What does everyone use for cases? (1 Viewer)

Zithras

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Just as the title says. What is everyone using for poker chip cases?

I've seen the $20 aluminum cases, and the $30 ABS plastic cases on sale on pretty much every site and Amazon, but the reviews say these are pretty flimsy. The 1000-chip boxes seem extremely awkward, and the only other option, the $70-100 wooden monstrosities look super heavy.

Are there no solid non-wooden poker chip cases available anywhere? Searching on google seems to imply not.

I did find someone mentioning a really solid Pelican poker chip case, but could not find any for sale.

Is the only real current solution to buy a new Pelican case and custom-cut the foam to fit poker chips (this seems difficult).
 
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Versa cases aren't too bad.
A lot of people like Pelican style cases.
Apache makes a pelican style for less money.
I love SRA cases...do a search on it with posts by me....
There's some good info and pics out there.
 
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How many chips are you transporting?
Changes what cases you should be looking for.
 
The apache cases are great for the money and come in fun colors
1618200225158.jpeg
 
In my limited experience, I prefer Versa over aluminum for the latches. I think I would definitely like the Apache, Pelican or Nanuk (sp?) cases, but I haven't used one yet. Guess I need to take a trip to Harbor Freight.
 
How much protection to you need? Apache cases are great but they are bulky and heavy. You could send them through airport baggage handlers and not worry. Versa cases are very nice. Light weight aluminum but built a lot stronger than the basic cheapo-china aluminum cases.
 
How much protection to you need? Apache cases are great but they are bulky and heavy. You could send them through airport baggage handlers and not worry. Versa cases are very nice. Light weight aluminum but built a lot stronger than the basic cheapo-china aluminum cases.
Racks fit in the Apache cases, not Versa. I use birdcages if I’m hosting here, but apaches if I’m traveling anywhere.
 
Also, just how durable do you need them to be?

I like the faux leather cases sold by George and Co. Here's a post I made with some links to Amazon: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/“ultimate”-poker-chip-set-at-costco.64592/page-2#post-1280879

They aren't super-sturdy but they aren't flimsy. I certainly don't have any concerns using them to transport chips in my car, for example, or to carry them in and out of someone's house. If you're going to be transporting a couple of thousand chips you'll want something that's both higher-capacity and sturdier, since large quantities of chips are heavy and heavy items need to be in durable luggage as they're prone to being dropped or roughly handled.

Pelican and Apache are specific brands of cases, but more generically any kind of case for delicate equipment such as photography or electronics should do just fine for carrying chips around, as any of them will be both protective and rugged. They'll have pick-and-pluck foam but that's pretty straight-forward to remove so as to fit your chip boxes or trays or what have you.

Versa brand cases are very sturdy and are specifically made for poker chips. I have one of their six-rack birdcages and like it. They also have a ten-rack birdcage, and flat cases of various sizes. I'm specifically thinking of the ones with large lever-action tensioned latches like this as opposed to smaller fold-over latches like this; I have a lot of confidence in the large latches, less so in the small ones (from any manufacturer).

Bear in mind that there are two types of cases for two different uses: one for storage and one for travel. Storage cases can be fancy, attractive, large, heavy, and awkward; they'll only be used for carrying chips around from room to room in your house, if even that. Travel cases should be sturdy, light, durable, and portable (and as big as necessary, but no bigger).
 
Pelican-style case set up to hold 800 chips. The far left side can accommodate IHC racks by removed an extra piece of foam if needed.

1618206708781.jpeg


EDIT: I use the above case strictly to transport my chips when bringing them to other games. At home my chips live on my living room bookshelf in casino-style chip racks (Paulson, Chipco, etc).

46E65E88-8723-4C77-A273-216DFDD2A68D.jpeg
 
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I have all of my chips in chip trays that are inside a tool drawer cabinet. Interesting to see these Apache and Pelican cases being used to transport chips. I like it.
 
