so my cheapo hard case finally gave up after like 8 months. the latch on the side just snapped clean off at the airport last week and i was honestly terrified the whole flight home that it was gonna pop open in the cargo hold. miraculously everything survived but i cant keep rolling the dice like that.

im flying a mini 3 pro mostly, sometimes bring extra batteries and my nd filter set so i need something that fits all that without being a massive pain to carry. ive been looking at the pelican 1510 because everyone seems to swear by it but that price tag is kind of rough. does anyone use the apache cases from harbor freight? saw some people online saying theyre basically the same foam just cheaper but i dunno if id trust my gear to that.

also if anyone has a good way to organize the foam inserts without it looking like a total mess id love to hear it, mine always ends up with stuff shifting around anyway

the apache cases are genuinely fine, ive dropped mine off a truck bed and the drone was totally okay. the foam is a little firmer than pelican so cutting it yourself is actually easier in some ways. only real downside is the hinges feel slightly cheaper but after two years mine still closes perfectly. for the price difference its kind of a no brainer unless you need the TSA lock for checked luggage which the pelican does better.

for foam organization i just youtube'd "pick and pluck foam tutorial" and spent an afternoon on it, came out pretty clean. the trick is to go slow and use a marker to trace everything first before you pull any foam out

i just use a backpack honestly, one of the lowepro ones. probably not the answer you want but for the mini 3 it fits fine and way easier going through security than a hard case. havent had any damage yet but i also baby it pretty hard so maybe not the most useful comparison lol