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Just sold my Mini and now on the hunt for a Mini 2 (hardcase?)

98 SNAKE EATER

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Everyone thought I was crazy when I listed my Mini on CL for $500, but someone actually took it home this morning with a big smile on his face :)

Now I'm on the hunt for a new Mini 2

What's the cheapest foam padded hardcase that will fit everything offered in the fly more package?


I had a Surmik and it was perfect

20200630-100057-Medium.jpg


But not sure if the larger controller for the Mini 2 will fit
 
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He didn’t get ripped off. He paid we he deserved to pay for not doing his research.

A rip-off implies the seller did something nefarious.
 
The guy who bought your Mini 1 clearly did zero research. He got ripped off.

Anyway, the Pelican 1200 fits my MM2 (folded), controller, charging hub, charging cable, and five batteries (one inside the drone). The only item that has foam around it is the drone.


I usually list my items high expecting buyers to haggle, but many times I end up getting full price because they don't do any research.

This guy was a total drone newb, so just a few minutes in the air showing what it was capable of was all it took.

I'm actually looking for a pre-cut hard case like my old Surmik


BTW, does anyone know if the Mini 2 will be compatible with the Smart Controller?
 
You will pay a lot more for a pre-cut case more than likely. The Pelican 1200 is your best bet for $50 or less. The foam is squared and allows you to "pluck" it away to form around whatever it is you want to surround it with.
 
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You will pay a lot more for a pre-cut case more than likely. The Pelican 1200 is your best bet for $50 or less. The foam is squared and allows you to "pluck" it away to form around whatever it is you want to surround it with.


The Surmik was only $29 bucks, so I was hoping for another like that to fit the Mini 2

Can't seem to find one under that name though

It appears the newer cases are listed as "Symik", but they look to be the same
 
You will pay a lot more for a pre-cut case more than likely. The Pelican 1200 is your best bet for $50 or less. The foam is squared and allows you to "pluck" it away to form around whatever it is you want to surround it with.
Pelicans are great cases, don't have one for my new Mini 2, but I used them traveling as a consultant with monitors, sent them through checked baggage, converted one of those for camera equipment for my wife for carrying on a wheeler, will check out the 1200 as I want one for carrying my drone on a wheeler and into the outback
 
Your location isn't listed but with a handle like "Snake Eater" I'll assume in the US. While Pelican makes a very good case, there is at least one alternative that I think is almost as well constructed for less than half the price. The Apache 2800. I think I picked mine up at Harbor Freight Tools for something like $23 (with their perpetual 20% discount coupon).

I cannibalized the foam from a smaller/cheaper Mini 1 case and then did some creative foam hackmanship. I get everything in this case but the kitchen sink, including prop guards, lens hood, propellers, brick charger and cable, extra SD card, lanyard and everything I could possibly need. The 2800 is small enough that I can even still get it in my backpack that has my landing pad and a lot of my other cr*p that I use from time to time. I have a Pelican case for my studio strobes and so have a first hand quality comparison. And from what I can tell the only real benefit to the Pelican is that it has a better pressure valve.

I have two alternatives for stowing the controller. I can keep the sticks on and put it face down as shown below because I cut a slot in the foam that allows them to stay one. However, I can remover the sticks and then slide the entire controller into that slot which lives more room for other stuff as needed.

Below find photos of my Apache 2800 case hack. Edit: New photo added to show controller in vertical slot.

apache_2800_addendum.jpg



apache2800_CaseHack_sm.jpg
 
Last edited:
Your location isn't listed but with a handle like "Snake Eater" I'll assume in the US. While Pelican makes a very good case, there is at least one alternative that I think is almost as well constructed for less than half the price. The Apache 2800. I think I picked mine up at Harbor Freight Tools for something like $23 (with their perpetual 20% discount coupon).

I cannibalized the foam from a smaller/cheaper Mini 1 case and then did some creative foam hackmanship. I get everything in this case but the kitchen sink, including prop guards, lens hood, propellers, brick charger and cable, extra SD card, lanyard and everything I could possibly need. The 2800 is small enough that I can even still get it in my backpack that has my landing pad and a lot of my other cr*p that I use from time to time. I have a Pelican case for my studio strobes and so have a first hand quality comparison. And from what I can tell the only real benefit to the Pelican is that it has a better pressure valve.

