Category Archives: Case Types

If you’ve been searching the internet for a custom “plastic carrying case with handle,” the team at Bel-Air Cases can design whatever you might need. We’ve been designing and producing plastic carrying cases and shipping cases for more than 50 years for clients in a wide range of industries. Here are four quick facts about Bel-Air Cases and what we provide for our clients.

1. We Have Two Plastic Carrying Case “Levels”

At Bel-Air Cases, we offer a medium-duty plastic carrying case and a heavy-duty plastic carrying case. The medium-duty cases are designed to be used as sales kits, demo kits and OEM cases and for items that weigh up to 40 pounds. While these cases can be transported occasionally as luggage, they aren’t meant for frequent transport. Most of our medium-duty cases tend to be used for short-distance travel, typically in a vehicle trunk or backseat.

If you do need the convenience of a plastic carrying case, but also intend to ship that case frequently as cargo or luggage, our heavy-duty carrying cases are the perfect option. This is also a great option for heavier items that weigh 30 to 40 pounds.

These cases are built using the same materials we use for our shipping cases, but they are formed using our carrying case molds, which results in an easy-to-transport case that offers maximum protection. In fact, our heavy-duty plastic carrying case with a handle can meet MIL and ATA specifications. Over the years, we’ve had many military and aerospace clients that use our heavy-duty carrying cases and shipping cases, and these cases definitely can hold up to the rigors of military and aerospace transport.

2. We Use Tough Materials

When you think about the term, “plastic carrying case,” you might not correlate the idea of plastic with words like durable and tough, but the polyethylene we use for our heavy-duty carrying cases and shipping cases is one of the most durable case materials available.

Plastic materials are tough and impact-resistant, as well as moisture-resistant. Our cases can handle temperature extremes and changing weather conditions. Whether you need to take a Bel-Air Case to a research station in Antarctica or into the Brazilian rainforest, your Bel-Air case can handle the temperature changes or even a torrential downpour. Our plastic materials are chemical-resistant and UV-resistant, as well.

Of course, many people worry that in order for cases to be tough, they will end up with an excessively heavy carrying case, but polyethylene is extremely lightweight and the aluminum we use for the case valances is also lightweight, yet highly durable. While our heavy-duty cases can handle the rigors of transport with ease, your plastic case with handle also will be easy to tote.

3. We Have Many Handle Options

Every Bel-Air Case is made-to-order, we don’t have any off-the-shelf cases, and this provides customers with the freedom to create completely custom plastic carrying cases with handles. Obviously, every case needs a sturdy handle, and we have a wide variety, including everything from telescoping handles to strap and briefcase type handles. Handles can be recessed, as well, which complies with ATA specifications.

Of course, it’s not just about customizing a plastic carrying case with a handle, we also have a variety of other custom features, including wheels, hinges, latches and locks. While our carrying cases can be carried easily, adding wheels and a telescoping handle can be a great option if your case contains heavier items. We also can add a variety of locking mechanisms, including key locks and combination locks.

In addition to creating a custom plastic carrying case with handle, wheels, locks and latches, we also can add in a molded-in logo, a custom decal or engraved plates. Our standard colors include silver and black, but we also have several optional stock colors. With a specific minimum order, we may be able to provide you with color matching or a custom color.

4. We Provide Custom Foam Interiors

While the exterior of your case is important and protective, the interior can be just as important. We design our custom foam interiors with your products or equipment in mind, and each custom cavity or die-cut will surround and cushion your equipment precisely.

Too often, custom case makers will hand off a great-looking plastic carrying case with a handle, but once you open it, you find a chunk of diced foam inside. This low-quality type of foam, also known and pick and pluck foam, is a problem for several reasons. Not only does it force the client to cut away at the foam to create custom cavities for their client, but it also tends to break down quickly and you’ll have to replace the foam again and again. Of course, once you finish plucking away at the foam, you will have a bunch of foam let over that you end up throwing away.

We think our clients deserve better. If you’re paying for a custom carrying case or custom shipping case, a custom foam interior should be part of the project. We can design any type of custom foam interior you might need from a simple foam liner to foam interiors with plastic dividers, interior doors, windows, panel mounts, shock mounts and more.

Selecting A Case

At Bel-Air, our focus is on designing and building vacuum-formed plastic carrying cases and shipping cases, but those aren’t the only case option to consider. Our cases are ideal for many types of products including lighting equipment, audio-visual equipment, medical equipment, etc. Our heavy-duty carrying cases and shipping cases often are used to protect and store military or aerospace equipment, but they can be built around just about any item.

Our cases are ideal for any client that needs a high level of durability and/or a high level of customization. The process of vacuum forming is versatile and allows us nearly complete freedom in terms of case size and configuration. Additionally, our cases are much more lightweight than fabricated wood cases or roto-molded cases, which can greatly reduce your shipping costs. Our design team will help you determine if our vacuum-formed cases are the most appropriate options for your requirements. If not, we will help you find another source.

