Hardigg Storm Case

I was planning to get a new watch winder when I had a change of plan. Why? I was surfing the Internet when I came across the popular Pelican cases. I have seen these cases before (not in person) and have read about it. I wanted to get one but could not find it here in Taiwan. I believe it was due to the fact that I did not know what the brand was in Chinese, thus limiting my search capabilities.

Anyway, I tried again and almost gave up (keep getting a local shipping company) when I tried a local auction website. Found some and manage to track it to a shop here in Taipei. Change of heart. It is cheaper as compared to the winder and I wanted one. So it was off to the shop.

Sadly when I got to the shop, I found out that although they had the Pelican cases, they did not carry the internal foam, both the hard foam or the Pick N Pluck foam. I asked the shop if they had any other case that came with the foam. They offered me the Hardigg Storm Case. The model I got is the smallest case they had which is the iM2050.

A bit OT, I do know that Pelican also have the iM2050 Storm case, but I do not know the difference between the two. They look the same. The only difference in that the Hardigg comes in 5 colours while the Pelican only comes with 3. A little search revealed that Pelican owns Hardigg.

Back to the case. They only had the yellow or the black version. I took the black. Some basic specifications of the case:

Model: Hardigg iM2050-00001

Interior measurements: 241 mm (l), 191 mm (w), 108 mm (h)

Exterior measurements: 299 mm (l), 248 mm (w), 119 mm (h)

Weight: 1.2 kg (empty)

MAterial: HPX Resin

Features:

Two Press & Pull Latches

Double-layered, Soft-grip handle

Two Padlockable Hasps

Vortex Valve

Powerful Hinges

Watertight

Dustproof

Colours: Black, Yellow, Gray, Orange or Olive Drab

Interior foam: Multilayer Cubed Foam

I like case. It feels well made (Made in USA) and well finished. However after a closer inspection, there is an issue with the finishing. More on that later.

As can be seen from the photographs, the case is well made. It is made from HPX Resin. It is all black. In fact the model number reflects the colours of the parts. iM2050-00001 can be broken down as follows: iM2050 is the model number, for the 00001, the first 0 indicates the case colour. The other options are as follows:

1 - Grey

2 - Yellow

3 - Olive Drab

4 - Orange

5 - Coyote (sand?)

The second 0 is the latch colour, 0 being black. The third 0 is the colour of the button and the forth 0, the colour of the Vortex Valve and the last number indicates the interior foam, with 0 - no foam, 1 - Multilayer Cubed Foam and 2 - Padded Dividers. Hence 00001 indicates black case, button, latch, Vortex Valve and Multilayer Cubed Foam.

The bottom of the case. Here is where the finish fails. You can see two scrub marks at each end of the box. I know it is at the bottom and normally you will not see it, but it is still a 'defect'.

The case have two latches. Unlike normal cases, the latches are located at the sides. The latches are of the Press and Pull design. I like the positive locking of the latches. At the side of the latches, you will find a hole. This is the Padlockable Hasps. You can see it in the photograph below, it is the hole on the left of the latch.

The latch in the open position. The latches are well made and strong. The latches are held in position by a 5 mm (diameter) metal pin.

A photograph of the latch locking tab. You can just see the metal pin.

The automatic Vortex Valve. This valve automatically adjust the air pressure within the case to the outside without letting in water or dust.

A closer view of the valve. There is a manual valve available as an option.

The lid of the box (inside view). We can see the convoluted lid foam. This helps to protect the items placed within the box.

At the base of the box (with the Multilayer Cubed Foam removed) we find a removable piece of foam. This provides additional protection to the items if it is thicker as compared to the Multilayer Cubed Foam.

The Multilayer Cubed Foam. Here we can see that I have removed some of the foam to make holes for the watches to sit in. The foam is divided into many individual cube foam pieces that can be removed individually. Each individual cube measure 1 cm by 1 cm. The foam is 5.5 cm thick. The holes measures 3 cm by 5 cm.

I would suggest you remove the entire foam from the box when you are 'cutting' the holes. It makes it easier to punch out the pieces. The removed pieces are shown below. The block measures 3 X 5 x 5.5 cm. There is no need to remove the cube individually.

The foam back in the box.

What to do with the removed pieces? Well you can either store it away (don't throw it away as you can reuse it to fill in the hole or make other cut-outs). You can reattach the pieces with common rubber cement. In my case I use it as the backing foam to hold the watch in place (also not to lose the pieces). If you choose not to use it as such, you can purchase pipe insulator (the black rubber tube you find on air-conditioning pipes) and use that as the watch backing.

The watches in place.

As you can see, I have plug the 6th hole as I am not using it. A closer view of the watches and how well they sit in the foam.

Another view.

Oh the watches; top row - my homage to the original Omega Seamaster 300, Stowa Airman No date No Logo COSC, a home assembled watch (parts sourced from Germany powered by an ETA 2801). The bottom row, The Omega Seamaster 300 Professional Chronograph and the Longines Legend Diver.

As you can see the watches are held very snug in the case.

Overall I have to say that I am happy with the case. It is well made and it meets the airline Carry-on Regulations, so I can use it as a watch transport case as well.

A final view of the case.

For more information:

http://www.stormcase.com/index.htm