[KillerRabbit]

Bob,

I just got back this past spring from spending a year in Afghanistan and I did take my Iliad with me. Before we left for our mobilization station, I bought one of the Sedia Cushion Case from eReader Outfitters ($15).

Once we got to our mob station, I was able to get some of the foam padding that comes in cans of Mk19 ammunition. For those of you not familiar with it, the padding is a very dense 1/2" thick foam. I took two pieces of it (9" x 10.5") which was just slightly larger than the Sedia case. I took 3 long narrow pieces and put them between the two large panels on three sides so that the Iliad could slide into the new outer case. I then wrapped the whole thing with wide clear plastic tape.

When I took it into Afghanistan, I had it tightly packed in my ruck sack with a lot of other soft stuff. It was palletized with about 50 other ruck sacks and duffle bags. During my time in country, I only used it in my b-hut and when we rotated out at the end of our year, I took it home the same way.

Very cheap, durable, and seemed to protect it quite well.

The first picture shows the empty foam case next to the Sedia case, which in turn, has the Iliad laying on top. The second picture is an edge shot of my foam case, and the third is the foam case with the combination Sedia case / Iliad partially pulled out.

Bob, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Otherwise, safe travels to you and yours. While there were some bad times during my year, there were many good times too. I have no regrets about going. While I didn't have a lot of time for pleasure reading, it was nice to have the Iliad when I did have the time and it did a pretty good job.

Marc