Eaton Tactical Innovations - Pelican 1720 V3 Foam Case Insert

ETI 1720 v3 with HD class gear

Next month I will be travelling to Florida for a Defense In The Home class by Sage Dynamics.  This is a live fire course that will take place in a shoot house.  For most rifle classes, I'll bring a suppressed rifle, class handgun, and EDC handgun.  Since this is an HD focused class, I also wanted room for a pistol suppressor.  Since I don't have the time to drive the 13 hours, I'm going to have to fly commercial.  This will be my first flight with firearms, and considering I'll be packing NFA items, I won't be leaving anything to chance.

The first step was to file my form 20s (permission to travel with NFA items) with the ATF.  I received my approval in 30 days.  Second was a case to secure my guns.  The industry standard is the Pelican case, and I wasn't going to risk $10k worth of equipment by saving $80 on a cheaper case.  I chose the 1720 model.  I wanted a case that was large enough to carry up to a 16" AR with suppressor and two RMR'd pistols.  Case in hand, the next step was to cut out the foam insert to keep everything from bouncing around.  I didn't want to use pick-and-pluck foam since it absorbs moisture and degrades quickly over time, leaving black dust particles everywhere.  It also looks like a Minecraft level when done.  I watched a few videos on YouTube, broke out my electric carving knife and went to work on the factory foam insert.

Pelican Foam - Functional but ugly.

Pelican Foam - My guns deserve better.

Keeping the knife perpendicular to the foam as it flexed and squished in my hands was a royal pain.  I'm normally pretty handy, but the results speak for themselves.  It would work, but considering the time and expense up to this point, it looked shoddy and I didn't want to cheap out now.  I also doubted if the soft foam would hold up long term and there was still the problem of moisture soaking into the foam.  Next I tried a Kaizen foam insert.  I found an over-sized sheet on Amazon, trimmed it to fit the case, and then cut the pattern for the guns.  But the layers didn't peel away cleanly when doing large sections like for the buttstock and pistol areas, leaving chunks of foam in an uneven mess.  The cutout bottoms looked like the surface of a cratered moon.

Kaizen Foam - from buttstock section

Kaizen might be fine for organizing tools in a drawer, but in this application it looked half-assed.  Most of the pics I've seen online don't show the cutouts up close, and they often show the finished cutout with equipment inserted, masking imperfections.  For a truly professional look, custom foam inserts are available online, but cost nearly as much as the Pelican case.

As luck would have it, a few days later, Jon Dufresne (one of the instructors who will be teaching the HD class), posted a video and write up on the ETI 1700 V3 case.  I went to ETI's website but was disappointed to find that they didn't offer a similar version for the 1720.  I sent an email inquiring about a 1720 sized insert and received a response from the owner, Frank Eaton.  He said that the insert I was looking for was already in production and would be available the following week.  He sent me a Paypal invoice and 3 days later, my insert arrived.  It was wrapped in a simple black plastic sleeve to minimize shipping costs.  $73.99 in total.  Compared to the $58 I spent on the Kaizen foam, this is an awesome value.  A .58" thick solid foam insert serves as the bottom, while the 1.15" main insert is CNC water-jet cut for the guns, magazines, and other accessories.  The larger cutouts have 1/4" sections that are left uncut, requiring the user to trim them with a razor or utility knife.  This keeps them from popping out during shipping.

ETI - Rifle Cutout and Optic Pucks

ETI - Pistol Cutout

ETI - Rifle Rail Pucks

The gun compartments have mostly pre-cut sections for longer barrels, grips, optics, lights, etc.  The sections can be removed simply by trimming away the last bit of retaining foam.  I simply laid my guns over the cutouts and removed the offending blocks.  I only had to manually trim the foam to fit the steep angled Magpul K grip and a section for the second pistol's RMR.  I removed an extra barrel section to accommodate my 14.5" rifle with suppressor, but saved that piece to re-insert when using the shorter gun.  Being able to leave the suppressor on my rifle means I can utilize the suppressor compartment for my pistol can or additional rifle mags.  The utility compartments can hold cleaning kits, NV, and IR lasers.  There is an oval shaped hole behind the pistol grip that I couldn't see an obvious use for, so I threw in my LDAG.  The last optional step is to hot glue the 1" thick cutout section to the 1/2" thick base pad.  I skipped this step since I don't know what sections I might want to remove in the future.

