Best Hard Bow Cases

Forty-five dollars for a rigid moulded case with Plano's PillarLock crush-resistant structure, and at 10 lb it's the lightest hard case in the category. It won't fly — no named standard, no included lock, one-year warranty — but for the archer who wants their bow protected in the back of a truck or stored somewhere the dog can't reach, this is most of the protection for a tenth of the price.

Price

$44.99

Weight

10.0 lb

Standard

None-published

Locks

Padlockable

Cut for Ravin's compact crossbows, this is the smallest case in the category by linear inches — 62.25, essentially at the airline oversize threshold rather than far past it — and at 17.58 lb it's the lightest hard case here by a wide margin. It's MIL-STD 810H rated, takes SKB's TSA-compatible lock retrofit, and carries the lifetime warranty. If you shoot a Ravin and you fly, this is the one.

Price

$514.99

Weight

17.6 lb

Standard

Mil-std-810

Locks

Travel-sentry-compatible

The Pelican 1745BOW is the case you buy when the bow flies more than you'd like. It's the only case here that ships with Travel Sentry locking latches in the box rather than selling you the retrofit, and it's certified to IP67 and MIL-SPEC — real standards, published, not the words "airline approved" on a sticker. Pelican's lifetime warranty is the genuine you-break-it-we-replace-it kind. The catch is the price and the fact that Pelican quotes weight with the bow interior fitted, so the empty figure isn't published.

Price

$499.95

Standard

Ip67

Locks

Travel-sentry-included

Warranty

Lifetime

SKB's iSeries double is the case for someone travelling with two bows, or one bow and a lot of gear. It's MIL-STD 810H rated, waterproof, and carries SKB's lifetime warranty — and at 24.27 lb empty it's meaningfully lighter than SKB's biggest single-bow cases while holding twice as much. The one thing to know before you buy: the Trigger Latch system is not Travel Sentry out of the box. SKB sells a TSA-compatible retrofit separately, which is a strange omission at this price.

Price

$409.99

Weight

24.3 lb

Standard

Mil-std-810

Locks

Travel-sentry-compatible

The Safe Shot is the long one. At 47.5 inches of published interior it swallows bows that won't fit the compact cases, and it does it for under fifty dollars — which makes it the obvious pick for anyone with a long-ATA target rig and no intention of flying. It's shallow at 5 inches, publishes no weight, and Flambeau states no warranty at all, so treat it as garage-and-truck protection rather than travel gear.

Price

$47.99

Standard

None-published

Locks

Padlockable

Warranty

None-published

Plano's All Weather sits in the middle of the range: a sealed hard case at a price that doesn't require a second thought, aimed at the archer who wants real weather protection in a truck bed without paying SKB money. What you're giving up is documentation — Plano publishes no interior dimensions, no empty weight, and cites no transit standard, and the warranty is one year against the lifetime cover from the premium brands.

Price

$179.99

Standard

None-published

Locks

Padlockable

Warranty

1-year

SKB's purpose-cut case for the TenPoint TRX26 — gasket-sealed, MIL-STD 810H, wheeled, lifetime warranty, and foam contoured to that specific crossbow plus its quiver. It's the most expensive case in the category and it only makes sense if you own the bow it's cut for. Two caveats worth knowing before you spend $590: SKB's page contradicts itself on whether foam is actually included, and the stated 12-inch interior depth doesn't reconcile with the lid-plus-base split SKB publishes on the sibling model.

Price

$589.99

Standard

Mil-std-810

Locks

Padlockable

Warranty

Lifetime

The Spire is Plano's compact crossbow case, and it shows exactly why crossbows need their own case: 12 inches of interior depth against the 4-to-8 inches a compound bow needs. The cavity is contoured rather than a plain box — shaped around a buttstock, limbs and scope — so the 39 × 24.5 × 12 figures describe an envelope, not usable volume. At $100 it's the accessible end of crossbow storage.

Price

$99.99

Standard

None-published

Locks

Padlockable

Warranty

1-year

Ninety-two dollars for a hard crossbow case, which is roughly a sixth of what SKB and TenPoint charge. The trade is bulk and paperwork: at 86.55 linear inches it's the largest object in this category by a distance — genuinely awkward for air travel — and Plano publishes no weight, no standard, and covers it for a year. For a crossbow that lives in a truck between seasons, none of that matters much.

Price

$91.99

Standard

None-published

Locks

Padlockable

Warranty

1-year

TenPoint's own hard case is the roomiest crossbow case here — 41 inches long and 13.75 deep, enough for a wide, scoped crossbow that won't go near a compact shell. It's wheeled and built for the brand's own bows. What it doesn't have is documentation: no empty weight, no named transit standard, and a one-year warranty that looks thin beside SKB's lifetime cover at a similar price.

Price

$549.99

Standard

None-published

Locks

Padlockable

Warranty

1-year