ValkingBlog: Protect your Papers and...

So naturally with all the attention this week to Kiddo's THING, it came as no surprise that when we needed some place to put paperwork kiddo voted for a Pelican Case. You see, the Thing is a bit of an open air car. The windows aren't exactly thick, nor are the doors. Papers we found while cleaning it out a bit were shrivelled and stained. Some protection was in order. So off we rode to Bass-Pro shops where we perused the available case sizes and colors. I suggested a 1020 case in clear & black, but kiddo chose instead a the 1040 case you see pictured (it had a pretty red liner). Yes I liked the red more too, though I'll admit orange would have been #1 today. No, I don't think there is an orange liner, yet... So red was more colorful, it was bigger, and only a few dollars more (under $15 by the way). So aside from the registration, what else should the case carry for the on the go, upwardly mobile high school student? Note, student: No aspirin, nail clippers, can openers, liquid skin, multi-tools, or containers of liquid larger than 2.5 oz. Wait, strike the last one, that's air travel, and probably too big anyway. She's just a student right now, although the list does sound like prohibited items at the county lock-up, doesn't it? But seriously, back to a 'what we should put in it' list.

Well, we kept it simple.
First a Red Sharpie Pen.
Then a pair of latex gloves (in case of roadside emergency), followed by safety glasses and ear plugs. You never know when it'll get noisy or you'll need safe eyes.
This of course is the first run attempt. Aside from papers, everything else was optional. We then added a Velcro strap and a decent wire gate carabiner to make the useful cord that came with the case a hair more versatile.

That let us do this; Hang the case from the roll bar. Thinking about it, this would make a great papers case for most any open air vehicle. Dune buggies, Sand Rails, Jeeps, ATV's, you name it. If you need papers (permits perhaps?) and you're exposed, think Pelican. Seeing the rust that I have on some open topped Jeeps, I'd bet the case will last longer than the floorboards. Something to think about. We did. Oh, it was raining tonight for the around the neighborhood 'driving in the rain' course. Windows out, cold & wet. Registration in the case is just fine. Even when we finally decided to keep it in the passenger door and it was getting dripped on.