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Consider a Cut and Weld Case for Odd-Sized Payloads



Study the Sierra Cases website and you’ll see transit cases come in many sizes. Sometimes though, a standard case doesn’t work well for the item or payload to be moved. Perhaps you need to transport something long and thin, like an antenna. In those situations you can end up buying a much larger, and more expensive case, and wasting a lot of the interior volume.

That’s a problem because space is in short supply on most missions or expeditions. Whether you’re going by truck, boat or plane every cubic foot has to be utilized, and you don’t want cases that are larger than they need to be. The ideal transit case is just large enough to provide the protection required, but not so large that you’re shipping excessive volumes of air. And when the case is oversize for the payload it takes a lot of foam or other packing to fill the empty space and prevent movement during transit.

Custom-sized cases can be molded in polyethylene, but this is rarely economic when just a few are needed. The alternative is to invest in a “cut and weld” plastic case. This is a custom case made from two standard cases. As the name suggests, the standard cases are cut open and then welded together. For example, you might take two relatively small cases, 15” x 15” internal cross section and 68” long, and turn them in to a single case with the same cross section but a length of 130”.

Joining two cases calls for considerable planning and care as any misalignment would make it difficult to close and secure the lid. Each case is first cut precisely and the bare edges prepped. The two cases are then brought together and aligned before being butt-welded for a high-strength joint. After welding, latches are checked to ensure they still close and that the case provides the expected level of protection. Interior materials must also be either cut and joined, or replaced to ensure the payload is held securely.

When the payload doesn’t fit comfortably in a standard case there are two options: buy a larger case that takes up precious cargo room, or go with a custom “cut and weld” case. If space is at a premium, ask Sierra Cases about this option.

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