastic carrying case or shipping case is crafted from durable, impact-resistant high-density polyethylene with sturdy aluminum valances.
Which Case Should You Choose?
For lightweight items that won’t be transported frequently as luggage or freight, we recommend a light-duty or medium-duty hard plastic carrying case. These cases are perfect for items such as sales kits, sample kits or lightweight equipment that you plan to transport mainly by car.
If you do want a hard plastic carrying case that can handle frequent transport, either as luggage or freight, our heavy-duty plastic carrying cases are ideal. These cases are constructed from the same materials and components that we use for our heavy-duty shipping cases, but they are formed on our tooling for carrying cases.
This makes them a bit easier to maneuver in tight quarters than a shipping case. These cases are still quite lightweight, but we can, of course, add wheels and a telescoping handle to make it as easy as possible for you to weave through a crowded airport terminal or through a crowded city street or wherever you may be headed.
If you do have delicate or expensive items that need frequent shipment, you also might consider our heavy-duty shipping cases. These cases are built to ATA standards and can handle hundreds of trips without damaging your precious items.
While we can’t promise that your case might not suffer from a ding or two and perhaps some scratches (the transportation industry is tough on cases), we can assure you that whatever is inside the case will be well protected.
All of our cases, either a hard plastic carry case or a shipping case, can include a custom foam interior. We never just hand over a case with a chunk of diced foam. We create fully custom interiors. It might be as simple as a basic foam liner or it might contain panels and doors, shock mounts and many custom cavities to hold whatever will be placed inside.
If you need a hard plastic carrying case or 1,000 cases or something in between, give us a call at any time or click on the Contact Us tab and fill out our quick contact form. We can build a case for just about anything and look forward to working on your unique project.
Plastic Shipping Cases: Durable & Protective Custom Cases
Whether you need to ship lighting equipment, diagnostic equipment, audio/visual equipment or perhaps the super-secret components of a cold fusion-powered time machine, we can build a plastic shipping case that meets your needs.
We know what you are thinking – there’s just no way to produce a cold-fusion reaction to equal the 1.21 gigawatts to power the flux capacitor needed for time travel. But, we don’t judge what our clients place in their cases, we just build them and, of course, we aren’t physicists.
We are, however, case experts. In fact, we’ve been building quality custom plastic shipping cases for more than 50 years, and our cases are built to handle just about anything the transportation industry can throw at it – literally.
What Sets Our Cases Apart From The Pack?
Quality and experience are two factors that truly set our cases apart from the rest. We’ve been creating custom shipping cases and carrying cases since the 1960s, and we’ve built cases for just about any item imaginable.
Our cases are built to last inside and out, and every inch of your case is customized to fit your needs. This includes the custom foam interiors that we design. Many case manufacturers only provide their customers with a slab of diced foam which the customer then has to pluck away to create cavities for their equipment. We believe that the best case has a custom exterior and interior, and we can build any kind of custom foam insert you might need.
What Type Of Case Should You Choose?
There are many different types of cases, and at Bel-Air Cases, we design vacuum-formed plastic shipping cases. Other options include roto-molded cases, injection-molded cases, fabricated wood cases, blow-molded cases and even aluminum cases.
The type of case you need will depend upon many factors, including:
1. The Level Of Durability You Need
If you need to transport your plastic shipping cases often, either as luggage or freight, our cases are an ideal match. The only other types of cases that can match vacuum-formed cases in terms of durability are roto-molded and injection-mold cases, but these two types also have other limitations.
For instance, roto-molded and injection-molded cases aren’t available in as many sizes as vacuum-formed cases, which can be built in almost any size or configuration. These cases also aren’t as easy to customize as vacuum-formed cases, and roto-molded cases are much heavier than vacuum-formed or injection-molded cases, which might be an issue.
2. Size Considerations
With vacuum forming, the sizes and custom options are nearly endless. We can create plastic shipping cases in just about any size you might need. Fabricated and aluminum cases also can be created in just about any size, and it’s quite easy to custom fabricated cases, as well. Of course, these two options aren’t durable as our plastic shipping cases, so if you ship items frequently, that should be factored into the equation.
3. Your Budget
Plastic is an excellent material because it’s durable and moisture-resistant and highly impact-resistant. Two other huge advantages of the materials we use are the light weight of our materials and affordability.
Plastic is one of the most affordable case materials on the planet, especially when you factor in the level of protection it provides. The polyethylene we use for our plastic shipping cases will protect your items from the rigors of transport, extremes in temperature, moisture and exposure to many solvents. This level of protection ensures that you won’t have to pay for costly repairs or pay to replace your equipment, and that’s a huge savings right there.
Additionally, the light weight of our materials can reduce your shipping and transportation costs. After all, shipping costs are determined by the size and the weight of your items, and plastic reduces weight, so that can provide you with some substantial savings if you ship items frequently.
4. Custom Options
With a Bel-Air plastic shipping case, we can provide many custom options. In addition to customizing the size and configuration, we can customize the hardware we use as well as the color of your cases.
