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Starlight Rifle Cases
By Thomas
Blahnik Braxton Wilson from Starlight recently contacted
me about conducting some tests on their rifle cases. After
a short initial discussion he sent some test products and things got underway. One
of the first things I discovered after receiving the case was that I had
used these products before.
Looking at the way the Starlight rifle case
was designed and engineered; I quickly realized that I had seen this all
before. You may think that all
cases look alike or that all cases are the same. Well,
you are partly right. Think
of it as Coke versus Pepsi. They
are basically the same but they are still different. Same
thing here, lots of people make rifle cases, but not everyone makes them
like Starlight. I remembered
I had seen this same design day after day in the military. Starlight
was/is the same company that made many of our sensitive item cases. I
had to contact Mr. Wilson again to verify my discovery. My findings were confirmed, the cases were
the same type I have used for so many years. For
everyone that uses PVS-7's, the old PVS-4's, the TVS-5's, field computers,
medical kits, etc. you will know the cases I am talking about. How
many times have you thrown that case around or dropped it on concrete out
the back of a 5-ton truck? Out
of all the massive abuse you have give those cases, filled with multi-thousand
dollar night vision inside, how many have broken or worse yet broken the
contents? My bet is none or
next to it. Don't get me wrong,
these cases aren't indestructible, but I have seen them survive things that
should have crushed them and I have seen them survive things that have killed
people! Out at the famous NTC
(National Training Center), I saw a tank get turned upside down in a hole
and crush the TC. His PVS-7's were found still in the case and buried in
the sand right beside him. The impact had pushed the case into the sand but
didn't break it. It's sad to
remember a training accident like that, but it illustrates the ruggedness
of the Starlight products. Now the common misconception about the military
is that everything they purchase is from the lowest bidder therefore it is
made cheaply. Again, you are
partially correct. The exception here is most products have to meet mil-spec
standards before they can compete on price. I
am not sure what other companies submitted cases for review, but they couldn't
have been better. Our military
cases took more beatings than they should have and came out on top every
time. The case sent to me for
review was no different. The
thing is rock solid, water and air tight, and ready to protect your multi-thousand
dollar rifle. Anyone that travels with weapons would be
well advised to consider these Starlight cases. These
cases weigh considerably less than similar cases and they are more rugged
than the competition. No matter
how hard the baggage handlers at the airport try, they wouldn't be able to
destroy this case (well, never say never). This
means that your rifle and optics would be nice and safe inside as long as
you properly package everything before handing it over. A case this good is a great deal for under $200! What, this case only costs
$200? Yet the competitor's cases
cost $260 or more for similar protection levels (but they still aren't as
good)?!
Sure you can get your Wally
World cases for $20 - $100, but I'm not letting you tote my rifles around
in one. It goes back to something
I learned many years ago when I started riding rice-burning sport bikes. Spend
on a helmet what ever you think your head is worth. In
other words, if you think your head is worth $100 buy a $100 helmet. If you think your head deserves the maximum protection, then
buy the maximum protection. Same
thing applies here. If you think
your rifle is only worth a little protection, then buy another cases, if
you want maximum protection, then buy Starlight! Something else to note is the other manufacturers that
use Starlight products. Companies
like Barrett Firearms, Accuracy International, and EDM Arms package their
expensive rifles in Starlight cases. What
did your rifle come packed in? Did
it come packed in a cardboard box or maybe a Wally world special? Seeing
these $5000+ rifles carefully packed into Starlight cases by their makers
should be a testimony in itself. These
companies could use any rifle case, but they chose Starlight for a reason,
and that reason is protection. I don't make these claims lightly or after
limited testing on this one rifle case. I
make this claim based on experience with the products from the last 10 years. I
base this on testing the Starlight products in some of the most inhospitable
places in the world and under the worst conditions imaginable. There
is a little joke with a half-truth buried inside and applies here. We
always tell each other that “ a grunts favorite tool is chem.-light, because
he has to break it to use it.” This
is pretty true. They tell us
that “if it can't be broken, then give it to the grunts and they'll figure
out how. If the grunts can't
break it then we should buy it.” I
haven't managed to break one of these Starlight cases yet, so guess what? I'm
buying it. Starlight Cases
2180 Hwy 70-A East |
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