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Compare·Pelican
A respectful comparison

Pelican built the case.
We built the system.

For fifty years, Pelican has been the answer when something inside needed protecting. Tyo is the answer when everything you carry needs to move as one — powered, modular, and built to be reconfigured the day your kit changes.

See the full ledger →
Tyo Worksystem in Pacific Blue with engraved spec plate, studio setting
No. ty0001 Pacific Blue · Founders
Designed · Machined · Assembled — USA
What Pelican does brilliantly

Honor is earned the same way trust is —
by what you do when no one is watching.

Before we make our case for a different category, here are three things Pelican has earned the right to be praised for. None of this is contested.

01 · Heritage
Half a century of protection.

Dave and Arline Parker started Pelican in a Torrance, California garage in 1976. The first product was a dive marker buoy. Customers stripped the medical supplies from their watertight first-aid kit and kept the case — that was the signal. Fifty years later, the brand still means "protected."

02 · The Standard
IP67 and MIL-STD-810.

Pelican's flagship lines hold the certifications that matter to the people who can't fail in the field — watertight to 1 meter, tested against the same military standards that armor goes through. When the work is unforgiving, Pelican earned the right to be on the truck.

03 · The Lifetime
A guarantee that outlasts you.

Their injection-molded flagship cases carry a lifetime "Guarantee of Excellence." Premium lines are still manufactured in the United States — Torrance, California, and South Deerfield, Massachusetts. That is craft we respect, and a standard we measure ourselves against.

Tyo Worksystem stack in a loading-dock warehouse at dusk
Where the road forks

A case carries one thing.
A system carries everything you came with.

The question stopped being how durable the box is. The question became how the whole kit moves, charges, and reconfigures the morning the job changes. Pelican owns the first question. We're building the answer to the second.

The ledger

Two different products.
Two different jobs.

A protective case and a Worksystem are not the same thing. This is what each one is designed to do well — and where the line between them is honestly drawn.

Category
Tyo Worksystem™
Pelican Protector / Air
Modularity
Modular by design. Cases interlock into a single tower on one chassis with one handle. Add, remove, or reconfigure as the kit changes.
Each case is a stand-alone unit. Pelican's interlocking system (ISP) is sold into military and pallet-scale logistics — not the consumer or pro lines.
Transport
Roll the whole rig as one. Integrated wheels, single retractable handle, stair-capable chassis. Designed for the person carrying it.
Wheeled cases exist on individual SKUs (1620, 1607). Multi-case loads still require a separate dolly or pallet jack.
Power
Integrated. Power and data move between cases. Cameras, monitors, transmitters, drones charge while packed. The kit is ready before you are.
None integrated. You add your own power solution and route cables through the dividers.
Identity
Serialized. Every Worksystem ships with an engraved spec plate — a permanent number tied to a person and a build.
Generic SKU. Identical to every other case off the line.
Finish
Twelve+ colorways. Paint-to-sample philosophy — the color of the case matches the soul of the work.
Predominantly black, OD green, desert tan, silver. Built for utility, not for identity.
Heritage
Founder-led, US-built. Designed, machined, and assembled in the United States by the same people who answer the phone.
Founder-built (1976), private-equity owned since 2004 — currently held by Platinum Equity. Premium lines still US-made; lower-tier Vault series produced offshore.
Warranty
Lifetime structural, plus a serviceability model — replace a single component without replacing the whole tower.
Lifetime "Guarantee of Excellence" on injection-molded flagship lines. Vault line is one-year.
Who it's for
Creators, cinematographers, photographers, designers, surveyors, and the operators behind premium field work.
Military, aerospace, industrial professionals, law enforcement, and rugged outdoor users.
Specifications verified May 2026 — Pelican.com, Platinum Equity portfolio, Pelican Our Story.
Tyo stack in studio setting with cinema lighting
Who you are now

If the kit on your shoulder changed, the system carrying it should too.

01
You don't carry one camera body — you carry a build.
02
Your gear evolves twice a year. Your transport hasn't moved since 2008.
03
You want the rig to look as considered as the work coming out of it.
04
You'd rather own a number than a SKU.
One last thing

Reserve your number.

$25 reserves your position. We engrave the spec plate the moment you confirm. Refundable until production.

Phase 1 · Now Reserving Your Next Number No. ty0676

A protective case carries what's inside. A Worksystem carries who you are.