A couple of months ago I (Caleb) purchased a new case for traveling. After hours of research, + wife approval, I decided to go with the Pelican 1514. For starters, anyone who has seen/felt/held a Pelican case will attest to the raw quality of these cases. They aren’t “pretty” like our Kelly Moore Camera Bags, but they mean business. Pelican says the cases are unbreakable, rated -10 degrees to 210 degrees, watertight, airtight, dust-proof, chemical resistant, corrosion proof, + come with Pelican’s “unconditional guarantee of excellence”.  The guarantee of excellence states “You break it, we replace it … forever” (just know that the guarantee doesn’t cover shark bite or bear attack, haha!) Sweet! As if that wasn’t enough, the case is just as practical as it is rugged. The case comes with dividers + storage compartments, has a handle + wheels for easy transport, + meets the current FAA requirements for Carry on luggage. Perfect!

Now that we have the case + are traveling, I decided to put it to the ultimate test (Maison may have challenged me!). I was trying to convince her I could fit everything I needed to shoot back to back weddings in my two carry on items to avoid the suitcase charge (gear in the Pelican case and clothing/computer/external hard drive in my backpack).

The Test: Fit all of the gear necessary to shoot an entire wedding day in the Pelican case (minus light stands).

It took a lot of manipulation, but I managed to get to the point where everything started to fit. (Maybe it’s the packaging engineer in me coming out after my brother’s graduation last weekend?—he’s a packaging engineer).

Results: I managed to fit all of the gear necessary to shoot an entire wedding day without worry or hesitation. However, I had to sacrifice the 50mm 1.2 L.

Pelican case contents:

Canon 5D Mark III

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM

Canon 85mm f/1.2L II USM

Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

(2x) Canon 580EXII

(6x) CF Cards

(6x) Canon Rechargeable Batteries

(16x) Sanyo Eneloop AA Rechargeable Batteries

Vello FreeWave Plus wireless trigger

Watson Duo LCD Charger (Holds 2 camera batteries)

Powerex MH-C800S Charger (Holds 8 AA or AAA batteries)

All in all, I am very satisfied with the amount of content I was able to fit in the Pelican 1514 case. It is quickly becoming a staple for holding our gear. We can trust the Pelican name (heaven forbid it gets bit by a shark) + rest easy knowing our gear is safe if we get caught in the rain!

Thankfully we don’t have to just travel with the Pelican case. It is so hard to leave our “nifty” 50mm f/1.2L lens sitting on the sidelines! I know I will probably get a lot of grief (+ already have from Maison!) for choosing to sit this lens out over others, but it’s all a matter of personal preference! : ) That being said, no matter what gear you decided to pack, on a whim this case has the ability to hold all of the gear you need to safely shoot back to back destination weddings + avoid having to pay the nasty luggage fee (or have to worry about not being able to carry on all of your gear).