C.S. Muncy is a freelance photojournalist based out of New York City with a client list that includes The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsday, The New York Daily News and The Village Voice. As a freelancer, he’s covered such subjects as the BP Oil Spill, the fight for same-sex civil rights, the takeover of the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin and Occupy Wall Street. A graduate of the Defense Information School, he enlisted in the United States Air Force in 2002 and is currently a photographer with the New York Air National Guard.“Simple. Bombproof. Professional.” This description is stamped on every single Beta Shell lens case, and last week I decided to put these claims to the ultimate test. I’ve owned several Beta Shell cases over the last two years; and the “Simple” and “Professional” always seemed like earned descriptions. Each case is built like a pipe-bomb, with a heavy duty ABS-plastic body, shock-absorbing foam interior, and topped with a rubber-gasket screw top. God knows that my cases regularly take a beating, and so far they’ve managed to do a great job protecting my gear.
One thing’s always bugged me, though. “Bombproof.” That’s a hell of a claim. Sure, the ABS plastic is tough and the foam inserts do a great job preventing lenses from bouncing against the inside of the case, but that’s a far cry from protecting against the kind of damage an IED might cause. I decided to put their claim to the test by shooting it with an M203A2 grenade launcher, and placing it a few feet from an M14 Incendiary Grenade. To be fair, the grenade launcher fired a 40mm buckshot round (each pellet is about the size of a pea, and the plastic sabot is by itself considered fatal.) but between that and the extreme heat from the grenade, I believe my test gave a fair approximation of the damage one might encounter from a relatively small explosive device.
M14 grenades are used by the military to destroy equipment and material, and to prevent their capture by the enemy. Once activated, the affected area burns incredibly hot, and in this case it burned straight through the steel plate it was left on. The Beta Shell case was placed five to ten feet behind the grenade, and emerged relatively unscathed.
Next the case was hung from a target post and shot with the grenade launcher from a distance of fifteen feet. The impact violently knocked the gasket and screw top loose, and sent the case spinning into the sand. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that the plastic sabot dented the upper portion of the case, while seven or eight pellets lodged in the Beta Shell’s ABS plastic. Amazingly, I could only find one pellet that managed to fully penetrate into the interior of the case. No pellets appear to have gone all the way through.
If I had left a lens inside the case, the impact alone likely would have caused some level of damage. That bit of lead that managed to penetrate into the interior of the case lost so much kinetic energy that it failed to lodge in the opposing layer of plastic. So where does this leave Beta Shell’s “Bombproof” claim? From this test, I would have given a professionally built lens a better than even chance of survival. If you were standing next to the explosive device, it’s unlikely the lens would survive unscathed, but then again if you’re standing that close the lens is probably going to be the least of your concerns. Further out, the case stands a much better chance at survival.
The truth is that the average photographer isn’t going to subject their gear to this kind of punishment. For every day protection, the Beta Shell is perfect for keeping your expensive glass safe. For those shooters working in extreme environments, the Beta Shell line will still provide better protection than almost anything else currently out on the market.
(Full disclosure- during 2010 I briefly was a Beta Shell product tester.)
