Editor’s Choice Video—Overland Hard Case Testing

Some people have an innate ability to learn their lessons from the wise words and experiences of others. As I gazed at the half-empty plastic storage case on my roof with a bewildered stare, I couldn’t help but wish I was one of those people. How long had it been open? For 10 miles, 30, 100? It was impossible to say. Remnants of the broken front latch still clung to the box, shattered by whatever debris had hit it at 75 mph. Inside, I observed the sad and soggy array of my remaining damp clothes and camp supplies that still clung to the bottom of the bin. Everything else was gone, and if I wanted it back, I’d need to backtrack. My stomach churned as I did the math. It could have happened anywhere between here and my last fuel stop nearly 200 miles ago. In the middle of the night, during a West Texas storm that was 200 miles too many.

Losing half my supplies on a cross-country trip was a hard lesson as a college student, but it’s one I have never forgotten. It changed how I saw cargo cases, from just a box to throw stuff into to a critical barrier between the environment and the items we count on. After all, losing a few rock band shirts and some Walmart camp gear is just a funny story, but the loss of emergency equipment in a winter storm or critical supplies on a backcountry trip wouldn’t be a laughing matter. If you’ve got supplies worth protecting, sometimes “good enough” just isn’t. Over the years, I’ve tried and tested all shapes and sizes of cases like the Alubox to find the best results. I’ve found a few I love, but the number of purpose-built options today is greater than ever before. I’m making my cargo case crusade official, pitting a selection of the best overland hard case models head-to-head testing to see how they stack up.

To read the full article, go to Overland Journal to get your copy or visit 9 Best Hard Storage Cases for Overlanding.