How To Transport Numerous Ink Bottles

[njdivedog]

Not sure this is the right forum, so please redirect me if I'm wrong. Here's my problem. I'm having a midlife crisis and buying an RV that I'll be living in full time. I plan to travel across the US, Canada and the Baja. I have sold most of my stuff (no pens or inks though😄).

I have an ink obsession, about 50 bottles, along with 100s of ink samples. I use the Goulet vial holders, so no problem there. But I can't figure out the best way to carry the ink bottles. I don't keep the boxes btw. I want access to all of the inks fairly easily. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've thought of tool boxes and tackle boxes but haven't found anything. Tried various plastic boxes from Staples, but nothing really space efficient. Thanks, Kathy

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

From my experience, to achieve fairly good space efficiency, the ink would need to be decanted into bottles that match the stowage space/containers.

 

Perhaps various sizes of Nalgene bottles could be considered, which would allow you to have greater volumes of inks you use the most onboard or just have multiple same-size bottles for those inks. The Nalgene bottles are very resistant to leakage, so even soft-side satchels could be OK containers that would make use of odd-size stowage spaces - keep your go-to inks in a mesh bag suspended from the ceiling of the cockpit

 

As for organizing them: I keep a simple index, which lists the ink and the stowage location and container ID number at that location.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited May 23, 2016 by Sandy1

[inkstainedruth]

I don't know if it's the right time of year to be looking, but you might try the kind of storage used for Christmas ornaments, which have individual compartments -- especially since you say you didn't save the boxes.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[kernando]

You should've kept the boxes. They don't clink, and they stack better than bottles. Try cutting down wine boxes with dividers. If you can get two bottles per space, then two box halves would be enough.

 

P.S.: Come to the San Francisco show in August on the way to or from Baja.

Edited May 24, 2016 by kernando

[Brioche]

Here are some possibilities:

 

https://www.flickr.com/gp/111595218@N08/3ek8W1

 

Baseball card storage box from collections.com

 

Cosmetic case on ebay

 

Orange file drawers from thecontainerstore.com

 

Plano compartment boxes plano.com

 

Tea box at stacksandstacks.com

 

And one I forgot where I found it! Amazon?

 

I searched google images <storage container compartments>

[kapanak]

Have you ever heard of Pelican cases? http://www.pelican.com/us/en/ (no affiliation)

 

I happen to have a number of these for cameras and lenses transportation and storage, and also own a couple for headphones and amps transportation (photography and audiophile hobbies are my other curses).

 

I have some smaller ones for my ink bottles whenever I am traveling to the in-laws about 3000 miles away.

 

These cases have modular insides that can fit just about anything of any shape, and are practically impact-proof.

 

Definitely something to think about for ink bottles.

[mmg122]

These are some excellent suggestions. Thanks to OP for asking the question. Solutions to a problem I didn't know I had.

[sidthecat]

The answer is obvious: pour all the ink into one big bottle. That should work a treat.

[amberleadavis]

Actually, I really like the ornament and pain cases. I'll try and find a link.

[amberleadavis]

After a few searches, I think you want to go to a craft store and take some of your bottles with you. You want the container to snap shut and be water resistant AND I think you want dividers. Ideally, the containers would stack up neatly and attach too.

 

So, here is a sample

 

http://www.joann.com/artbin-super-satchel-box-with-removable-dividers-9007ab/9059049.html#start=17

http://www.joann.com/3700-size-deep-craft-organizer-w-4-15-c/9538067.html

http://www.joann.com/artbin-super-satchel-cube/9121294.html?green=17A05386-891A-5898-02C9-75F3FD0E0EC9

http://www.joann.com/artbin-double-deep-super-satchel/zprd_10628238a.html

 

(I didn't like the ornament containers as much because the dividers are cardboard.) http://www.joann.com/52-ct-ornament-storage-box-in-red/14636823.html

 

 

You might also want to look at fishing tackle boxes or at the hardware store or the RV store.

 

When you find what you want, please show us how it looks.