First and foremost, this insert just works.  All my items are well protected.  Not only is everything safe from rough handling and the elements, but the closed cell foam doesn't retain moisture.  I can appreciate that after my last rain soaked class.  The versatility of the pre-cut pucks, means I don't need another insert just to change out equipment.  The cost is only marginally more than blank foam from Pelican or Kaizen, and nearly identical to Pelican's pick-and-pull inserts.  Subjectively, the presentation value is off the charts.  Opening the case feels professional and businesslike.  As an added bonus, the foam guns make neat training aids.  My 4-year old loves them.  

"Nerf" guns

I only wish the insert had more rifle magazine storage.  I try to bring at least six magazines to a training class to minimize reloading downtime, and to have extras if one gets compromised in some way.  TSA regulations allow ammunition to be packed as long as it is stored in factory boxes or loaded in magazines.  (American Airlines does NOT allow ammo to be stored in magazines.)  Pelican cases have a 1.5" thick foam pad in the lid, and two 1.5" foam pads in the main compartment.  The bottom foam seemed like a lot of wasted storage space.  I sent an e-mail to ETI asking if they had considered producing a base insert with shallow cutouts for magazines.  A day later, I received an email stating it was being considered, followed by another e-mail with this photo asking me if I'd like one of the first runs.

Photo from ETI e-mail

A few days later, and $46.99 poorer, a familiar black bag was waiting on my porch.   To keep costs down, ETI only cut the mag compartments for 30 rounders.  Trimming them to secure a 10 round magazine was no problem, nor was adding clearance for my MagPod equipped magazines.  This brings my total rifle mag count from 2 to 9, and pistol mags from 7 to 11.  Unfortunately I can't fill every magazine with ammo since it would put me over the 11 pound ammo limit set by the TSA.  Nine 30-round mags of 55gr .223 and 100 rounds of 9mm keep me a few ounces under the limit.  Since I haven't yet glued the upper layers together, I have to remove all my gear before lifting out the upper insert, but it's a small price to pay to be able to pack everything in a single case.  Considering baggage fees, it pays for itself in one round trip.

CZ P-10C - Jagerwerks RMR cut

After shooting over 4,000 rounds between my two P-10Cs, I'm  ready to start transitioning away from the Glock platform for EDC.  Since I purchased my P-10Cs, I had been waiting for someone to offer the exact slide milling services I wanted.  RMR with irons forward, extended front/top serrations, and black nitride.  A bunch of companies have cropped up offering RMR milling, but I've been hesitant.  I've seen some RMR cuts that are very far forward, to allow ample space for the mounting screws to clear the striker safety tunnel, but covering the extractor pin, and placing the rear sight dovetail very close to the ejection port.  Others skip the recoil bosses, and while they aren't really needed, I prefer to have them.  Also, while RMR cuts aren't a secret, very few shops have been forthcoming about how they do their cuts and why.  When someone goes into detail about their processes, it shows pride in their work and confidence that they are providing the best product they can.  One company that ticks all the boxes for me is JagerWerks.  I've had work done by them in the past and when they announced that they'd be taking CZ slides, I decided to wait.  For what seemed like an eternity (less than a month) I saw RMR'd P-10Cs pop up on social media from other reputable shops, but they were all missing at one or more of the features I wanted, and I didn't want to settle.

When P-10C services appeared on JagerWerk's webpage, I placed the order and shipped my slide without hesitation.  Their RMR cut is far enough back to expose the extractor pin.  It positions the RMR and rear sight (in front of the RMR) in about the same position as my Unity Atom slide.  The RMR cut is .185" deep, compared to the ~.120" deep cut on most Glocks.  While not low enough to use factory height sights, I can get a lower 1/3 co-witness without absurdly tall suppressor sights.  Another small detail is that they give the RMR cut a .2 degree downward angle to compensate for the RMRs higher height over bore than the factory sights.  Considering the RMR has 150 MOA of adjustment range, this step is largely unnecessary, but it's another example of attention to detail that may go overlooked at other shops.  While front top serrations by themselves are nothing new, they also offer chamfer serrations that blend the factory front serrations up into the top serrations.  I often find myself griping the front of the slide buy the smooth sloped portion, so the additional traction provided by the serrations and the sharp corners is welcome.  As an added benefit, the additional weight reduction compensates for the RMR.  The whole assembly weighs the same as my factory slide with HTAC sights, 12.0 oz.  Finally, they offer black nitride refinishing (outsourced).  While I have been impressed by the Cerakote jobs they've done for me in the past, I prefer black nitride for its durability, and I'm willing to wait up to three more weeks.

