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Reviews For: Vibroplex Wooden Case for Bugs

Category: Keys & Paddles

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Review Summary For : Vibroplex Wooden Case for Bugs
Reviews: 2MSRP: 99.95
Description:
Wooden carrying case for Vibroplex bugs, handcrafted from hardwood with finishing touches of brass hinges and handle. The interior is felt lined and designed to hold your bug in place while transporting.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.vibroplex.com/accessories.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0024
AA1UY Rating: 2012-10-02
Nice but a little more effort would make it great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have one of these to protect my Blue Racer 2000 Deluxe.

Although the outside is finished (waxed?), because of the light color of the wood, it has a kind of unfinished look and would look better if it had been stained a darker color (the picture above is misleading as to the color of it; it's much lighter than that).

As the previous reviewer said, there are no feet or felt on the bottom of the case either, so it's prone to getting scratched if left as-is.

The metal fittings (handle and latch) are kinda gaudy and cheap looking; I would have preferred real brass fittings.

I paid extra to have a the "brass" Vibroplex label stamped with a serial number to match my key's, however, you can hardly see the number as it's so lightly stamped.

The inside of the lid and the bottom are finished, but the inside sides of the case are unfinished (rough).

The bug sits in a recess in the bottom of the case but there are no ribbons supplied to cradle and hoist the key in and out. I can't imagine trying to get the bug out of there without ribbon straps under it.

All of that said, it is a very well constructed case, quite attractive and on the whole, I am very pleased with it, however due to the above failings, it only gets a 4.
W0EKS Rating: 2007-10-26
Attractive, but underdesigned Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The case is designed to fit the Vibroplex Original bug. It's made of oak and quite attractive compared to the cases of old.

What's odd is that it doesn't come with feet, rubber or otherwise. The exterior is finished throughout, so I added some screw-in rubber feet to protect the bottom.

Another functional difference about the new wooden case is that the bug isn't held into place. It simply lays in a socket in the bottom. The bug will dislodge and/or tip if the case is jostled. There is no groove to hold the bug in place like with the old cases. I compensated for this by adding layers of cardboard beneath the socketed bed, bringing the key up closer to the top so it can't dislodge.

Which brought me to another little problem. The screws for the handle are much longer than needed and protrude into the padding in the lid. Two of them line up perfectly with the bug frame, so I removed the screws and ground them down to the minimum length necessary (I didn't have shorter replacements in brass).

Another small matter is that my old Champion bug fits too snugly, lengthwise. The thumb piece contacts the interior wall, and could potentially be damaged if the case was to fall on that end. I imagine the same would hold true for a Lightning Bug.

I am happy enough with it after the modifications, but the old "end-fed" cases did a better job of protecting the key, in my opinion.