Tackle it Again
The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...
Recently, the topic of the best range box came up again.
And as you might expect, the more people involved, the more options and options popped up.
Frankly, I started with a plastic fishing tackle box when I was new to this hobby, if only because almost 50 years ago in the early 1970s, they sold this rigid tan and tope plastic tackle boxes at the local 3-D or Yankee store. I bought one and began using it for my electronics parts tool box when I was in high school. I still have it.
Image my surprise when in the early 1990s, I saw another identical one pop up in the possession of a young man with schizophrenia. He not only had the same tool box, but also an identical pair of black padded Sony headphones that I bought at the same time. (As a local in this newly adopted college town, he was well known as a harmless individual who was given to hearing voices that directed him to give things to the local radio station. I happened to work there, so it was not unusual for us to find "a gift" left outside our locked front door on the weekends. Such was the case with this tackle box... which was empty.)
I accepted the gift and after several decades, began to fill it with Rocketry items when I started in this hobby.
Others have recommended the softer plastic tackle boxes that are now for sale at Cabbala's or Dick's Sports or similar fishing outlet shops. Maybe even Wal-Mart. I think that's great, but that they tend to run a bit small for motors and chutes...as they were only for hooks, weights, fishline, lures and smaller bits.
However, there's been a recent branch of tackle box or woodworking parts boxes that have multiple compartments and dividers, and fold out like a several tier stadium. This almost is the opposite end, as having too many compartments. But I have seen a considerable number of them purchased new by senior rocketeers and lovingly toted to the launch line.
Lots of young boys got a cardboard box labeled "Range Box" when they entered the hobby, but they aren't durable for long. That's why so many of us recommend a tool kit or tackle box. And the initial expense of a sturdy one can be daunting.
I recommend cruising the yard sales, and online listings for a bargain used one. You can almost always find one in the early summer yard sale season, if you look and ask. Someone wants to unload one at a bargain price. Just make sure the clasp is firm and the plastic is not brittle. Make certain the hinge is all there and not cracked.
Recently, a hard plastic sewing bobbin case or notions box came up for sale, but I shied away from it as too brittle with a weak clasp. It might be fine in the girl's sewing room, where it doesn't get loaded and slung into a car trunk like a tackle box might/will.
So, those are my tips for the new rocketeer. I'd love to hear what suggestions you have come up with as well.
I fondly remember these early tackle boxes. We used them for everything. I was just starting into EMS in the early 1980s and our jump kits (medical kits) were all the Plano tackle boxes. A year or two later Plano realized they had an untapped market in EMS so they began to mold the 747 box in orange and white and embossed the blue Star of Life on the drop down front lid. Of course the price was almost double that of the 747 you could by at Kmart!
ReplyDeleteI still use the tackle boxes for my hobby work. I do like the small, individual boxes with the adjustable compartments that have a lid and then slide into the tackle box. I seem to be better organized that way.