From the moment I spied the photos and read snippets about Sea Run cases from Italian high-end gun case maker Negrini, I knew they had made something special.
I’ve made my own fly rod cases multiple times, and used about every manufacturer’s version over the years for both travel and extended float/road trips. Most of them amount to a PVC tube sheathed in CORDURA, which is fine. But the Sea Run Case is not this. It is extremely well thought-out, built to very tight tolerances with very high-quality materials.
Those fly rod tubes work for the most part, and can be strapped to a boat frame or chucked in the back of your car. If you’re looking for a case that locks (three built-in locks!) that can swallow up to six fly rods (tightly) and five or six reels plus a handful of random gear like pliers, and tippet, this is the case for you. I’ve used the case the last six weeks on a couple of extended family trips here in Colorado. I also took a trip to the East Coast, where I literally shoved two spinning rods, four fly rods, four fly reels, and two spinning reels plus random other bits of gear into the thing. I never thought twice about checking all of that gear below the airplane.
You could easily carry it on but, it all arrived safe and sound with nothing broken — even past the fill limit of what Sea Run recommends.
The exterior is bombproof ABS construction with choices of Italian leather upgrades. The interior that is tough to describe — it consists of an incredibly soft yet firm close-celled foam covered by a synthetic canvas, giving you confidence that the gear you packed is safe and sound. The German locks are TSA-compliant and the hinges are all stainless, so nothing should ever rust. The case holds 10-foot 4-piece fly rods at the max end and I’ve put two of my smaller G.Loomis GLX travel spinning rods in with four fly rods for the latest trip
Like many of the highest-quality things in life you get what you pay for and these cases are not cheap. Starting at $499 with an additional $109 dollar canvas bag for more protection (which I used when traveling) Sea Run cases aren’t cheap. But… I can say without a doubt, after close to 20 years in the industry, I’ve never seen a nicer case. Plus, when you consider what could be multiple thousands of dollars of gear inside the case why wouldn’t you want the best protection you can buy? That seems like a pretty inexpensive insurance policy to me.