Turn a Pelican Case Into the Coolest Bluetooth Speaker at the Beach Party

We can debate all day long about the difference between brand names and generic products, but there is no denying that Pelican cases are famous for being sturdy and durable. They’re usually designed to transport fragile gear, such as cameras, musical instruments, and computers. But you can also purchase universal Pelican cases to use for whatever application you please. One small model, the Pelican 1050, can be found for under $20, and this tutorial will walk you through how to turn it into a portable Bluetooth speaker.

It’s worth pointing out that this build will likely cost more than most consumer Bluetooth speakers on the market. But there is fun and pride to be had in building your own device, and you’ll get the Pelican bragging rights at your next beach party. You should also note that this isn’t waterproof — the speakers and controls negate the Pelican case’s original water protection gasket. Fortunately, building this Bluetooth speaker is pretty straightforward once you gather the components. If these components are too pricey, you can always follow other guides and stuff their recommended parts into the same Pelican case.

In this tutorial, the components used are a TinyShine 4.0 Bluetooth audio receiver board, a Dayton Audio DTA-2 Cladd D audio amplifier, a Dayton Audio ND65-4 2-1/2” full-range driver, two 3.5” passive speakers, a custom battery back made from 18650 lithium-ion cells, a lithium-ion battery charging board, and a few miscellaneous components for the controls and input. The most delicate part of the job is cutting the holes for the speakers and controls. From there, it’s a simple job of connecting the various components together. The TinyShine Bluetooth receiver will show up like any other Bluetooth speaker on your phone, so you shouldn’t have any trouble connecting to it and blasting some sweet tunes.