Nice field box!

[JRThro]

Hi, all,

I wanted to share a good hand-carryable portable storage solution that I found recently (at Lowe's, I think, for about $16).

Here's a link at amazon.com, where it's priced at $19.95: https://tinyurl.com/ktnlcl

It's the Stanley Deep Professional Organizer. It has 10 compartments that can be rearranged the way you want. 8 are smaller compartments and 2 are larger. The smaller compartments are *exactly* the right width to hold 2.75" 18 or 24 mm motors lying down, and they're also deep enough to hold 2.75" motors standing on end. I'm sure they're more than 3" deep, but probably not as deep as 3.75". I wouldn't be surprised if twenty 18 mm motors fit in each small compartment lying down.

I'll have mine with me at our club's scheduled launch in Needville, TX, next weekend.

(I'll also have my Neubauer Rockets 1/396th Saturn 1B, my 4-motor cluster scratch rocket *with* a launch lug on it, and other things to fly.)

 

[o1d_dude]

Corrected link... Stanley Field Box

I have one of these that I bought a Lowe's a few years back for about $15. They can be purchased at Target as well at a similar price. The internal dividers are actually individual containers that can be rearranged to suit our/your needs.

OD sez check it out.

 

[Chrisn]

Those stanley organisers are perfect for small parts like screws, orings, circlips and other bits and peices. Easy to take a tray out and hold it up close to find the bit you need.

 

[gpoehlein]

Oh, yeah - you can cram a LOT of motors in one of those. (There was a thread about these on the old TRF that got me started with them.) I have two - one holds all my 13mm and 18mm Estes motors and the other holds my 24mm Estes and my Quest motors.

 

[troj]

My 5 year old could empty that first box in under an hour.... Three rockets, and he flies 'em faster than I can prep 'em! (He knows how to put them on the pad, use the controller, etc -- I sit by the controller, do prep work, and keep hold of the safety key)

BTW, I love the wads of wadding "carefully" wadded into the compartments in the lower right!

-Kevin

 

[JRThro]

Corrected link... Stanley Field Box

I have one of these that I bought a Lowe's a few years back for about $15. They can be purchased at Target as well at a similar price. The internal dividers are actually individual containers that can be rearranged to suit our/your needs.

OD sez check it out.

Thanks for correcting the link. I've also fixed the tinyurl link in my original post.

The individual containers are what I think is so neat about these boxes, instead of having the movable dividers that I've seen in other boxes like the one in the photos that gpoehlein posted. Also, the one I have is at least 1/2" deeper than that one.

 

[jadebox]

Harbor Freight has a similar box for about $15.

https://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93927

HF also has similar boxes in other sizes. The boxes stack well. I use them for all the little parts I store and carry to launches.

-- Roger

 

[Verna]

I love Harbor Freight!

The case looks very interesting as a motor box and I can see it working short term like for a day or week but I do have one question.

I have always assumed that it was better to keep motors sealed in their original blister packages until time to use, in order to keep humidity from affecting them. Is that wrong? Does it matter if engines are not hermetically sealed? I understand about temperature cycling, different subject altogether.

We have some very old motors that go back to 1972 that we have occassionally used when flying on our own away from a club launch that flew fine, no problems, and I have to wonder if they would have done as well if they had been loose in a range box or storgage for 37 years.

Opinions please.

Verna

 

[DexterLB]

Great box! Thanks for the link, I'll check if it's present in some local shops like Praktiker, if not, I'll purchase it

 

[mjennings]

Verna, I don't know how hermetical sealed I would considered engine packs, the front plastic is probably pretty impermeable but the glue and the cardboard backing will fail over time. I snagged some 13 mm boosters from a hobby shop in the old Cobra packaging and the glue was barely still holding it on.

Think I'll be running to Lowes soon

 

[Green Arrow]

Nice box.... I have a couple I have to get organized at home with.

Stanley makes a rolling tool box called Fat Boy that would make an awesome launch field box.

 

[MarkII]

Verna, I don't know how hermetical sealed I would considered engine packs, the front plastic is probably pretty impermeable but the glue and the cardboard backing will fail over time. I snagged some 13 mm boosters from a hobby shop in the old Cobra packaging and the glue was barely still holding it on.

Think I'll be running to Lowes soon

Some 15 yr. old A10-0T and A3-0T packs that I have are like that, too. The plastic bubble is barely holding on to the cardboard backing now.

When I break open a pack of BP motors now, I put them into little zip-lock parts bags before putting them into my traveling motor boxes (the boxes that I take to launches). In the crafts section of Walmart, you can find packs of such bags for $1.98. They have the bags in three sizes; all packs are the same price, regardless of the size of the bags. None of the sizes is a perfect fit for the motors (there is some excess in the mid-sized bag, which has the best fit) but at that price, I'm not complaining. I'm on the hunt for 1" x 3" reclosable parts bags, though. These would be pretty close to the perfect size for individual 18mm motors.

I leave all of my reloads unopened in their original packages until I am ready to assemble the motor.

MarkII

 

[Peartree]

I'm on the hunt for 1" x 3" reclosable parts bags, though. These would be pretty close to the perfect size for individual 18mm motors.

MarkII

Have you looked here?

https://www.uline.com/Grp_5/Poly-Bags-Reclosable

Not exactly 1 x 3 but there's a lot to choose from.

 

[MarkII]

Have you looked here?

https://www.uline.com/Grp_5/Poly-Bags-Reclosable

Not exactly 1 x 3 but there's a lot to choose from.

Yes. In fact, for some reason, out of the blue, they sent me their latest catalog last winter. I have no idea why. But it was a serendipitous move on their part, because I see tons of really interesting stuff in there. The reclosable poly bags are one such item. Lots of possibilities there, but, alas, no 1 x 3's. The search continues...

MarkII