Reviewed by Captain Mike Schoonveld
There are a lot of things on my boat I don’t want to leave the dock without having. Many of them are things I don’t often use, don’t hope to need and certainly don’t need close at hand – until I need them. Many of these items are things better kept dry and since I don’t need them on a regular basis, if they would get damp or wet, I probably wouldn’t notice until, well probably, until it’s too late.
No more, thanks to the Plano Gear Box. Modeled after a military ammo box – the kind invented in WWII – this box isn’t the sharp-cornered, questionably water-tight, heavy steel container with the end-hinged lid dough-boys lugged across Europe (and Korea, Viet Nam, etc.) “Modeled after” means it has an end-hinged lid – more nostalgic than useful – and is taller than it is wide, giving it the ammo-box shape.
It has a tight, rubberized gasket seal making it 100 percent waterproof, rounded off edges, a comfortable, fold down handle and is made heavy enough to withstand a gorilla attack. It has perhaps twice the capacity as the familiar 50 caliber ammo carrier.
I just pulled the box out from under the passenger seat on my boat where it lives 99 per cent of the time. It contains a small stowaway Plano box holding assorted spare fuses, a small auxiliary first aide kit, an extra reel, a hand-held and head-strap flashlight, a hand-held compass, extra batteries for the flashlights and my camera, spare sunglasses, a couple of plastic rain ponchos, duct tape, electrical tape, medium flat and phillips screwdrivers, dry gloves, a notepad and pencil, a black Sharpie marker, two quarter-inch stainless steel bolts, no nuts but one washer and a 7/16-inch wrench I’ve been looking for and thought was in the lake.
Turn it into a portable safe by adding a padlock to the molded-in lock receptacles. http://www.planomolding.com
FISHING TOYS 