Our standard colors are black and silver, but we have several additional stock colors. If you need color matching or perhaps a custom color, this may be available with a minimum purchase. We also can create a plastic shipping case with a molded-in logo or perhaps a custom decal.
We can add many different types of wheels and handles to your shipping cases and we also have many different latches and lock options. If we don’t have precisely what you need, we can probably find it, so let us know exactly what you want when you speak with our customer service representatives.
While we always hope a potential customer will choose our company, it sometimes occurs that our cases aren’t the perfect fit. If we feel that a different type of case or even an off-the-shelf case will better meet your needs, we’ll be honest about it and help you find another source for your cases.
How Long Does It Take?
Each project is unique, but generally, new orders take about three to five weeks, depending on the order volume and the case options you choose. If you opt for a custom foam interior, this can increase your lead time. Additionally, a new size that requires new tooling can take up to eight weeks. Typically, though, most case projects are completed in about four weeks.
How To Get Started
Whether you need one plastic shipping case or many, we are happy to help build you a durable, attractive custom case. Give us a call at any time or click on the Contact Us tab at the top of this page and we will get started on your unique case project.
Custom Plastic Cases: Made-To-Order For Any Product
At Bel-Air Cases, we’ve spent the last 50+ years creating custom plastic cases for clients from just about any industry. No matter what you need to protect, our design and production teams can build a case around it. Here’s a quick look at what you can expect from Bel-Air.
Custom Vs. Off-The-Shelf
While an off-the-shelf case might work for some items, custom plastic cases often are the best option for many of our clients. If you need to display items in a sales kit or demo kit, for instance, custom cases with custom foam interiors can truly display your samples or products to their best advantage.
If you have diagnostic equipment or any type of delicate equipment, a custom case typically is your best option because we can build the case around your product and ensure that every inch of it is perfectly protected. Our plastic cases can include a custom foam interior and this is crucial because the foam is designed around your product and helps absorb impact rather than passing on those vibrations to your delicate items.
What Can You Put In A Bel-Air Case?
We can build custom plastic cases for just about any product. Here’s a quick look at just a few of the items for which we have built cases:
• Electronic Equipment
• Laptops & Computer Components
• Lighting Equipment
• Diagnostic Equipment
• Military Equipment
• Aerospace Equipment
• Audio & Video Equipment
• Medical Equipment
• Sales & Demo Kits
• Trade Show Displays & Materials
Why Plastic?
You might not think that something as lightweight as plastic could be highly durable and protective, but plastic has many advantages over other materials. We use high-density polyethylene for our cases, a type of thermoform plastic known for its impact resistance.
Additionally, polyethylene is moisture-resistant and solvent-resistant, further protecting your products from water and other liquids that might come into contact with your case. Our cases also can withstand changes in temperature, so whether the case has to sit in a hot car in the Mojave Desert or on a slab of tundra in Antarctica, the materials we use can handle these extremes.
The light weight is another advantage that makes it easier for our customers to tote their cases, and the lightweight also reduces shipping costs. Keep in mind, we can add telescoping handles and wheels to most cases, but it’s still easier to wheel around lightweight plastic cases than cases made from heavier materials.
Lastly, the materials we use are highly affordable. Polyethylene is extremely cost-effective, and our valances are crafted from aluminum, which also is inexpensive, not to mention lightweight and durable.
Which Plastic Cases Should You Choose?
When we begin to plan out a case design, we start by looking at what will be going inside the case and how it will be transported. We have several different levels of plastic carrying cases, as well as heavy-duty shipping cases.
Light-Duty Cases
For sales kits, demo kits, OEM cases and lightweight items that won’t be transported frequently as luggage, our light-duty carrying cases are a great option. These might be placed in an overhead bin of an airplane or perhaps placed in the trunk of a car or backseat, but aren’t meant to be shipped or transported as luggage. If you have items that weigh less than 20 pounds, these cases are a great option.
Medium-Duty Cases
These also can be designed to hold sales kits, OEM and demo kits, as well as medical equipment, diagnostic equipment and electronic devices. These cases are a bit more durable and often recommended for items that might be transported occasionally as luggage. While light-duty cases are recommended for products 20 pounds or lighter, the medium-duty plastic cases can handle up to about 40 pounds in weight.
Heavy-Duty Cases
If you have heavier items or items that will be shipped frequently as luggage or cargo, our heavy-duty carrying cases are your best bet. These are constructed from the same materials and components as our heavy-duty shipping cases, but we form them on the tooling for carrying cases, which makes it easy to maneuver these cases in tight quarters. If you need the convenience of a carrying case combined with the strength of a shipping case, this is a perfect choice.
Heavy-Duty Shipping Cases
These plastic cases were built to withstand the rigors of transport and designed with ATA specifications and Military specifications in mind. You can ship these cases again and again with worry as they are built to handle the jostling, bumping and general abuse that the transportation industry might heap upon them.
A Quick Word About Foam
While the exterior of our plastic cases is built to absorb impact and vibrations, we can further protect your products with our custom foam interiors. Some companies simply stick a slab of diced foam in the case and hand it off to their customers, but we highly recommend that you avoid these types of case manufacturers.