Hmm thanks for the information and the pictures! I found the cheapo aluminum and Versa cases online easily before I made the thread (The Versa ones are the ones advertised as ABS plastic on Amazon I think), and I knew about Pelican in general (but wanted to avoid the cut-your-own-foam), Apache ones were new to me. I thought at first you mean the cases offered by Apache poker chips (which are the cheapo aluminum or the heavy wood ones), but following the link, the whole pick-apart-foam thing looks useful!

It's good to know that the Versa ones are less flimsy than stated by some of the Amazon reviews, and I'll pick those up to start. If i ever think I need to send chips through a beating (checked luggage) I'll definitely look into the Apache pick-apart-foam ones.
 
After seeing all this (admittedly very useful) improvisation, I'm surprised none of the chip resellers have sourced/started selling non-wooden cases a tier above the $30 VESA/$25 aluminium specifically for poker chips, considering the value of some of these sets now. The VESA cases seem fine for storage (ordered some off Amazon), but anything non-wooden and sturdy for 500+ chip sets seems to be more or less do-it-yourself (albeit quite easy with the Apache foam). Even something as simple as a resold Pelican case with pre-cut foam, or an Apache case pre-picked with some appropriately-sized wooden spacers would be nice to see for sale.

It's great that I now have some idea of what to do if I never need a sturdy case for shipping (Apache/Pelican + mods), but it's kind of annoying that I had to ask on a forum to figure out how to DIY, rather than having a premade travel-ready case available off Amazon, eBay, or even a poker chip reseller.

That toolbox carrier looks absolutely beautiful, but seems like it would be backbreaking to transport! The easiest route seems to be the Apache 5800. Even if you don't have enough chips to fill it yet, and could technically fit a collection into a smaller case, the 5800 has wheels, and a long handle for transport, which just makes everything easier.
 
I have a number of different cases that I use for all different kinds of hobbies: Pelican cases, Apache cases, bird cages, and versa cases.

Pelican is overkill for chips. Like I can put fragile things in laser cut custom foam in a pelican case and check them on a flight and be confident they are fine. I put stuff in them and threw them off my deck(which is about how I feel checked bags are handled) and was fine with it. Also, my cases are big enough that in a pinch I can sit/stand on them.

Apache cases are fine. Like knock off Pelican cases. The pluck foam is fine, but I don't find it to be overly easy to get the chips in/out of the cases. Being able to move racks is nice, but again, kinda hard sometimes to get stuff in/out of. Also, like for chip storage you can't see the chips. Good for moving especially like shipping/checking, not for 'seeing'.

Versa cases are something I'm somewhat new to but have 4 of the 500 chip cases. Even without removing the section for cards/dice they can fit a bit over 500 so I use spacers to do reach row as 2x20 and 2x5 for easy pulling chips out. No racks, no visible storage, easy to move around. In our game we need a way to easily access half of the chips(playing craps) so we have that sitting open by the dealer and it works really well. I have my 1000 piece craps set in 2 of these and when I upgrade it to 2000 pieces I'll use 4 of these cases. I've only used the ones that fold open, not the ones you unlatch and pull the top off of.

Bird cages are where I started with a single 1000 chip case. GOD that was heavy. Like it's not that heavy, but it's kinda awkward in size as it's basically a cube, and then it does have some weight to it so it can be hard to carry for longer distances. Being visible is REALLY nice for storage. Also, can use normal racks, wooden racks, matsui racks, all nice. I've recently switched over to using lots of 400 chip bird cages and am really happy with that. Most of my sets are 7-800 chips so I use two bird cages and I can have on in each hand to 'balance myself' and I find that works really well and is a nice compromise. I would NOT want to move something in a birdcage a long distance. Everything would/does rattle and it's entirely too fragile. Good for 'moving from one room to another' or maybe 'to the car, over to a friends and then from the car into their house'.
 
I’ve been making good with the Versa style cases, but recently seen these Slowplay cases seem to look very interesting.
I've wanted to get one of those myself but last I checked they were out of stock everywhere. If anyone knows where I can get one, or would like to sell me one, please let me know.
 
