I’ve been running into a slightly annoying problem lately and curious how others handle this.
I tend to carry small electronics projects between home, office, and sometimes to meetups — things like assembled PCBs, dev boards, probes, and small test gear.
Right now I mostly use anti-static bags and throw everything into a plastic toolbox, but it’s honestly not ideal:
– Boards slide around
– Headers/connectors get bent
– Cables turn into a mess
– Occasionally something arrives not working
Pelican-style cases seem nice but feel like overkill (and heavy) for small projects.
I’ve thought about foam inserts or some kind of custom organizer, but haven’t tried it yet.
Curious what people here use in practice:
Do you just DIY foam? Use camera cases? Something else entirely?
I use a lot of snap cases from Micheal’s but don’t exactly had problems with things breaking off. They can come in 2 and 3 levels but you dot have to use them all or add infinite numbers.
If I have stuff with a lot of wiggle, I tend to glue, tape, etc to something stable even if it’s just cardboard. Then I put it into a anti static bag which is bigger so when I fold it up, it’s a cushion on the board and around other things.
For smaller stuff, I sometimes use Really Useful Box brand with some basic ESD foam to sandwich stuff between the bottom and lid. They offer a large selection of sizes.
Embrace the camera bag / pelican case / nanuk case (I’m partial to Nanuk myself). Then I just use the customizable cubed foam inserts. You just have to give up thinking everything will fit in a backpack. If everything is in a hard case, then you can be more care free about tossing everything into a duffle bag.
If it’s a professional context, I often get acrylic or aluminum sheet laser cut to mount PCBs to. Then add some small stick-on rubber feet to the bottom of the plate. This makes handing things around at a demo, moving them around on desks, etc care free (also don’t need to worry about ESD desk surfaces or scratching a desk). If needed, a 3D printed top shell gets added.
This is a fun topic and I’m happy to keep it, but the user was most definitely a spammer from a camera storage bin company using a stolen image. Ah, the wonders of AI…
Hah I never even got the image on my end. Not exactly the most technical question but until I have a teleporter I have transport things the traditional way…. In a series of plastic tubes apparently.
Tab locking mailer boxes come in all sorts of sizes and are quite robust if you get one made from heavier corrugated stock. I have a white box that I first started using when I commuted weekly by plane to the client site during a project. It’s a decade later and I still use that particular box from time to time when I travel.
They hold up fairly well, are lightweight, and are easy to pop open and close.
If you order from PCBWay, chances are you received shipments in such a box – although their boxes are not as heavy duty.
I use anti-static bags, anti-static bubble wrap, and smaller boxes to separate items that go into the big box.
If you have a need to pack and unpack a PCB quickly, you can take a smaller box and line the box with antistatic foam. You can buy the really nice ESD boxes, but they are pricey.
BTW, if you are at an amusement park and are not embarrassed about intercepting/salvaging an item headed for the waste stream, I’ve found the plastic lunch boxes that are used to serve kids’ meals are really useful.
I discovered this while feeding my kids during park visits. While many families kept the boxes are souvenirs, plenty of them were headed straight for the trash bin. I grabbed 7. Should have grabbed more!
I’m honestly ok with deleting the thread as it got started as spam.
I was going to reply to the original post that I regularly carry tons of that gear in just ESD bags, and I’ve almost never had the kind of damage they’re describing. Once in a LONG while, I’ll get a bent pin, but that’s easily bent back. Are they actively hitting every pothole as they’re driving?
I agree fun topic. I have an assortment of these hard shell EVA cases and I typically pack one individual board inside, sometimes 2 with a foam separator. I simply don’t care about ESD when I’m moving boards around, I’m building prototypes, not things that should last a lifetime.
