I'm planning on hunting squab with a shotgun in a comedy bit. Do you think the "casket" could fill in as a night vision scope?

I'm not even sure that I know what a night vision scope IS!!!

As mentioned earlier in this thread, the casket is 9 1/2" long and 3" in diameter. I think this might be too large for your application.

I just purchased this about a year or 2 ago from Abbotts and the one I got you can hold liquid in it. It only came with one set of end caps with no holes so if you use it for a dove production and drill holes in it, you won't be able to ever use it for any kind of liquid effect unless you get another set of end caps. But I have never used doves or any animals, so I won't have to worry about that. So far I only use it for silk changes.

Those of you who have the older version, can they hold liquid?

One side has the capacity of holding 2 cups of liquid. Does anyone have any thoughts on liquid changes?

I've never heard of a Casket that would hold water and can't find any reference to it on the Abbott web site but things are always changing. Are you sure it's a Casket of Pandora? The older version are not water tight so they couldn't be used for liquid. In your version, you could put holes in one cap and use the other end for the liquid. If you don't use animals, there would be no need for the holes.

As for liquid changes, you could load a silk in one end of the casket. Pour colored liquid in the other end. Take a matching silk and vanish it then produce it from the casket. A transformation of liquid to silk. Or have colored liquid in one end. Pour clear or another color liquid in the other end and do a color change.

You could show the Casket empty. Vanish some liquid and have it reappear in the Casket.

My only concern with using liquid in the Casket is cleaning. The space in the older caskets are small and if the newer version is the same, it might be difficult cleaning and drying it.

It's definite Abbotts "Casket of Pandora" and on their website Greg Bordner shows a short video of the prop. It doesn't mention it can hold liquid on their website. The instructions I received it does have some suggested effects using the casket, but only one was a liquid effect which was the rice bowl effect with water.

I did place water into one of the sides and the water is definitely sealed. It doesn't run into the other side. It doesn't seem to hard to clean at all.

I like the idea of vanishing some liquid and having it re-appear in the casket.

If you turn your Casket of Pandora upside-down after pouring water into it, will the cap hold the water inside (watertight)?

Julie

Maybe the old ones can hold water as well. I never checked it as I always use it for doves. I did watch the Abbott's video again and don't see liquid being used. I've had the prop for over 30 years and don't remember the instructions. Maybe they mentioned liquid. I have two of them so maybe I'll check one out and see.

Yes it does Julie. I can't even get the caps to go on all the way without pulling on the lip to allow air in. Then I can put the cap on all the way.

Interesting...I don't think my 1960's version would hold water with its relatively loose cap(s). These caps are fairly hard plastic with hardly any real give.

Our only use was to transform torn-up colored comic pages to about a gazillion spring flowers. The caps work fine for that.

Julie

My original Casket was like Julie's. It had hard plastic caps and those definitely wouldn't be watertight. The second one I purchased had soft plastic (might even be rubber) and I can see those being watertight. Guess it's like Forest Gump's box of chocolates. You never know what you'll get till you open the box.

After speaking with Greg at Abbott's, he confirms that all versions of the casket, even the older ones, will hold liquid however the older hard plastic caps will not. Basically, you can put liquid in the casket and it won't leak into the other side, but unless you are using the softer rubber caps, you can't turn the it upside down. It will leak.

The older model is rolled flat sheet, they will still leak because of the overlap in forming a tube.

The new ones are made from Plexiglas and therefore will seal with the soft vinyl lids.

Bill, the construction is correct. I have both the rolled and the plexiglass ones. Gregg at Abbott's confirms that the overlap seam is sealed and both will hold liquid. You have to use the vinyl caps as you mentioned though.

Let's just say for an example you are using the torn up colored comic newspaper to spring flowers as Julie stated in her post above. The spectators see you remove the cap off of a certain end (we will call it end cap 1) and you place the torn up colored comic newspaper inside this end and place the cap back on. What do you do and how do you handle the tube when it's time to remove the end cap off of the other end which we will call (end cap 2?)

Greg Bordner on his video throws the tube up in the air in a spinning fashion and he catches it, but I was wondering what you all do so it doesn't look suspicious to the audience that you are removing the cap off a different end.

It just takes a little misdirection. Something simple will do it. For example, put the paper in one side and seal it. Lay the tube down on you table. Let's say you are on the right side of the table. Lay it down so the paper end is pointing to the left. Step away from the table for a few seconds but return on the left side of the table. Pick up the casket with your right hand and the side with the feathers will be on top. You must not call attention to either end during all of this.

In one of my routines, I place several plain silks in the tube. I hand the tube to my assistant on the right with the load facing the right. I step forward for a few seconds to make a few gestures and my assistant hands the casket back to me with the opposite end up. I then open it up and produce the silks blended. That leads into a dove production. The audience loses track of which end is up.

The ends are marked, so you know for sure. It is all in the printed directs. I throw my prop up in the air. I change a 36" blendo silk to a confetti. I pour the confetti into Abbott's Confetti Bowls, sort of a Rice Bowls routine. I reproduce the 36" silk, and streamer of paper that flows from one of the bowls. It is my opening sequence.

On a visit to Abbott's I took my original Casket in for repair. They used the measurement to start producing the casket in Plexiglas. I did not take the end caps so that is why the vinyl caps are little longer around the tube.

The famous lady magician Celeste Evans put a ring and sting around the middle of the Casket. Put the ring on here forearm like a purse. She put a silk in the Casket, gave it a spin, then opened it to produce a dove. So it became a sparkly purse for a lady. Nice idea, thinking outside the box.

Dave, I was explaining the water with the original Casket, and the original capes, They would leak and fall off at times, so I put some plastic tape folded over to tighten the grip around the tube. Over the use of the original tube, mine started to crack inside, so Abbott's patched it up like new.

I like the original, but never tried to put new caps on the old tube, as I did not use liquid. I guess you could do rice to water along with the Rice Bowls routine.

Added tip, if you use for birds, you will have to put more air holes in the tube or enlarge the ones already there. My birds cam out all scared and sweaty, so get them use to being in the prop before you use it on a show. I learned a lesson the hard way.

Bill, I knew what you meant. On first glance, it would seem that the overlapping seam would leak regardless of what caps you used. That isn't the case. The seam does not leak. You are correct that the caps are marked. Mine has 3 red dots on one cap. I never liked the idea of tossing the casket in the air. There was always the chance that it would come down with the changed end on the bottom and you'd have to turn the tube over.

My caps came with 4 holes in one cap. As Dick mentioned earlier, when I did use the Casket to produce a dove, I never put the cap on totally until just before I picked it up. That gave plenty of air for the dove. If I was doing a stage show and using my assistant, she loaded the dove just before bringing the casket out to me.

Dave, I see how you read my words with the wrong meaing. I did not mean the seam leaked, but it would leak with the plastic cap on, under the cap when tilted. So if water was in the old model and turned parallel to the floor, water would leak from under the cap, as the seam left an opening/space where the seam overlapped over the side of the tube at the end of the tube. Hope that is more explanatory.

I never has the luxury of an assistant, but I did have my doves in for the shortest possible time. I put them in bags and other props, but they never got upset as much as when they were in the tube. Just to cramped for them I guess.

Bill, I see what you mean now about the seam and cap and you're right. Even the vinyl caps would leave a gap on the older version. Funny after all these years I never even thought about liquid.