Contact Us Today

Whether you need just one custom plastic carrying case with a handle or you need a whole fleet of them, we can help. To get started with a custom case project, just click on the Contact Us tab on our homepage and fill out our quick contact form. You also can contact us by phone at (866) 235-2472 or email at info@bel-air-cases.com.

At Bel-Air Cases, we believe a carrying case should be attractive, functional and durable, and that just about every product deserves a custom-made case. Our custom carrying cases are built around your equipment providing the ultimate level of protection. Before you get started with a custom case project, take a few minutes to learn a bit about our cases and our philosophy.

1. Not Everyone Needs A Custom Carrying Case

It might sound strange for a custom case manufacturer to admit that not everyone needs a custom carrying case, but they aren’t the best option for everyone. For instance, if you just need one carry case and the items you are toting aren’t particularly delicate or expensive and don’t need to be displayed for clients, then you probably don’t need one of our carrying cases and an off-the-shelf case might be a better fit. While we are happy to make custom cases for any client, but we’ll be honest with you if our carrying cases probably aren’t the best or most cost-effective option.

However, our made-to-order cases are the best option for many applications. If you need a durable and attractive case for a sales kit or perhaps some type of delicate equipment, our carrying cases can be ideal. We design carrying cases for sales and demo kits, medical kits, electronic items, instruments, lighting equipment or anything else you need to tote. Our sleek carrying cases are especially popular as OEM cases, as we can create dozens or hundreds of custom carrying cases and personalize each case with a molded-in logo or custom decal.

2. We Offer Two “Levels” Of Carrying Cases

If you need a sleek, attractive case but don’t intend on using the case as luggage, our medium-duty carrying cases can be the best fit. These medium-duty cases might be fine occasionally transported as luggage, but they aren’t designed to handle the rigors of frequent transport.

Our heavy-duty carrying cases are the ideal option if you need to ship items frequently as cargo or as luggage. These heavy-duty cases also are ideal for heavier items, weighing between 30 to 40 pounds or for delicate items. If you have larger or heavier items, we recommend that you opt for one of our custom shipping cases. Keep in mind, we can add wheels and telescoping handles to our shipping cases (and our carrying cases) to make it easier for you to tote it through a busy airport, a trade show floor or anywhere else you need to take it.

3. We Use Tough, Durable Materials

We’ve been building custom carrying cases and shipping cases for more than 50 years. In fact, we were the original producers of vacuum-formed equipment cases. We use tough high-density polyethylene to form the shells of all of our plastic cases. High-density polyethylene is lightweight, impact-resistant and moisture-resistant. The two halves of your case will be held together with a tough, but lightweight aluminum valance.

Our quality materials and high construction standards are precisely the reason why Bel-Air Cases don’t come with a written case warranty. We’ve never needed a warranty because we stand by our cases throughout their lifetime. If a component breaks, we’ll fix it. We know the transit industry is rough on packages. So, while we cannot guarantee that your cases will never be damaged, we can assure you that we will always repair the damages for as long as you own the case.

Keep in mind, again, that our medium-duty carrying cases are not meant to be transported as luggage or cargo. If you do need to frequently ship your cases, it’s best to opt for the heavy-duty carrying case or our shipping cases, which are built with ATA specifications in mind.

4. We Create Quality Custom Foam Inserts

Too often, case manufacturers simply stick a slab of pick and pluck foam into a case and hand it off to their client. To begin with, pick and pluck foam generally is low quality and we don’t believe that customers should pay for a custom carrying case and then have to pick and cut away at the foam in order to make cavities to fit their equipment. Not only does this look unattractive, but it’s also not very protective and this type of foam tends to break down quickly.

With a Bel-Air carrying case, we will design a custom foam insert specifically for whatever you intend to place inside the case. We design custom foam cavities to fit perfectly around your items. Whether you want custom hand-cut or die-cut foam interiors or simply a foam liner for your case, we will use quality foam materials that protect your items from impact and vibrations.

5. We Offer Many Custom Features

While a sleek black or silver carrying case can be a perfect option for many clients, if you want a bit more color, we offer several additional stock colors including white, yellow, orange, red, olive, green and blue. With a minimum purchase, we also may be able to provide you with custom colors or color matching.

We also can add a variety of graphics and logos, including a molded-in logo, engraved plates or custom decals. These options can provide you with a truly professional touch and are a perfect option if you wish to use our cases either as OEM cases or sales kits, but opting for colorful cases with custom decals or logos can make it easier for your team to identify cases at the airport or perhaps in a large convention center, etc.

Of course, we also offer a variety of hinges, handles, latches and locks and we can add telescoping handles and wheels to your carrying cases, as well. All of these hardware options are crafted from the highest quality materials which ensure a nice long life for your case. You can browse through our interior options at https://www.bel-air-cases.com/case-interior-options/.