Diced foam, also known and pick and pluck foam, is a low-quality type of foam that tends to break down quickly. Of course, with this type of foam, the customer has to cut or pluck away at the foam to create cavities for their items or equipment. Then you end up with a bunch of leftover foam and cavities that don’t quite fit around your items.
If you are paying for custom plastic cases, don’t you also deserve custom foam interiors? We certainly think so, and we also believe that you will find our foam interiors to be more affordable thank you might think. We can create a basic foam liner for your cases or highly customize interiors with multiple cavities, panels, shock mounts, windows and more.
Contact Us Today
Our rugged, yet attractive plastic cases are the perfect option for just about any product. In addition to quality craftsmanship, we also pride ourselves on customer service. Give us a call or fill out our Contact Us form and a representative quickly will be in touch to discuss your case needs and provide you with a quick quote for our services.
Plastic Carrying Cases: Custom Vs. Off-The-Shelf Cases
If you are in the market for plastic carrying cases, you might be pondering whether or not to take the plunge and order custom cases or simply select off-the-shelf cases. There are advantages to both, but for many products, we firmly believe that custom cases are your best option.
Advantages Of Off-The-Shelf Plastic Cases
The main advantage of an off-the-shelf case is affordability. Since you are selecting a standard case that is mass-produced, your costs naturally will be lower. These cases might be a good option for those with a smaller budget or someone who only needs a single case to hold inexpensive items.
Advantages Of Custom Plastic Carrying Cases
While an off-the-shelf case might be right for some customers, our custom plastic carrying cases have many important advantages over pre-made, off-the-shelf options, including:
1. Designed Around Your Product
Our plastic carrying cases are ideal for many items, such as delicate equipment or sales kits as well as a good option if you need OEM cases. If you want to send salespeople out with kits, our custom cases display your products to their best advantage.
Each Bel-Air plastic carrying case is designed with your product in mind. Whether you need to house medical equipment, electronics, sales materials or something else, we will design the perfect size case for your needs.
2. Custom Foam Inserts
The interior of your case is often just as important as the exterior. At Bel-Air Cases, we can provide you with a custom foam insert that protects every inch of whatever is inside. We never simply build a case then hand it over to the client with a hunk of cheap pick and pluck foam.
This type of “diced” foam is cheap and breaks down easily. Furthermore, the customer has to pick away and cut away at the foam to create cavities for each item that will be placed inside. This hardly allows you to display your items in an attractive manner, and we believe our clients deserve better than cheap foam. If you are buying a custom case, you should expect a high-quality foam interior.
Our custom inserts can be as simple as a foam liner or we can provide you with complicated designs that include multiple custom cavities, interior walls and doors, windows, panel mounts, plastic dividers and more.
3. Three Levels Of Durability
Depending on your needs, we have three different types of plastic carrying cases. Our light-duty carrying cases are ideal for items that are lightweight, non-delicate or inexpensive. These cases are not meant to be shipped or transported frequently, such as sales kits, OEM packaging, medical equipment and product samples.
Our medium-duty plastic carrying cases amp up the protection a bit and are perfect for items that might be transported frequently and even can be used as airline luggage on occasion. We often build these for sales kits or as OEM packaging, but these also are ideal for medical equipment, diagnostic instruments and electronic devices.
If you do have items that you need to transport frequently, but still want the convenience of a carrying case, our heavy-duty plastic carrying cases are the perfect option. These cases are built using the same materials we use for our heavy-duty shipping cases, and the result is a tough custom case that can handle whatever the transportation industry throws at it – literally.
4. Custom Hardware & Improved Security
Our plastic carrying cases can be fitted out with whatever type of hardware you might want. We have many different wheel options, as well as many different handles and hinges.
There also are many options for latches, and we can install features such as a key lock or combination lock to ensure security and keep your items as safe as possible. If we don’t have precisely what you need, we can probably get it. For us, it’s all about providing our customer with multiple choices so that we can design the ideal custom case for their needs.
5. Many Custom Options
Of course, there are other custom options to consider beyond latches, handles and locks. Our cases are available in our standard colors of black or silver, but we also offer many optional stock colors, including white, yellow, orange, red, green, olive and blue.
Additionally, with a minimum purchase, we may be able to provide custom colors or color matching. This might be a great option for those needing a large number or sales kits or OEM packaging. We also can add in a molded-in logo as well as custom decals and engraved plates. Our ability to customize the look of your plastic carrying cases is a huge advantage over those off-the-shelf cases.
Over the last 50+ years, we created custom plastic carrying cases and shipping cases for just about any product and industry imaginable. That includes designing cases for audio & video equipment, medical equipment, diagnostic equipment, lighting equipment and even building custom military and aerospace equipment cases.
No matter what you need to put into your plastic carrying cases, the team at Bel-Air can provide you with custom case that meets all your needs. To get started, just click on the Contact Us tab at the top of this page, and a friendly customer service expert will be in touch as quickly as possible.