Hard Case for Hard Drives and SSDs: Carrying Footage From Set

A hard drive case for carrying footage should be sealed against water and dust, rigid enough to survive a drop, and cut so each drive sits in its own pocket. The case is protecting the one thing you cannot buy again: the footage, so treat it as seriously as the camera case. Small sealed cases around 4 to 9 litres suit portable SSDs and desktop docks alike. Below: the risks for each drive type, foam layout, and a routine for getting media home safely.

What actually goes wrong with drives in transit

• Drops. A spinning hard drive has read heads floating just above fast-moving platters. A sharp knock, especially while it is running, can damage it. Solid state drives have no moving parts and handle shock far better, but a drop can still crack a connector or casing.
• Water. Rain on the walk to the car, a spilled drink on the DIT cart, a boot that floods. A wet drive may survive; a wet drive plugged in before it dries often does not.
• Heat. A drive bag left in a closed car in summer gets very hot. Electronics and batteries prefer not to be cooked.
• Loss. Small SSDs and cards are easy to leave behind in a hotel, a venue green room or an auto. A case with a fixed pocket for each drive shows you at a glance that one is missing.

Real sizes to plan around

Drives vary a lot in size. Two examples from the makers' own documents:

• Samsung T7 portable SSD: 85 x 57 x 8 mm, 58 g. Several fit in a small case with room for cables.
• LaCie 1big Dock (HDD): 118 x 56.3 x 217 mm, 1.7 kg. It is a desktop drive and hub, heavier and more delicate, and it needs a case cut around it exactly.

Which case for which media

Inner dimensions are width x length x depth in millimetres. All three cases below are IP67 rated and work from minus 30 °C to 90 °C.

Cases made for LaCie desktop drives

Desktop drives like the LaCie docks are built to sit on a desk, not to ride in a car boot, but editors and DITs move them between set, office and home all the time. We offer the Vantage 180 with a laser-cut foam insert for the LaCie 1big Dock (8 TB to 30 TB), 2big Dock (16 TB to 60 TB) and 2big RAID (8 TB to 60 TB). You pick your drive model when you order and the foam comes cut for it. The drive itself is not included.

The Vantage 180's inner space is 235 x 180 x 106 mm, which leaves foam on every side of a 1big Dock. The case weighs 0.84 kg empty and carries IP67, ATA 300, STANAG 4280, DEF-STAN 81-41 and MIL-STD-810H. Browse the drives themselves in our LaCie collection.

How to lay out foam for drives

1. One drive, one pocket. Cut each pocket to the drive's exact outline so it cannot shift. Loose drives knock into each other with every bump.
2. Drives on edge or flat, not stacked. Stacked drives press on each other and make the bottom one hard to reach. Side by side is safer and faster.
3. Cable next to its drive. Put each cable in a small pocket beside its drive, so drive and cable leave the case together.
4. Finger slots. Cut a thumb notch beside each pocket so you can lift the drive out without tugging on its port.
5. Label pockets. A strip of tape on the foam marked A, B, C or "backup" makes it obvious which drive holds which copy.

Standard Vantage cases ship with solid foam sheets, a snap-off foam cutter and convoluted lid foam, so you can cut a layout for any mix of drives. Need a precise fit without cutting it yourself? We also make custom laser-cut premium foam inserts on request; ask through the Hard Case Size Finder. To check sizes, use the Hard Case Size Finder.

A routine for getting footage home

The case protects the drives. The routine protects the footage.

1. Keep more than one copy. Before you format a card, have the footage on at least two separate drives.
2. Split the copies. Do not carry both copies in the same bag or the same car. If one case goes missing, the other copy is still safe.
3. Power down before you pack. Eject and disconnect every drive before it goes into foam. Never move a spinning hard drive.
4. Close and latch between uses. On a dusty location or through the monsoon, keep the case shut except when you are loading a drive.
5. Keep it with you. Media cases are small enough for cabin bags and back seats. Do not put the only copy of a shoot in checked baggage.

On a multi-day shoot, keep a simple log on a card inside the lid: date, drive label, which cards were copied and whether the copy was verified. At the end of a long day it saves guessing which drive is safe to hand to the editor and which card is safe to format.

For more on handling cards before the footage reaches a drive, see our memory card guide.

Travel, pressure and humidity

Every Vantage case has an automatic pressure equalization valve. After a flight or a drive down from the hills, the air pressure inside a sealed case can differ from the air outside and hold the lid shut. The valve balances it, so you can open the case without a struggle, and the case stays IP67 rated.

Drives do not like long term damp storage any more than lenses do. Use the case for transit, then store drives somewhere dry. Our guide to monsoon camera storage covers the options. For choosing a case in general, see our hard case buying guide or browse all waterproof hard cases.

Frequently asked questions

Do SSDs need a hard case?
SSDs handle shock better than spinning drives, but a hard case still protects against water, crushing and loss. The footage is usually worth far more than the drive.

Will a LaCie 1big Dock fit in the Vantage 180?
Yes. We offer the Vantage 180 with laser-cut foam for the LaCie 1big Dock, 2big Dock and 2big RAID. Choose your drive model when you order. The drive is not included.

Is it safe to fly with hard drives in a case?
Yes, but keep them in your cabin bag so the footage stays with you. Keep any spare lithium batteries or power banks in the cabin too.

Can I store drives in the case between jobs?
For short gaps, yes, if the drives and foam are dry. For long term storage, keep drives somewhere cool and dry rather than sealed in a case through the monsoon.

Is the Vantage 180 waterproof?
Yes. It is IP67 rated: dust-tight and protected against immersion to 1 metre for 30 minutes with the lid closed and latched.