Much grip

Sharp.

Same weight before and after.

JagerWerks no longer requires sending the optic in with the slide for a custom fit.  While I was leery of universal cuts in the past, Trijicon's tolerances are extremely tight, within .001", well within the capabilities of a competent machinist.  I've had no issues with universal cuts, at least with RMRs, on my BattleWerx, Unity Atom, and Glock MOS slides.  Agency Arms uses universal cuts and I've yet to hear of a complaint.  I've also had no issues with my ADM and Midwest Industries RMR mounts.

For the sights, I chose to go with my favorite setup from Dawson Precision.  After doing some quick math, I settled on a P-09 .215" tall fiber optic front and a Glock MOS .225" tall black rear.  This gives me 0.075" of rear sight visible in the RMR window.  While this may seem too low for some, I give the optic priority, and it's still tall enough to get a good back-up sight picture.  I chose a fiber optic front for several reasons.  I often lose black front sights against dark backgrounds, and when shooting from very unorthodox positions, I don't always immediately acquire the RMR dot.  At my last vehicle class, when twisted around the driver seat and firing left handed, I liked having the green dot to fall back on if I lost my dot.  I chose green because I'm unlikely to confuse it with the red dot of the RMR.  Since both dots are on different focal planes, when I'm threat focused, the RMR dot is clear while the green dot disappears into the periphery.  I run my RMRs two down from the brightest setting, so the brighter red dot is almost always brighter and gets visual priority over the fiber dot.  I included these with my disassembled slide and shipped them off.  Two weeks later, I received a message from JagerWerks asking which color dot I wanted in my front sight, followed closely by a shipping notification.  Total time out of my hands including shipping: 25 days.

Accessible extractor pin

The slide arrived with the sights installed, with the rears perfectly centered in the dovetail.  I reinstalled the slides internals, noting how much more even the black nitride finish was compared to my stock slide.  My RMR literally "snapped" in.

It sits low, slightly higher than my CZC HTAC competition sights.

Low co-witness

I grabbed several boxes of ammo and headed to the range.  First I checked the irons at 25 yards with a wrist rest.  My POI was 1" high but centered.  While the sights were fine for shooting groups, their low height in the window was a hindrance at speed.  Then I got the RMR zeroed and shot some basic drills.  I didn't rack the slide with the RMR off any barricades or otherwise test the durability of the RMR cut as I hadn't yet applied any threadlocker.  I planned to re-install the RMR with Loctite and confirm return to zero first.  For this session, I shot 300 rounds to get familiar with the RMR'd P-10C.

With the exception of the sights, I'm in love with this package.  Manipulating the slide from the front is nearly effortless now, and the optic/rear sight placement works with all of my holsters.  The P-10 points more naturally for me than my Glocks, so I acquire the dot more consistently on the draw.  The lower optic height over bore also helps in this regard.  "Dot Torture" is still torturous, but the hold over required is less extreme inside of 7 yards.

As far my Glocks are concerned, even with the release of their new 5th Gen models, I doubt I'll be purchasing any more Glocks or related gear.  My G19 will continue duty as a suppressed nightstand gun since there are no threaded barrels or 31 round magazines available for the P-10C...yet.  And my G26 with still be my "quick errand"/"t-shirt" gun at least until the sub-compact P-10S is released.

***Update***

I replaced the front with a  .265" Dawson P09 and the rear with a .360" Ameriglo GL-408 sight.  POI is about 1.5" higher than POA, requiring a slight 6 o'clock hold at 25 yards.  Also, the rear sight is wider than the slide cut and overhangs slightly, but not enough to be a snag hazzard.  I have another set of these sights to use on my second P-10C.  It's currently at JagerWerks for the same slide package.

Slight rear sight overhang on both sides.

Low but effective

Bottom Co-Witness