storage and moisture

I live in Okinawa japan which is a subtropical island. The humidity is very high all year round. I was talking to this guy that works at a very big photo store new my house and he said that the humidity is very bad for digital SLRs. He said there are basicly two ways to protect your camera. Either buy one of those dry storage cases that have the glass door and the hyrdometer on the front. They are electric and they are pretty expensive. Or, just get a case or a box that has a good seal and keep a good amount of silica gel or other moisture absorbing chemical in the box. Though it has to be changed every 3-4 months.

So I was wondering, what do you do for your camera storage and what would you recomend? I already have a pelican case (1500)

http://blacklinux.com/pages/public/cars/skyline/new/0199489.jpg

ready for the job, I just have to buy some silica gel beads. The Guy also mentioned that the foam inside of pelican cases is a good place for mold to breed and he recomended against long term storage in a pelican case with foam in it. Should I listen to this guy? I was planning on using one box for storage and travel. Just cut the foam in the pelican case and put some silica gel in there. Keeps it dry and it's good for travel too because the case is very strong. Should I worry about the foam growing mold even if it's got silica inside?

If it's really a problem then I will just take all the foam out of the pelican case and just use it for in house storage, but when I go out to take pictures for the day I'll just get a lowe alpine (lowpro) SLR bag...

http://blacklinux.com/pages/public/cars/skyline/new/photo_01.jpg

Advice?

i have a lowe pro nature trekker all weather ruck sack. it's amazing. i've used it for the last three years (mine's the old style one before the redesign). it's very rugged and well designed. i haven't had anything on the bag break or wear out and most importantly, i haven't had any of my equipment damaged whilst it was inside the bag. the harness system is the most comfortable of all the ruck sack type camera bags i've used. you won't be disappointed, except maybe by the price, but then again you get what you pay for.

humidity isn't really too much of a problem where i am (uk), as it's pretty much cold all of the time so there isn't much condensation, which is where the problem comes from. so i leave my camera in the bag most of the time.

j.

Stick with the pelican case, those things are indestuctable, i have personally dropped one from 30ft onto a frozen dirt road at -34*c and it didnt even dent the plastic and the electronics inside were in perfect condition. Im told they test those cases by dropping them from helicoptor at 500ft at -40*C onto a concrete pad :eek:

if ultimate strengh is you main goal, then agreed, get a pelicase. we have several at work for using when transporting backup tapes off site and have never had any problems with damage.

if i was planning to post my equipment somewhere (never gonna happen - where ever i go, my equipment goes) or put it in an aeroplane hold, i'd use a pelicase.

however, when i go out on a hike, to a motor sport event or an airshow where i'm doing a lot of walking about, i want a comfortable way of carrying the 6kg's+ of weight. from looking at the peli web site, all of their cases are in the design of big rigid case with maybe a shoulder strap. a couple of minutes of walking with that knocking into your leg every stride would get real old real quick.

ultimately it all depends what you want to use the bag / case for.

hth,
j.