London fashion week killed my Pelican

London fashion week killed my Pelican.. Well, stunned it, as Michael Palin’s shopkeeper would say.

I’m just back from shooting at London Fashion week for Getty Images.

It’s a hectic, back to back schedule, which is tough on you and your gear.

It didn’t help that it was chucking it down with rain pretty much the entire time, as storm Dennis menaced his way around the country.

I’d packed everything inside my Pelican 1560 case. For those not in the know, Pelican cases and Keith Richards will be the only thing to survive a nuclear holocaust. Loved by the industry, they are insanely tough, practical, double up as a seat or something to stand on, and are virtually indestructible, aside from their one Achilles heel. The wheels.

London pavements are brutal, bumpy, hard and unforgiving, and after two days of being lugged over everything that could be thrown at me, they split in half. Both of them.

No amount of gaffer tape would hold them together, and trying to get quickly between events, lugging a dead weight of gear was no fun, and slowed me right down.

So, what’s a boy to do? Another seasoned photographer recommended inline skate wheels from Decathlon, but make sure you get the right size!

The Pelican’s normal wheels are hard, and unyielding. The first ones broke apart on me under much more forgiving conditions, and the replacement polyurethane wheels I bought that just split weren’t up to it. Less than a year and they were toast.

Sadly, a trip out to Decathlon at Canada Water in between shoots provided fruitless, so it was grin and bear it, hit the net for some 63mm replacements for less than a fiver, and fix it when I got home.

Nice and shiny.

 

Let’s just see how long they last. Good job they came in a pack of four!

 

Nick England is a professional photographer based in Suffolk, UK.

For a look at some of his work, click here.

Pelican image

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