You may recall from my intro (and only) thread that I’ve been looking for a hardshell case I can use to carry my USB, Gerber Shard, Swiss Tech micro tool, non-car keys, Fenix E01, Minichamp, and Space Pen in one bundle that fits into a front pocket. I was previously using a $3.99 Outdoor Products box from Wally World, but I wanted to upgrade to the Pelican 0955. There’s not a lot of information on it and I can’t find it in any stores, so I went ahead and used a gift card I’ve been sitting on since last Christmas to order one and give it a try.

Here’s my previous setup:

Everything but the light, pen, and knife fit in it just fine.

The Pelican has a substantially bigger footprint though, and should be great:

Unfortunately those pockets are THICK, with two layers of coarse mesh sandwiching a thinner layer of thin mesh, and a doubled-over band of elastic across the top. The ends are something like cordura, stitched into a thick plastic liner that is glued to the inside of the shell. The liners can be removed entirely easily enough, but I kind of want to keep them.

As a result, while there’s theoretically room for my space pen and even my Fenix, the Minichamp just isn’t happening, although a Classic, Rambler, or Rally, or a mod with thinner scales might fit. In practice though, the thing that takes up the most space in the case is the case itself. As a result, I can only carry the exact same loadout I started with, but it takes up more space in my pocket and cost 5 times as much.

Overall, I think it might be a brilliant wallet, but it’s going to take some thought to make it the mini-toolbox I hoped it would be. I could of course pull both liners and let everything rattle around and probably manage to fit the whole collection minus my motorcycle key, but I’m not quite willing to do that. I could try to make a custom foam insert somehow, but I don’t know where I’d find the right foam.

I think this thing has potential, and it looks great with Pelican’s usual excellent build quality, but I’d love a version about a quarter inch thicker with pick and pull foam instead of pockets. That’s always my luck with Pelican though. I can either get something ridiculously oversized or it will be too small in one dimension.