Designing a custom carrying case is mostly a specification exercise. Get the dimensions, the materials and the interior layout right and everything else follows. Here is the order we work through it with customers, whether the case is protecting camera equipment, laptops, tools or medical devices.
1. Assess what the case has to do
Start with the equipment itself: what goes in, how many pieces, and how often the case will be opened and moved. A case that ships twice a year has different requirements from one that lives in the back of a service van. These factors set the size and the feature list before you look at a single material.
2. Choose the shell
The shell determines how much abuse the case can absorb. Blow Molded cases are one-piece and double-walled, so shock absorption is built into the shell. Thermoformed cases are lighter and come in the widest range of standard footprints. Heavy Duty Watertight cases are the answer when the case has to be sealed against water and dust. Soft Sided cases are the lightest option when the contents are not fragile.
3. Plan the interior layout
Decide how the contents are separated before you decide how they are cushioned. Group items by how often they are needed, keep heavy pieces low and central, and leave room for the accessories that always turn up late in the process — cables, batteries, spare media, documentation.
4. Pick the foam
Foam does the actual protecting. Polyethylene is dense and durable and suits heavier items; polyurethane (ester) foam is softer and better for fragile or awkwardly shaped equipment. Our guide to choosing custom foam inserts covers the trade-off in detail, and how foam is cut explains which cutting method suits which run size.
5. Select the features
Handles, shoulder straps, wheels and retractable pull handles, lockable latches, pressure-equalization valves, hot-stamped or printed logos. Add what the job needs and leave out what it does not — every feature adds cost and weight.
6. Confirm the size against a standard
Before committing to custom tooling, check whether a standard size will do. There are more than 100 standard sizes across the four case families, and using one means no custom mold charge. Send us the dimensions and we will tell you the closest match. See all carrying cases for the size charts.
7. Review before you commit to a run
Check the fit with the actual equipment, not a drawing. Confirm the case is comfortable to carry loaded, that the lid clears everything, and that the foam holds the contents without forcing them. It is far cheaper to change a foam layout at this stage than after a production run.
Not sure where to start?
Send us the dimensions of what you are protecting, a photo or a drawing. We will recommend a case family, a size and a foam interior that suits it.