I have two alternatives for stowing the controller. I can keep the sticks on and put it face down as shown below because I cut a slot in the foam that allows them to stay one. However, I can remover the sticks and then slide the entire controller into that slot which lives more room for other stuff as needed.

Below find photos of my Apache 2800 case hack.

View attachment 120574

That looks pretty good as well.

I've been eyeballing the ones at Harbor Freight, but would prefer a precut foam (I'm lazy)

As for the handle, it's a long story, but back when I first started using the interweb, I had just bought a new Trans Am and the first thing I did was take it to my local drag strip

They had a special event that day with a bunch of Dodge Vipers and Shelby Cobras on site

I ended up beating a pair of Viper R/T 10's and a modded Cobra

As I was lining up for my last run, the track announcer said "Here comes the Snake Eater" and name just kinda stuck

 
Only because someone doesn't know, doesn't mean you should take advantage out of it! Hope that boomerang hits you back with a lot of energy gained on its way so you learn to be a nice person!
 
That sounds fairly callous to me.


What I meant is that this was his first interaction with a drone of any kind, so he was easily impressed by it.

A couple of quickshot loops with an RTH and he was sold on it

Only because someone doesn't know, doesn't mean you should take advantage out of it! Hope that boomerang hits you back with a lot of energy gained on its way so you learn to be a nice person!



I didn't take advantage of anyone

In fact I went out of my way to drive to multiple locations until we found a spot that would allow me to take off (stupid geofencing) even though he was more than willing to take it as is.

Are you saying that I should've given him a discount anyways even though he didn't haggle and was fine paying the asking price?
 
Everyone thought I was crazy when I listed my Mini on CL for $500, but someone actually took it home this morning with a big smile on his face :)

Now I'm on the hunt for a new Mini 2

What's the cheapest foam padded hardcase that will fit everything offered in the fly more package?


I had a Surmik and it was perfect

20200630-100057-Medium.jpg


But not sure if the larger controller for the Mini 2 will fit
Everyone thought I was crazy when I listed my Mini on CL for $500, but someone actually took it home this morning with a big smile on his face :)

Now I'm on the hunt for a new Mini 2

What's the cheapest foam padded hardcase that will fit everything offered in the fly more package?


I had a Surmik and it was perfect

20200630-100057-Medium.jpg


But not sure if the larger controller for the Mini 2 will fit
This is the case I use


I bought a Nanuk 920 for my M2Z FMC about a year ago. Then ended up getting the 910 for my MM2 FMC. Followed by 970 for my M300 and 995 for D-RTK 2. Next is the 950 for my P4M.

I was so pleased with the build quality of the 920 that I continued to buy Nanuk for all my drones. They also have TSA latches that you can swap the stock ones with.
 
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This is the case I use


I bought a Nanuk 920 for my M2Z FMC about a year ago. Then ended up getting the 910 for my MM2 FMC. Followed by 970 for my M300 and 995 for D-RTK 2. Next is the 950 for my P4M.

I was so pleased with the build quality of the 920 that I continued to buy Nanuk for all my drones. They also have TSA latches that you can swap the stock ones with.

Looks good

I like the extra battery slots, but then again, I barely made use of the 2 batts my mini had

I think the 3 batts in the Mini 2 fly more will be overkill for my typical needs

How many packs would I be able to use on one charge of the controller anyways?
 
Looks good

I like the extra battery slots, but then again, I barely made use of the 2 batts my mini had

I think the 3 batts in the Mini 2 fly more will be overkill for my typical needs

How many packs would I be able to use on one charge of the controller anyways?
I haven’t tested the controller’s battery life yet, as I only have the 3 batteries. However, the batteries are 2250 mAh for the mini 2 and the controller is 5200mAh making me think that it should last 5-6 batteries in the drone, if not more. I’ve depleted 1 battery and brought a second consecutive battery to ~30% in the mini 2 without dropping a bar on the controller charge.
 
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