It's great that I now have some idea of what to do if I never need a sturdy case for shipping (Apache/Pelican + mods), but it's kind of annoying that I had to ask on a forum to figure out how to DIY, rather than having a premade travel-ready case available off Amazon, eBay, or even a poker chip reseller.
At least some vendors are listening to you! I've seen a number of poker sets on Amazon that come in a Pelican-style case. Here's one example but there's others as well. It comes with a bunch of crappy chips you'll have to throw away, mind you...
 
I use:
  • Pelican knockoff Pros: sturdy as you will find anywhere. Cons: Bulky, taking up extra storage space.
  • Bird Cages Pros: easy to transport room to room. Clear, so chips can be seen. Cons: not super-sturdy, would be reluctant to use for a game outside of the home.
  • Aluminum cases Pros: Cheap. Cons: Cheap.
  • Cherry wood case Pros: Beautiful, so it stays in the living room. Cons: I don't have a lot of faith in the handles given the loaded weight, so it's rarely transported.
No one case will suit everybody. You just have to go with your needs.
 
I like to have my chips on display at home. Right now they're just in racks on a bookshelf. But I saw someone on here used display boxes for watches that holds 5 racks, which I might check out.

For transporting chips I just bought an apache case.
 
I have a number of different cases that I use for all different kinds of hobbies: Pelican cases, Apache cases, bird cages, and versa cases.

Pelican is overkill for chips. Like I can put fragile things in laser cut custom foam in a pelican case and check them on a flight and be confident they are fine. I put stuff in them and threw them off my deck(which is about how I feel checked bags are handled) and was fine with it. Also, my cases are big enough that in a pinch I can sit/stand on them.

Apache cases are fine. Like knock off Pelican cases. The pluck foam is fine, but I don't find it to be overly easy to get the chips in/out of the cases. Being able to move racks is nice, but again, kinda hard sometimes to get stuff in/out of. Also, like for chip storage you can't see the chips. Good for moving especially like shipping/checking, not for 'seeing'.

Versa cases are something I'm somewhat new to but have 4 of the 500 chip cases. Even without removing the section for cards/dice they can fit a bit over 500 so I use spacers to do reach row as 2x20 and 2x5 for easy pulling chips out. No racks, no visible storage, easy to move around. In our game we need a way to easily access half of the chips(playing craps) so we have that sitting open by the dealer and it works really well. I have my 1000 piece craps set in 2 of these and when I upgrade it to 2000 pieces I'll use 4 of these cases. I've only used the ones that fold open, not the ones you unlatch and pull the top off of.

Bird cages are where I started with a single 1000 chip case. GOD that was heavy. Like it's not that heavy, but it's kinda awkward in size as it's basically a cube, and then it does have some weight to it so it can be hard to carry for longer distances. Being visible is REALLY nice for storage. Also, can use normal racks, wooden racks, matsui racks, all nice. I've recently switched over to using lots of 400 chip bird cages and am really happy with that. Most of my sets are 7-800 chips so I use two bird cages and I can have on in each hand to 'balance myself' and I find that works really well and is a nice compromise. I would NOT want to move something in a birdcage a long distance. Everything would/does rattle and it's entirely too fragile. Good for 'moving from one room to another' or maybe 'to the car, over to a friends and then from the car into their house'.
This says just about everything that needs to be said, in my opinion, and says it very well.
All I would add is that my personal favorites are the old Paulson cases, because 1) they're low profile briefcase-style cases, which I prefer, and 2) because they're sized to hold paulson chips, so a row of 50 actually holds exactly 50 mint paulsons. The downside is that they're hard to find, and when you do find one, it's usually the 400 or 500 chips size, which are a bit small for a proper set. I've never gotten my hands on one of the 1,000 chip cases, so I'm not sure if they're built well enough to actually carry 1,000 chips, but if anybody comes across one, please send it my way!!
 

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