Carrying Case Suggestions for Minelab CTX 3030

[califteacher]

I am picking up my new Minelab CTX 3030 tomorrow. I am wondering if anyone has advice on the best quality carrying case that fits this machine. It makes sense to invest some bucks in a carrying case that will protect my $2,000 investment. In looking around, I naturally see the Minelab Super Delux online ($60) and Kellyco is offering their "Big Brute Padded Carrying Bag" ($79) among others. It is hard to see much in the small photos online, therefore I am turning to those who might already have solved this probelm. While a hard case would be nice, they don't seem to be readily available, so I am looking for a quality padded bag.

As an aside, I have to share my story in buying this unit. I have had a Garrett GTI 2500 in the closet for years. I recently retired from teaching and want to get back into metal detecting. I found a nearby dealer online and called for some advice regarding possible upgrades to the GTI. I stopped by his shop last week so that I could say hello in person. As my wife and I were getting out of the car, I told her, "Don't worry, I'm not going to buy anything, I just want to say hello." A half hour later, I walked out of the shop, having just spent $2,000+ on a Minelab CTX3030--Boy, was I in shock! I give my wife credit for being supportive--she agreed that if I was foolishly going to spend my time detecting, I might as well have a modern unit.

Thajks for your help! This is my first post, and I may not be doing it 100% correctly...

 

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[CurlysGold]

Your wife is awesome!! That is all sir.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Not sure if this is what you want, but a hard sided golf bag works perfectly. I'm talking about the ones you put golf clubs in to travel on the airlines. I have 2 of them and use them often.

 

[Mzjavert]

The golf case is a great idea. Something I never would have thought of.

I've used Pelican cases in a variety of jobs and they are tough as nails. Pelican Airline Safe Shipping & Carrying Cases - prices & models

 

[JonS]

Weird, I literally just made a suggestion to the gentlemen that run Milspecgear that they should make a CTX carry bag. The Minelab bag isn't a good fit and all the accessories of the CTX mean it would be a good candidate for a custom bag that had a lot of room and good padding. No reply to my suggestion yet...

 

[bushwhacker07]

Lookin into buying a case myself here are a few options I came up with
1. Bow and aroww case (some even airline approved) Amazon.com: 40" Archery Hard Bow Case: Sports & Outdoors

2.A hard gun case some are shaped like a long rectangle for two rifles, some also airline approved. Amazon.com: Sportlock Aluminumlock Series Tactical Case: Sports & Outdoors

3. Golf case was a very good idea I hadnt thought of that one. kuddos on that one

4. found a garrett case they dont have on website looks like a good soft case Garrett Soft Case, Universal 5 Pocket Metal Detector Carry Bag (Digital Camouflage) | Shop | Features | Reviews | MetalDetector.com

on the gun case or bow case you might have to buy some extra of that egg crate foam to customize to your detector or needs, but could easily be done. Only downfall is that coil would have to be removed but I dont see it as a deal breaker. Where I think it would come in handy when a guy might be able to squeeze two detectors into gun/bow case if he wanted too. Im new to this but from what I can tell is that you cant just have one machine anyway, so makes sense to have one case big enough for 2 detectors, and besides when not detecting I can use it for gun case. I dont golf so I dont have any clubs thats why I kinda went away from that direction good idea though BTW those links are just to give you idea, might need to do a little more looking or research for the length or your needs. Im open to any and all suggestions. thanks
Happy hunting

 

[beerguy]

Bumping this thread, I just ordered a Pelican 1700 case for travel and storage for my CTX. Also ordered a Nichrome wire to make a foam cutter to do a good job on the foam. I will post pics of the project here, but it looks to be pretty simple.

 

[Northeaster]

Here my SKB hard shell case

Still a work in progress.. since added my GG headphone and a few small black bags carrying tools and supplies.
Also my new backpack / harness rig fits in the case nicely as well.

<a href="http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/atvjumpers/media/20160129_203816_resized_zps1gmv4br6.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af225/atvjumpers/20160129_203816_resized_zps1gmv4br6.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20160129_203816_resized_zps1gmv4br6.jpg"/></a>

 

[beerguy]

Nice work, Northeaster. I like the idea of using bags for the smaller parts. I had templates for the charger cables, etc. I will find a small pouch or container to use...

 

[beerguy]

I got my Pelican 17000 case last week, so I cut the foam today. Here are some pics, since I made the foam cutter it was a larger job than it would have been otherwise.

First off, I bought a 50 foot roll of nichrome wire. 7 bucks off of Amazon. I use some scrap pieces that I had laying around and built a base. This is what I ended up with.

The silver bar on top is a bus bar that I had, it is tin plated copper. A good conductor that was shaped right.

 

[beerguy]

Next I got a box of wall warts, (everybody has these, right?) and started the alchemy. I was shooting for 20 watts of power or so, based on some posts that I have seen on this type of thing. I found one supply that gave me 24 VAC at 1.25 Amps, and it was a bit big. My wire glowed very red/white and snapped. Too much current. SO I found another that was 12 VDC at 1.25 Amps, and this made it glow, but it did not snap the wire. I knew I was close. I was looking for a resistor to limit the current, but this would mean a 20W resistor that may have been 2 or 3 Ohms. Not a common size, and I knew I didn't have one.

As an aside, I roast my own coffee, so I had a Variac in the shed. I no longer use it, but I am a packrat and seldom throw things away.

 

[beerguy]

The Variac is quite simply a variable transformer. So I just plugged my wall wart into the output, turned it all the way down, then started incrementing it upwards until it cut my test foam.

Worked great, plus it gave me an on/off switch.

I had already cut template for my items, so it was a matter of cutting out my templates and re-installing the foam into the case.

 

[beerguy]

As you can see, this case is very full. I could not fit my 17" coil in it, but the lid may be able to hold it.

My thinking is that the case shell provides the protection, and the foam is just there to keep things from rattling around.

If I turn out to be wrong and see some damage due to my arrangement, a new foam kit is 40 bucks.

 

[beerguy]

One other thing that I needed to do here is to cut the foam in the lid, plus the one in the bottom. There are 3 pieces of foam in this case. The case inner dimensions is larger than the CTX, but not by a lot. With only the center foam cut, the inner and outermost foam pieces really pressed on the machine and made it difficult to close. So I marked the widest areas, ( the screen and the battery area) and cut the bottom and top foam pieces in that area only. I then went to my foam cutter and cut the thickness in half. You can see the screen cutout in the picture above.

It looks good and definitely protects my unit well.

I have a trip to Florida next week, and this was my impetus for getting this project done.

Enjoy the pics, and happy hunting!

 

[Northeaster]

Looks Awesome Beerguy.

Nice job on the cutter also..

Gotta protect our investments..

Safe travels and good diggings.

 

[beerguy]

I am looking forward to the trip, but also pretty happy to just have safe storage for the detector.

I have others that hang on walls, and I did not want my new baby to succumb to gravity.