Frequently Asked Questions
How does CaseCAD differ from other case companies?
There are plenty of companies offering to provide "custom case inserts," but these businesses cater primarily to other businesses, ones that want to sell a product in a neatly designed case. Those case companies adopt a definition of "custom" that is quite different from ours. If you explore the Web sites of such companies, you will find that they don't even offer a hint about how much a custom insert would cost you. If you ask them for a quote, you'll discover that they are very curious about whether you represent a large company yourself. That's because the answer depends critically on the quantity to be manufactured: Like with so many things, the more units that are required, the cheaper each is to make. To enlist the services of such a company for a single case insert is usually prohibitive—and understandably so. After all, their packaging engineers would have to invest considerable time talking to you about your needs, obtaining detailed specifications from you and drafting a design for your approval. These preliminary steps alone would demand hours of skilled labor, which normally makes it uneconomical to have a single case insert professionally produced.
CaseCAD works differently. For us "custom" means just that—a single unique case insert. We can fabricate such things economically for photographers, videographers, EMTs, surveyors, scuba divers, amateur astronomers and other individuals because we have developed a highly automated process. The key is our free CAD software, which gives you all the tools you need to come up with plans for your ideal case insert, which we can rapidly fabricate because we are set up to handle the underlying structure of the design.
Our pricing formula is, admittedly, a little complicated. But there's no real need for you to have to understand the details, because the CaseCAD software can calculate the cost for you. (Just choose Compute Cost from the Order menu when you run the program.) You'll quickly discover that our prices are quite reasonable. For example, an insert for an average-sized case, say a PELICAN™ model 1400, which measures 12 by 9 by about 5 inches deep, could cost as little as $68.83. This is only $45 more than the $23.95 price of a new set of stock factory foam for that case.
Can I really design a case insert myself?
Indeed you can. What's more, you don't need any specialized knowledge or experience designing things with a computer. Just follow the simple instructions in the online user guide that accompanies the CaseCAD software and you're set to go. Oh yes, there's some background you'll need: experience using a pair of scissors. That's because CaseCAD generates paper templates of the pockets you design, allowing you to cut these openings in paper and check the shapes you've specified against the actual objects you plan to encase. This simple tactic is all you'll need to ensure that everything will fit beautifully.