Last week, when I was sick and quarantined with strep (again), I watched through the end of Star Trek Discovery Season 2 and spotted a neat-looking tubular-shaped tool box.
There was another movie or show I watched recently that also featured a round tool box.
These tool boxes reminded me of the Ridgid Pro Tube tool box, which seems to have been discontinued. I have one of these, although it’s in storage since I could never find a good place for it.
Round tool boxes are neat in concept, and a little more comfortable to carry, but they can’t be stacked and have less storage capacity than rectangular tool boxes with the same footprint.
Still, the tool/equipment case in Star Trek Discovery warranted a closer look.
There’s a long top handle and a rather comfortable-looking side handle.
The handles, overall geometry, and the latches convinced me it’s definitely not the Ridgid. So, I dug deeper.
It turns out, with reasonable certainty, that it’s an HPRC 6200 case, which is available empty, with cubed foam on both sides, or internal protections for carrying photo/video tripods or other similarly-sized gear.
HPRC describes the resin construction as being made from a special blend of “polypropylene TTX01,” glass fiber, and rubber.
The HPRC case is watertight, impact-resistant, and also resistant to dust, moisture, sand, and acids. It can be used in temperatures from -40°F to 176°F.
It features reinforced corners, an automatic air pressure equalization valve, two-phase latches, and internal O-ring.
HPRC describes their case as being unbreakable.
This isn’t just a prop, it’s quite possible the exact case that a Star Trek medic might use for an away mission first aid kit, or an engineer for a warp core maintenance tool kit.
The problem with using something like this as a tool box, instead of a tripod or equipment case, is in taking advantage of the lid space. Ridgid’s has/had a large tray that sits on top of the main compartment and extends into the lid. The HPRC doesn’t have that structuring built-in, although accessories or custom structures could be installed to make it work.
The case is priced at $189 empty or with cubed foam, or $267 with tripod protection padding (less via distributors). HPRC makes a larger-sized case, 6300, with wheels.
More Info(6200 Case via HPRC)
Buy Now(Tripod-Padded Case via Amazon)
See More(Other HPRC Cases via Amazon)
See Also(Longer 6300 Case via Amazon)