Bel-Air carrying cases are available in hundreds of sizes and almost limitless configurations. Whether you need just one custom carrying case or hundreds, the team at Bel-Air is equal to the task. To get started with a carrying case project (or to order custom shipping cases or expo cases), simply head to our homepage and click on the blue Request a Custom Quote tab and fill out our quick contact form.

If you need to ship delicate or expensive items, your shipping cases should be able to withstand anything that might occur during transport. With an ATA case, your items should be protected if the case is jostled, dropped or banged against other cases. At Bel-Air Cases, we design custom shipping cases that can handle the rigors of all types of transportation.

What Is an ATA Case?

ATA stands for the Airport Transportation Association, and it was a group formed in the 1930s when the airline industry was just getting started. This group included the first commercial airline carriers and their goal was to promote the airline industry as well as setting certain standards.

In regards to shipping cases or luggage, ATA standards included a section known as ATA Spec 300, and this set forth certain regulations or specifications that cases would have to meet to meet the ATA’s standards. For instance, in order to comply with specifications, an ATA case would have to be able to handle at least 100 shipments without damaging the contents of the case. Additionally, cases needed to have recessed handles.

When you purchase ATA cases, this doesn’t necessarily mean it was approved by the ATA (which now is known as Airlines 4 America); it simply means that the case manufacturer created the case to meet these exacting standards.

Bel-Air Cases & ATA Specifications

At Bel-Air Cases, we create several different types or levels of cases. If you do need cases that can be shipped frequently, we have several options that meet those ATA specs. We have heavy-duty carrying cases, expo cases and heavy-duty shipping cases. All of these are built to handle frequent shipping and transport.

If you want the ease of maneuverability that a carrying case provides, our heavy-duty carrying cases are formed on the tooling for our carry cases, but we use the same tough materials and components used on our heavy-duty shipping cases.

Our shipping cases are built to handle just about any type of transport you can imagine. We’ve built rugged cases for the military and the aerospace industry that meet ATA standards as well as many MIL specs. These cases can handle the abuse of transportation, as well as handling temperature extremes and locking out moisture.

If you need a case capable of handling a voyage to Mars or a case that can withstand a downpour in a Brazilian jungle or a perhaps journey along one of the world’s bumpiest roads, our shipping cases are up to the challenge.

On the flip side, if you don’t need quite that much protection, we offer both light-duty and medium-duty carrying case options. These two cases are not meant to be transported as freight and luggage, so they do not meet all ATA specifications.

They are highly protective and durable, but they aren’t meant to be shipped frequently. Most of our customers will use the light-duty and medium-duty carrying cases to transport equipment that might be placed in a car trunk or backseat. These often are used to hold sales kits, diagnostic equipment or perhaps used as OEM cases. They are lightweight, protective and attractive, but not suitable as luggage unless you place it in an overhead bin.

ATA Cases & Custom Foam Interiors

While the exterior of an ATA case needs to be able to handle transport, we believe that quality shipping and storage cases also need high-quality custom foam interiors. A custom foam interior cushions every centimeter of your equipment, protecting it from vibrations and jostling.

Too many case manufacturers neglect this area of production and simply hand over a case with a chunk of pick and pluck foam (also known as diced foam). This is a cheap type of foam that tends to break down quickly, and the customer is also forced to create cavities for their equipment by plucking or cutting away bits of foam.

We believe that our customers deserve better than pick and pluck foam, so when we design and produce a custom ATA case, we customize the interior foam as well as the exterior. We build your entire case around whatever will be placed inside – lighting equipment, diagnostic equipment, camera & film equipment, military items, Jimi Hendrix’s 1968 Fender Strat, medical equipment or whatever you need to transport.

Custom Options

Using custom thermoforming, we can create an ATA case in virtually any size with any kind of foam interior you might need. But, we have many other custom options. For instance, if you want shipping cases with wheels (and you probably do), we have many wheel options.

We also can provide you with a myriad of different latches, locks and handle options, including cases with telescoping handles. No matter what you want, we can probably make it happen.

Our carry cases and custom shipping cases are available in two standard colors – silver and black, but we do have several additional stock colors, including white, yellow, orange, red, olive, green and blue. With a specific minimum order, we also may be able to provide you with color matching. We also can create cases with a molded-in logo or personalize your case with engraved plates or custom decals.

If you need an ATA case, ATA shipping case or a custom carrying case, contact the team at Bel-Air Cases at any time. We’ve been manufacturing quality custom cases for more than 50 years, and can create whatever you need, whether it’s just one custom case or 1,000.

It’s been many decades since the first Bel-Air carry case rolled off the production line. During the years, the world has seen a lot of changes, but what hasn’t changed is our commitment to providing customers with the highest quality cases available. Take a look at our history and some facts about what we can provide our customers.

