How to Choose a Road Case

Whether you’re transporting instruments for a touring band, flat-screen TVs for a trade show, or medical equipment for disaster relief, Road Cases are the perfect solution for making sure your equipment makes it to your destination on-time and ready to perform.

At Road Cases, we offer a wide range of options in both standard sizes and custom-fit travel cases, which means we’re prepared to help protect and transport whatever equipment is essential to you.

On our website, we offer both standard and custom-case options. Standard fit cases include cable and utility trunks, and cases are designed to fit a variety of LCD TVs, which are more suited to a “one size fits all” solution. Custom-fit cases, on the other hand, are built to the exact dimensions of your particular item. Both types have their own qualities, depending on what you’re storing or transporting, and where and how you’ll be moving it.

In this article, we’ll take a look at case types, materials, and features to help you choose the right case, and take accurate measurements to ensure a perfect fit for your gear.

One Size Fits All

Our standard fit flight cases offer an easy solution for equipment that doesn’t require a specific or custom fit - for example, our utility & cable trunks. These robust cases come in a variety of standard sizes, such as a ¼ or ½ truck pack, and are configurable with multiple compartments inside.

This is an excellent option for organizing different types or lengths of cables. You can also leave the interior compartment open to stack microphone stands, smaller Pelican cases, or other equipment that can benefit from being consolidated for transport.

Standard-fit cases are also great for transporting flat-screen display cases, which we offer in standard sizes (ex: 61-70” screens) to keep them flexible. A standard-size case provides a higher degree of flexibility in transporting different types of screens that have similar dimensions. If, for example, a two-year-old display monitor is damaged in a trade show and has to be replaced with a newer model, our standard case could still be used with the more modern LCD TV rather than needing to be replaced as well.

When shopping for a standard-fit case or trunk, you should look at the interior dimensions to determine the right size for your cargo. We list the internal dimensions (ID) of all our standard-fit flight cases on our website so that you can easily compare cases and find the right size for whatever you need to transport.

A More Tailored Approach

In some situations, more specialized or valuable equipment can require a custom fit case - perhaps a standard case won’t fit its dimensions, or its shape requires custom foam to protect adequately.

Whatever is required, Road Cases can help design and build the perfect case for the job. We can provide a custom-fit, professionally-built, quick, and reasonably priced product for you. Our proprietary manufacturing process means that we can generally have a custom case completed in 10 business days, with rush orders completed in 3-5 business days, and sometimes within 24 hours.

Our custom cases can be built to fit whatever you need to transport. We’ve made countless cases to move expensive musical equipment, such as guitars and amplifiers, and we also regularly build cases for LED monitors, audio/visual mixers and equipment and racks, sporting equipment, artwork, signs, printers, etc. - we have even built a case to transport taxidermy!

Made to Measure

There are a few things we ask our customers to keep in mind when measuring any item for case compatibility. The most important is that the dimensions published online for any item are not always accurate, so we recommend taking any manufacturer’s dimensions as a starting point. Measure an item yourself to confirm those dimensions because, due to manufacturing tolerances and changes made to models from year to year, it’s always possible to find slight variations between published sizes and actual dimensions.

The most critical dimensions for any custom case are the maximum length, width, and height of the item. Since cases are almost always rectangles, these dimensions will determine the overall size of the case. For oddly shaped items, custom foam can be used inside to ensure a perfect fit. In this case, photos and extra dimensions (such as the difference in height between the front and back of a mixer with an angled front, for example) can help determine where we can place extra foam to help protect the case contents at all times. These details should be brought up during the design process so that we can compensate effectively. We also welcome customer drawings to help us design the perfect case for your item.

In addition to the maximum dimensions of your item, we ask that you include anything on the outside of the item that we might need to make a consideration for. For example, the power buttons, decks, and buttons and faders on a DJ controller, which protrude from the face of the controller body, would need to be accounted for when measuring to ensure enough room for them inside the controller case and accompanying stand.

Built to Last

Our cases are incredibly sturdy and are designed to stand up to whatever abuse they encounter so that their contents don’t. However, we know not all of our customers are flying, shipping, or transporting their cases in a semi-truck. That is why Road Cases offers different types of cases and crate materials to suit your needs. Whether you’re shipping a case, carrying it with you, or simply using it for storage at home, at work, or in a warehouse, we can build a case that will meet your unique needs.

The two primary considerations when choosing the right road case are the ply thickness of the outer material (plywood) and the type of internal material, which can be foam in various levels of thickness or carpet lining for lighter-duty cases.

When we build our cases, we use three basic categories - light-duty, signature, and heavy-duty. Our signature series cases are what we consider to be the standard flight case construction, which is a great custom case in most applications that we see. In addition to that, we offer an option at either end of the spectrum for more specialized case applications.

• “Light Duty” cases are designed mainly for storage and light, infrequent transport. They feature ¼” ply construction with a ¼” foam interior, surface mount hardware, flat corners, and custom upgrades that can be fitted, such as carpet lining interior or casters.
• “Signature” cases are our industry-standard case, designed for the rigors of the road. These feature ⅜” ply construction with a 1” foam interior, recessed hardware and ball corners, and can also be upgraded with casters or different types of foam to best protect what’s inside.
• “Heavy Duty” is our most robust case, featuring ½” ply construction with a 1” foam interior and recessed hardware and ball corners. This case would be best for any overweight items or any situation where the case would need to withstand extreme abuse.

We pride ourselves on offering the best cases in the business. From design to construction, we create the perfect travel case, no matter what the items or circumstances are. To get started on a custom case order or inquiry, email us at sales@roadcases.com or give our sales crew a call at 631-557-0000.