My name is Christophe, and I’m a compulsive organizer. Some of you might find that humorous, but I know many of you are shaking your heads in affirmation because you too just can’t stand having one tiny thing out of place. Fortunately for us, we have a support system—TrekPak.
I first started using TrekPak organizers a couple of years ago inside my Pelican ProGear Carry-on case and still do as my main camera hauler. In the time since I have applied their unique divider kits to a motorcycle tank bag and other hard-sided storage cases. It was only a matter of time before they made a kit specifically designed to work with my favorite toy chest, a 42-liter Alu-Box.
Like many of you I spent several years using Pelican’s famous Pluck and Pick foam inserts as my primary organizing solution. What seemed like the perfect product at the onset became annoyingly bulky and reduced the storage capacity of my cases by as much as 50 percent. By contrast, the TrekPak system protects my items with minimal loss of internal space. Better still, the modular system can be easily tweaked to accommodate a changing inventory of items. That’s something the Pelican foam can’t do as once it’s Picked and Plucked you’re stuck with the end result.
The TrekPak kit for the Alu-Box 42 comes with five primary components. The first is a pre-cut perimeter frame designed just for the case. That pairs to customizable divider panels which are easily and accurately cut with the included tool. Each divider is held in place with u-shaped metal pins. A thin sheet of dense foam pads the bottom.
From start to finish, I had my dividers cut and installed in less than 20 minutes. If you’re using your case to organize lots of small items, additional dividers and pins can be purchased for a small price. The one thing I intend to add to my kit is an additional layer of foam to the lid in the event my case gets placed on its side, or even upside down.
As much as I love my Alu-Box case, it has one radical flaw. The raw aluminum panels give everything they touch a gray smudge. For most things I portage, that’s not a big deal, but with the TrekPak dividers in place, everything on the interior is safe from the omnipresent gray residue. The other advantage of the system is the low weight. Adding the full divider kit comes at a weight penalty measured in grams. If like me, you can’t bring yourself to just lob everything willy-nilly in a box to rattle around, you need TrekPak inserts. If not for your Alu-Box 42, for one of the dozens of other storage solutions listed on their website. www.trekpak.com