1. We Were The First In Our Class

Back in the 1960s, the plastics industry was really starting to boom. Plastics had been around in one form or another for many years, but mass production of plastic items really took off during this era and we were on the cutting edge of the industry.

Our cases are built using a thermoforming process known as vacuum forming, and we were the first company to create equipment and carry cases using this method. To create cases, we take large sheets of plastic, heat them up, move them over a mold and use vacuum force to shape the plastic onto the mold. It’s a tad more complicated than that, but basically that is the process.

2. Vacuum-Forming Is Highly Versatile

There are many reasons why chose to vacuum-form a carry case, but one of the biggest reasons is versatility. You can create almost any design imaginable with plastics, as they are so easy to mold. We can create custom carry cases and shipping cases in just about any size a customer might need. No other process lends itself so well to customization, and that means the customer truly gets what they want from their carry case.

3. We Use Highly Durable Materials

Many different types of plastics can be used for vacuum-forming, but at Bel-Air Cases, we chose high-density polyethylene as our top material. Also known as HDPE, we chose this plastic because it is one of the most durable types of plastic. It’s strong, lightweight and highly-impact resistant, which is crucial for our heavy-duty shipping cases, which must withstand the rigors of transport.

4. We Also Use Aluminum

When you order a carry case from Bel-Air Cases, it’s not 100% crafted using plastic materials. We use aluminum to create carry case and shipping case valances, and we chose this material because of its durability and lightweight. All of our materials were selected carefully to provide you with the most protection at the most affordable price.

5. Carry Cases Are Used For Many Purposes

At Bel-Air Cases, we have several levels of cases. Our carry cases typically are used as OEM cases and also used for sales kits and even to hold diagnostic equipment. The carry cases are meant to be lightweight, protective and easy to tote. If you have heavier and more expensive items that often will be shipped, we highly recommend that you consider our shipping cases.

We also have custom expo cases, which are perfect for toting to trade shows and conventions, which we assume will occur again once we’ve made it through this pandemic. This can be a great time to order cases, so that you and your sales team or expo team are ready to go as soon as conventions and in-person sales really get going again.

6. Our Cases Can Be Military-Strong

While a Bel-Air carry case isn’t meant to be transported at freight, we do build cases that meet ATA standards as well as military specifications. If you need a case that can handle a trip to the moon or a trek across the jungle, we can provide you with that case. Our light-duty and medium-duty carry cases are meant to hold and protect items that will mainly be transported in your car. The cases are ideal to tote equipment and items that won’t be shipped as freight or tossed into the luggage hold of an airplane. Our heavy-duty shipping cases, on the other hand, as well as our heavy-duty carry cases can handle the rigors of transport easily again and again.

7. We Have Many Color Options

While our standard colors are black and grey, those aren’t your only options. We have several additional stock colors, including red, orange, yellow, green, olive and blue. With a specific minimum order, we can even provide you with color matching. This can be a great option if you want an OEM carry case. Each of your cases can be completely customized to fit your company’s style. We can even add custom decals, molded-in-logos and engraved plates to your case.

8. Custom Foam Interiors Are Crucial

One issue we have with the case industry in general is the lack of attention placed on the interior of a carry case or shipping case. While the exterior components need to be tough and durable, the interior can be just as important. Many case manufacturers simply build your carry case and then hand it over with a chunk of diced foam, also known as pick and pluck foam.

This type of foam is cheap in quality, and the customer has to cut away at the foam in order to make cavities products or equipment. It doesn’t look particularly nice, but, more importantly, it doesn’t provide a high level of protection. At Bel-Air Cases, we never hand over a carry case without a custom foam interior. This can be as simple as a foam liner or it can be a highly customized foam interior with multiple cavities, interior doors, panels, shock mounts and other components.

We build the case and the foam interior around your products or equipment, so that every inch of what’s inside is well-protected. Our high-quality foam helps to absorb impact, which is crucial if you are shipping a case. Even if you opt for a light-duty carry case that won’t be shipped, our foam inserts provide an attractive way for you to display sales kits or whatever you place inside the case and protect it from any minor bumps that might occur.

9. We Will Match You To The Ideal Case

Whether you need an equipment case, a carry case or a shipping case, we will find the best option to fit your needs. Our vacuum-formed cases have many advantages over other types of cases, but our cases aren’t always a perfect match. If we think you’d be better off with a different case, we will tell you and we can help you find another source for your case. High-pressure sales tactics have never been our thing, and we prefer matching customers with exactly what they need case-wise.

If you need a custom carry case, shipping case or expo case, the team at Bel-Air Cases is still here to provide you with durable, high-quality cases. Give us a call or fill out our custom quote form here and a member of our sales team will be in touch as soon as possible.