Pelican 1400 Protector Case - A Customizable Waterproof Case for DJI Mavic Series Drones
I wanted to see if the Pelican 1400 Case was really waterproof, so naturally I threw it in the lake.
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DJI’s Mavic series of drones feature foldable arms and propellers that allow the drones to fit into small spaces when traveling. When you’re ready to fly the drone you can unfold the arms and extend the propellers in a matter of seconds, and off to new heights you go.
(The Mavic series of drones include recent products where DJI has dropped the word “Mavic” from the title, like the DJI Air 2S and the DJI Mini 2)
When you buy a Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic 2 Zoom, Mavic Air 2, DJI Air 2S, or DJI Mini 2, the basic drone packages don’t come with a case or a bag. DJI offers “Fly More” combo packages for Mavic series drones that typically include a soft bag (among other accessories), or you can buy a soft bag separately without the “Fly More” package.
DJI also sells a Mavic 2 Series Protector Case and a Mavic Air Series Protector Case for around $169, which are waterproof hard cases custom designed fit to both of those sizes of drone with their accessories.
I recently bought the DJI Air 2S and wanted a waterproof hard case. The DJI Protector cases are probably very nice with the custom fit foam, but I have used Pelican cases before and wanted to see if they had something similar, smaller, and/or cheaper.
After comparing some of the various Pelican cases available, I found the Pelican 1400 Protector Case would probably be the perfect size for DJI’s Mavic series drones. It is slightly smaller than the DJI Protector cases, and at around $94 is a lot cheaper.
The Pelican 1400 Protector Case allows you to customize the shape of the interior space by removing rows of squares with what they call “Pick N Pluck” foam. (Pick N Pluck is a trademark of Pelican Products, Inc.)
Obviously the included foam is not custom fit at the factory for the drone and the accessories like the DJI cases would be, but you can simply remove 1/2 inch foam squares as needed to fit whatever drone or gear you want to store in the case and it will accommodate just about any configuration you can imagine. As you can see in the image above the DJI Air 2S fit in the case nicely along with my phone (in case I want my phone in a buoyant dry box), a couple extra batteries, the remote, a box of DJI ND filters, and some extra propellers. The Mavic 2 Pro is only 1.34 inches longer than the Air 2S so if I wanted to use this case with that size of drone I could just remove another couple rows of foam squares to the left of the drone. As you can see there is a bit of extra space in my DJI Air 2S configuration.
The Pelican 1400 Protector Case is similar in size to the Phantom 4 Pro’s case but is a lot thinner:
The Pelican 1400 Protector Case on top of the Phantom 4 Pro case. You can see parts of the Phantom 4 Pro case underneath, showing how the Pelican 1400 case is slightly smaller.
A side view showing how the Pelican 1400 Protector Case is a lot thinner than the Phantom 4 Pro case.
The most important qualification for a suitable compact drone case is… can it fit on the back of a kayak? I am pleased to say the Pelican 1400 meets that important criteria.
The most important criteria for a compact drone case is: can it fit on the back of a kayak? The Pelican 1400 Protector Case passes this test with flying colors.
Of course if you’re kayaking with a drone in a case, it’s extremely important for the case to be watertight. Fortunately, the Pelican 1400 Protector Case is waterproof and can stay afloat while holding around 20 lbs of gear (the Mavic drones are generally around 2lbs or less).
The splash pattern created by the Pelican 1400 Protector case indicates that it is fun to throw stuff in lakes.
Overall I am happy with the size, price, and quality of the case. If I ever want to reconfigure the case for a different drone, I could order replacement foam for a fraction of the cost of a whole new case.
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