#InternationalSupplies

Regular TFB readers know me as the “Flying with Firearms” ( Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) subject matter expert, and it comes as no surprise to most folk here that I have logged hundreds of thousands of air-travel miles with my luggage.  While this is typically an uneventful process, over the years I have had gun cases subject to more rough handling than most individuals would wish upon their worst air-traveling enemy.  Given that I want my firearms (as well as my laptop, my sundry kit, my clothes, and whatever bottle of whiskey is in my bag) to arrive in one piece, I’ve also become very well-versed in the world of luggage selection.  Because of this experience, I was given the opportunity to review an Explorer Cases 5833.

Back in 2016 I stumbled upon EXPLORER Cases at SHOT and have stayed in contact with them ever since. I did a review of a case then as well as a padded gun case and backpack kit (which I think must have been a prototype for this kit). When this new case (and kit) came available they offered to send me one as a long-term demo, which I of course accepted.

Transport of our hardware and toys always involves a compromise. We end up spending hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on a rifle, or optics, or electronics, only to put it into a cheap nylon case. Or perhaps we buy a budget plastic box from Amazon (which it what I did with my GoPro cameras and accessories).

Okay, Tom, what the h!#$ is it? Well, honestly it threw me for a loop too when I first saw it at SHOT Show (this year). A number of entertaining comments, and even some pointers to similar products, were posted by you readers. That said, I still received one to actually spend some time with, and I found it to actually work pretty well.

Let’s be honest. Most of us get the cheesy required gun lock when we buy a gun.  And that cheesy lock gets chucked on a shelf (or in a bag), and we forget about it (until we sell it). And if we do actually install it on a gun, we find it is basically useless. The keyed locks are pathetic (I’m sure I could train a chimp to bypass one). And if it is the cable kind, you are going to have to leave your slide open and the gun won’t easily fit back in a holster, nor lay flat, etc. Then again maybe these things aren’t really that big of an issue… I still struggle with a use case that requires me to lock my gun using some sort of cable locking device.