Hard or soft cases?

[Doug Stratford]

I'm about to buy some cases for my drums and am undecided about choosing hard or soft ones. The hard Nomads are a lacquered cardboard that may be affected by moisture; they may warp. And they take up more room in a car, due to their size and square corners. So they may be harder to get in a car. The soft ones are made of a sturdy nylon that is unaffected by moisture. They load into a car more easily too. They happen to be cheaper too, though that is not the most important thing for me. I only plan to use them around town, not for heavy duty travel. Any other opinions out there?

[cjl71178]

IMO...I wouldn't go with the Nomad cases; they look just like the Humes & Berg Econoline's which are junk (no offense to either company!). With my first kit I ever owned, I got a set of the Econolines and they literally fell apart. They're not waterproof nor weatherproof so they definately will warp. And forget it if you happened to drop one of them!

If you're going with bags, Humes & Berg has the Galaxy line which are nice and very inexpensive. I use them and I'm very pleased. I actually also had a set of the Tuxedo bags, which cost more, but I preferred the Galaxy ones.

If you're only carrying your drums in your car, just go with bags.

Best of luck dude.

[bigbang]

I guess it comes down to how much abuse you drums may get.I use SKB cases for all my drums on the road because they are generally throw in the back of a truck ( not really thrown , but you know what I mean).For gigs that I drive myself and my drums to I just use bags.
SKB cases are expensive, but they will protect against drops and something rammed up against them.
Bags will prevent scratches , but I don't think I'd want to drop them.

[Skitch]

My rule is usually to overbuy protection and I can't afford both, bags and cases, so I bought some Protechtor cases for my drums. But I can also say that I you are the one handling youdrums you may want to opt for the bags......Iwouldn't use bags on the road, though. You never know when a stack of speakers may inadvertently fall on you bass drum....nice suprise!

Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com

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[The Ploughman]

I have a set of H&B Tuxedo Bags for my Rogers kits. They are used mostly when I am hauling a set to the church, and bringing a different set home.

I have two 40+ year old collector quality vintage kits that I will gig with, ....... my gigs are different than some of yours, Im not worried about drunks or wild animals. Being that they are gospel gigs. But..... those two kits are never transported anywhere in the truck unless they are in full on Road cases. For me, that level of protection was well worth the little bit the cases cost. I got lucky there.

For every thing else, theres the Humes and Berg Enduros and bags. I use both.

It just depends on the level of protection you want. And how much you are willing to spend. And just how lucky you get buying used. I was very lucky on the used stuff.

As for the Econolines........I used a set from 1979-1999. They were pretty toasted by then. The BD case fell apart within five years. But the rest of them were still quite serviceable when I bought the H&B Enduros.

[ermghoti]

I have Kaces HD series bags. They are semi-rigid, not really collapsible for storage, but that points to the degree of protection they offer. I have no doubts about their ability to keep the kit safe against anything other than deliberate abuse or massive trauma.

[Ozzy Biz]

I'm interested in the case/bag issue too. Does anyone have any experience with the Protection Racket cases? I think they're semi-rigid ones.

[Deathmetalconga]

I'm interested in the case/bag issue too. Does anyone have any experience with the Protection Racket cases? I think they're semi-rigid ones.

I wanted to get Protection Racket, but they are hard to get in the states. Plus, my drums are all square sizes so they are hard to fit. I wound up getting a set of Hardcases (www.hardcase.com) and I have been very happy with them. They provide superb protection, nest well, adjust to fit odd sizes and British-made stuff has a certain mystique here. These could fall out of a car at freeway speed and the drum would be untouched. They also have this cool stacking feature so they are very fast and safe to transport. The downside: They are heavier than cloth cases and they take up more room in the car. They are comparable in cost to Protection Racket

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