Hi!
I’ve been doing more traveling and I am looking for some permanent
units that I can pack all of my jewelry and table top booth stuff in.
I’m looking for:
I found what looks like a nice aluminum jewelry travel case at Nile
Corp. Any opinions? Suggestions?
Thanks!!!
Holly Gage
Check out pelican.com probably THE source for light weight, rugged
cases. They have an airline chart to show what case will be carry-on
or check-in. They have cases with all the above requirements other
than a TSA approved lock, youll have to provide that. Prices are sub
$200 for most of the cases that are of a decent size. and meet check
in requirements.
Good luck!
P@
I found what looks like a nice aluminum jewelry travel case at Nile Corp. Any opinions? Suggestions?
Those scream out, “steal me.” Go to Goodwill thrift store and buy a
nasty old suitcase.
Those scream out, "steal me." Go to Goodwill thrift store and buy a nasty old suitcase.
Yeah, for years I carried my work to art fairs (not on planes) in
the large flat box my flexshaft came in. Sturdy, a convenient
size/shape, and very unlikely to be picked out as valuable.
Eventually it died. Now I use a fabric tackle box. The plastic boxes
with dividers it came with are great for sorting earrings, etc,
though I had to cut out some partitions to make bigger sections
(VERY difficult to do-- that stuff is tough!) It is a Flembeau
Tackle Station. The most similar I see on line now is at Amazon,
Flambeau Outdoors 5005ST Tackle Station.
My favorite addition to this arrangement is a stack of flexible
two-sided… what to call them? Envelopes? They’re designed for
lures-- black plastic “fabric” covered on both sides with
assorted-sized zip-up clear vinyl pockets. Great storage for fairly
flat things like pins. They exactly fit my tackle bag. Sadly, I
cannot find more that are quite the same-- I bought them from
American Science & Surplus. I still remember the catalog description,
which read in part, “These are described as ‘worm-proof’. If you
don’t know what that means, don’t dwell on it.”
There are similar things to be found at tackle supply sites,
however.
And I’ve added a baking pan that just fits, for necklaces and other
things that cannot tolerate folding or compression.
Altogether, it is light, efficient, tough, and doesn’t remotely look
like a jeweler’s traveling case. I love it.
Noel
I use shallow glass topped table cases (shadow box frames) that are
16 x 20 inches, and I’d been looking for the perfect carrier for
those. I realized they fit into a standard wheeled suitcase. Of
course mine is soft sided, which is fine for shows, but not airplane
friendly. I’m on the lookout in thrift shops for a big old wheeled
Samsonite suitcase.
Janet Kofoed
http://users.rcn.com/kkofoed
Just an example, but at craft and sewing shops they have wheeled
suitcases of sorts with places to hold smaller containers, etc. which
works well and is also now hard on your back. People think in terms
of crafts not jewelry or even money so they’re probably less likely
to be stolen and will still look nice and give a good impression to
prospective clients, et al.
That said, our insurance provider recommends a locked box and a
security agent/person when our higher end clients are purchasing.
Kim Paluch
http://of-the-earth.org
I use the Flambeau tackle boxes also, and got mine at Wal-Mart. Any
big box store that carries sporting goods should have something
similar, as should any good fishing store. The tackle boxes are
wonderful as they have adjustable compartments already, and handles
for carrying… plus as Noel said they don’t look valuable. Who wants
a bunch of fishing hooks?
That doesn’t answer the question of how to carry your actual display
though, which I think was part of the original post.
I do conventions as part of my job with my husband’s business, and
we ship our display ahead, and only carry with us the small valuable
things that we aren’t comfortable shipping. If you are doing shows
you fly to, you might want to consider this instead of hauling your
display through the airport. Especially with the trend to charge per
checked bag… it makes the shipping become relatively cheaper.
There are, however, some commercially made displays that are quite
light and come with light cases on wheels, designed to be able to
check and fly with. They don’t include display cases that I am aware
of. The ones I have seen have table top displays, or floor displays,
and some have folding tables, but not actual display cases.
Beth in SC
I pack my work carefully and place it in a backpack that I wear. I
have found that is the best for me as the cases don’t scream ‘steal
me’. I have noticed lately that there are thieves at the checkpoints
in the airport so I am careful to make sure I do not have to be
manually scanned and have nothing to place loosely in a little bowl.
The jewelry I want to wear I place in a secure pocket of my backpack
and put it on after the security checkpoint. It has worked for me so
far but who knows for how long. It is scandalous what people will do
right under the noses of security.
I noticed Beth Rosengard’s post on the orchid bench exchange (p10,
if the link doesn’t work), and she shows her entire booth (quite
lovely, one of my favorites) and explains how whe packs the entire
thing in a single suitcase. May be helpful reading, even if not
entirely what you are looking for.
http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/BenchExchange/jeweler-bench-10.htm
Lisa W.
Thanks so much for the great storage ideas and advise. I guess some
of the jewelry and luggage options can be way too flashy and
“attention” getting and that is an aspect I didn’t think of. I also
didn’t think of the sporting goods route either.
Sincerely,
Holly