After I spent several evenings upholstering the inside of my Plano case to baby my precious rifles and expensive scopes, I realized that I should have bought that pelican.
I've never taken in my cars into the shop. My dad taught me, and I've been fixing my own car since I was a kid. One day I brought home a beautiful used Cadillac, and my dad (who was an economy nut and drove Honda) didn't understand.
I said, "Dad, if I'm going to work on them I might as well work on a Cadillac." I think that philosophy still applies to my gun case. For 80 bucks more I would have been much more satisfied that I'd made the investment of my labor.
That car had its foibles by the way, but they were far overshadowed by the cast iron V8 dinosaur under the hood; and by the upholstery which prompted my wife to say, "Gee we need better Furniture in the living room."