Pelican Case 915 & 945 (1 of 9)

Out of the blue I received 2 Pelican memory card cases in the mail. I’m not 100% sure who sent them or how they got my address. There was no note attached or any other information. Just a Pelican 0945 CF card case and a Pelican 0915 SD card case in a small box. I’ve had a few issues with Pelican memory card cases in the past and I’d made the switch to a different brand of CF card case as well as a different brand of SD card case.

The only thing I can think of is that my discussion with the Pelican vender about cracking plastic at NAB prompted a delayed response. Or I suppose some vender could have simply made the mistake of sending them out. So to whoever sent me these card cases, thanks, I’ll give Pelican card cases another chance.

Pelican Case 915 & 945 (2 of 9)

Setting the Pelican 0945 CF case next to the Vanguard CF case I normal use, you’ll immediately notice the size difference. I’m not sure what the Vanguard case is made out of, but it feels a bit more substantial in the hand than the Pelican case. That of course isn’t necessarily a true mark of quality, but it is a reassuring feeling. Although lighter, the Pelican case does include a clip ring that the Vanguard case is missing. Having several hundred dollars worth of memory cards dangling from the outside of a camera bag or backpack doesn’t sound like a great idea to me, but I could see how it might be useful in some situations.

Pelican Case 915 & 945 (3 of 9)

Both card holders suport 6 CF cards but each scures the cards differently. The Vanguard CF case uses a hard plastic “snap in” holder, while the Pelican CF case uses foam padding. Not sure how well the foam padding will last under rigorous use, but it’s a little gentler on the CF cards then the hard plastic snap in system. The latch on the Vanguard CF case (left) is a push button release, while the Pelican CF case (right) uses a snap lock flip over tab. The flip over tab is a little more secure and you won’t need to worry about a push button being triggered in your bag. That said, I normally store my CF cards in a thin sleeve which doesn’t provide any room for the case to actually pop open.

Pelican Case 915 & 945 (4 of 9)

One thing the Pelican CF case excels at is water proofing. As you can see above, there is a thick rubber gasket surrounding the entire opening of the card case. The Vanguard CF case provides a small lip of plastic around the opening, but there isn’t any water proof seal. If you work in extreme conditions or plan to take your memory cards out with you for events involving water, this is probably the biggest reason to consider a Pelican CF case.

Pelican Case 915 & 945 (7 of 9)

There isn’t much different when looking at the Pelican SD case, it’s the same exact case as the CF version with a different foam insert. This could actually be a problem if you carry around both types of card in the same bag. From the outside there isn’t really any good way to tell the difference. It’s probably a good idea to stick some kind of label on them so you know which one is which. Maybe a wacky eyeball sticker scheme could be employed, angry eyes equals SD cards and bloodshot eyes equals CF cards.

The SD card case I normally use only holds 8 cards, while the Pelican case holds 12. Memory cards feel a little more secure in the rubber padding used in the SD card case (left) while the Pelican’s foam insert still feels a little cheap. Again there’s a sizer difference and my normal SD card case (left) feels more substantial than the Pelican case (right).

Since both the Pelican 0945 CF card case and the Pelican 0915 SD card case showed up free of charge, I’ll give Pelican another shot. I have a pretty heavy filming schedule next month so I’ll be dragging these two cases along to see how well they hold up. If I remember maybe I’ll post a follow up road test at the end of next month to let you know how well they worked out.

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