Airworthiness - will this case survive the airlines?
There are three basic factors that make the Tuffpak® so tough.

1. Geometry / Design Elements – The shape of the Tuffpak® is geometrically stronger than the other cases on the market. The shape of the Tuffpak® resembles a honeycomb. This is a much stronger shape than a square or rectangle. The Pelican/Browning Travel Vault is a 2-gun case, which, because of the large flat sides, requires 28 pounds of plastic to be strong enough for airline travel. The Tuffpak® is 40% lighter! At only 17 pounds the Tuffpak® is the lightest multi-gun, airline proof, case available.

Tuffpak® was designed from the ground up with the airlines in mind. Over the past 15 years we've made a concentrated effort to design a case without items that wear out and break. (A full-length hinge, once bent, will flex and fatigue the metal every time the case is opened. It will eventually fail. Protruding latches can be damaged easily. Once damaged, they can prevent proper closure of the case or maybe even your ability to get into it.) We are always asking ourselves "How could this thing break? How can we design that weakness out of the case?" The result is the Tuffpak®, an airline approved travel case with a nearly perfect track record for almost 15 years now.

2. Molding Process - There are four basic forms of molding used for plastics today. Injection Molding (like the Browning/Pelican Travel Vault and some Plano Cases), Vacuum Forming or Blow Molding (used for some Doskosil and SKB cases), and Rotational (or Roto) Molding (used by Nalpak to make the Tuffpak®).

Injection molding is the one of the fastest processes available. Because of the expense involved in tooling and set-up, only products made in very large quantities are manufactured this way. The tools (or molds) are designed with small passages through which the molten plastic is forced with several thousand pounds of hydraulic pressure. You've probably seen a bunch of small plastic parts for a model car or airplane still attached to a "grid." The "grid" that gets thrown away was the passageway that directed the molten plastic to the desired part.

While injection molding might seem like a viable alternative to some, it has limitations. Nalpak designed the Tuffpak® for maximum strength with minimum material (weight). The single piece design we came up with cannot be formed with an injection-molding tool.

With Vacuum Forming, sheets of plastic are heated and then forced by air into a mold. There are limits to the thickness of plastic that can be used and there is always a loss of wall thickness in every corner. As the plastic is forced around the radius of a corner, the plastic is stretched. Same amount of material over a larger surface area produces a thinner wall. In some of the less expensive cases that are formed this way, you can actually feel it yourself. Simply press on a corner of one of these cases with your thumb and it will buckle into the case. This was not an acceptable option for us.

The Tuffpak® is formed by a relatively old molding process called rotational molding or roto molding. A mold that has two halves is mounted on an arm that rotates around its horizontal and vertical axes. A predetermined amount of plastic is scooped into the mold, it's clamped shut, then rotated and baked in a very large, 650-degree oven for almost 30 minutes. The plastic melts inside and adheres to the walls of the mold. As gravity draws the molten plastic along the walls of the mold, it slows down in the corners. This "slowing down" of the plastic in the corners leaves 20% more material in the corners than there is in the side-walls. This is exactly where the "extra" material should be. Most of the bumps that the case will encounter during its travels will be on a corner. With rotational molding there's more material reinforcing the corners to absorb impact.

Rotational Molding also allows us to mold the Tuffpak® in one piece. This means that there are no seams, hinges or welds in the Tuffpak®. Single piece construction makes it virtually indestructible. It's unlikely that we'll ever mold the Tuffpak® any other way.

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3.Materials – The Tuffpak® is molded with a High-tech plastic called High-density Cross-linkable Polyethylene. This is an extremely high grade of plastic that is flexible and has 100% memory. In freezing conditions it's essential to have a plastic that will still be flexible and not get brittle or it will crack. The Tuffpak®, if deformed by an outside force, will always return to its original shape. This attribute aids in absorbing shock during travel. As the case flexes, it absorbs the energy of the shock. A rigid metal case will transfer all the energy of an impact to the inside of the case. (Unless the metal case is dented. If the metal case is dented, it has absorbed some of the energy from the impact but you are left with a dented case.)

We know the Tuffpak® will survive even the roughest baggage handlers and we're willing to stand behind it. Nalpak is so confident of the Tuffpak's® design and materials that each one comes with a Lifetime Guarantee. The Guarantee says that if anything breaks or becomes unusable on your case for as long as you own it, Nalpak will repair or replace it free of charge.

Tuffpak® = Last gun case investment you'll ever need to make.

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