Anyone on here load in with only one trip to the car?

PorkPieGuy

PorkPieGuy

Platinum Member
Ok, here's a question:

How many of you have your stuff rigged up in such a way that you can get all of your gear in one trip to the car? I've seen a few compact kits that were strapped to a hand truck that looked pretty cool and easy to load in and load out.

Can anyone carry it all in one trip? Got pics?
 
I can do it in one trip, especially if its a long, smooth load like a city hotel. Some of these are 200 metres from the carpark to the room, via lifts, passageways, etc.

I have a small foldout trolley (2 wheels). Hard snare case on the bottom, then standard kick, floor and 1 or 2 toms stacked in soft cases. The snare case fits inside the bass drum rim to keep it in place. The straps of the top tom case wrap around the handle of the trolley. Other hand pulls a hardware trolley (Gator one with a metal frame) plus a backpack for cymbals. This takes a minute to stack up, but on a smooth run its manageable.

If I'm close to the stage, or its bumpy, I'll do two trips.
 
Yes I do one trip all the time!

My (drummer)world famous Two Bag Drum Set :

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113672

I need to take some newer pictures, I've made a few little changes to the kit.
But it's still ONE trip, two bags. Everything. Drums, cymbals, hardware, throne, sticks, microphones, cables, in ear monitors, etc etc

I both rehearse and gig with this kit and it has been the perfect solution many times - difficult load ins, quick rehearsals, small stages, even sometimes where there is not much room for transporting.

Neal
 
This is extremely helpful. Thanks for all of your posts and pics!
 
All the time - I fit a four piece kit, hardware and throne on my Rock n Roller cart and then sling the cymbal bag over my shoulder and wheel the whole lot in! Used to take me 3-4 trips prior to getting the cart.
 
Well, I have a small set that needs to fit in a small car. I drive a 95 Honda Civic Hatchback. My set only consists of a snare drum, it's stand, timbales, their stand, hihats, their stand, a ride, it's stand, some cowbells, and jam blocks. Yeah... I'm pretty Latin.
 
PorkPieGuy said:
This is smart.

Do you ever have any issue stacking stuff on top of your kick drum soft case?
Click to expand...

My stack is snare hardcase on the bottom, 20" kick, 14" floor, 10" rack.
So there are only 2 toms on the bass drum bag, and the floor sits inside the rim, the same way that the bass drum sits around the snare case below. Never noticed problems with this putting strain on the bass drum head or rim.

I have the snare case on bottom because my trolley is just a two wheeled hand truck, the bottom ledge is only a foot deep or less. I feel that the hard snare case sits better on that than the rim/head of the bass drum in a soft bag. I place the snare case one inch away from the edge, to make room for the bass rim.

One more thing - if I'm playing 5-piece, the extra tom bag hangs by its strap on my side of the trolley, over the top handle. I find this more stable than stacking three toms above the bass drum.

It all sounds fiddly, but it works, and I can get the 5 piece kit in one trip as long as there are no steps.
 
I can do it in one trip sometimes, but it all depends on the venue.

I mean I've setup by having to go through the kitchen during the dinner rush before. Definitely not a one-tripper.
 
I load in with only one trip. My kit gets pushed on a Rock & Roller cart and I pull an SKB gig case behind me.
 
FITM said:
I can do it in one trip sometimes, but it all depends on the venue.

I mean I've setup by having to go through the kitchen during the dinner rush before. Definitely not a one-tripper.
Click to expand...

A little off topic, but I've had to go through the kitchen several times in two of our top hotels. There's trays of exposed food, cheese platters, hundreds of dessert plates made up, and we're dragging drums, amps and crusty guitar cases through it all. Makes me wonder about hygiene regulations, and the design of these service areas, where the only path from the loading bay to the ballroom is through the kitchen.

I agree that its hard to get through a congested kitchen with a large load of gear.
 
I used to have a small jazz kit - 16 inch bass drum, snare, hi hats, ride cymbal plus stands/stool. I had all the stands in a small suitcase with wheels, snare and cymbals on my back, left hand pulling the suitcase and right hand carrying the bass drum. It was a nice little practice kit, should never have sold it...

Last Saturday I managed to carry my full drum kit to the car in two trips for the first time ever (it usually takes me three trips)! I'm still not sure how I managed but it was late, it was raining, the access path was wide and I wanted to get home. First trip was bass drum, rack tom, main snare and spare snare. Second trip was stand bag (on my back), floor tom, cymbals and drum mat.
 
Anyone have suggestions for a soft hardware bag?

I transport my drums in a sedan and the hardware goes in the trunk as the last thing. I keep them fully-extended and have to maneuver them individually to fit them in, so I know they wouldn't fit if I just dumped them all in a bag. But if I collapsed them down all the way and had a soft bag, I might be able to get that to fit.

Re-adjusting my stands is a price I'd be willing to pay to save a few trips to and from the car.
 
yeah, i use the protection racket hardware bag with wheels - the longest one, i can't remember the exact size of it but it fits all stands when collapsed down. i use it to store all my cymbal stand, hi-hat stand, throne, vocal mic stand, etc. the only downside is it weighs an absolute tonne once it's fully loaded so i need help to lift it up and down steps etc!

in answer to the original question:- no, i've never managed to make only one trip. i usually make at least 4!
 
8Mile said:
Anyone have suggestions for a soft hardware bag?

I transport my drums in a sedan and the hardware goes in the trunk as the last thing. I keep them fully-extended and have to maneuver them individually to fit them in, so I know they wouldn't fit if I just dumped them all in a bag. But if I collapsed them down all the way and had a soft bag, I might be able to get that to fit.

Re-adjusting my stands is a price I'd be willing to pay to save a few trips to and from the car.
Click to expand...

Get a speaker stand bag. You can fit several stands in there without collapsing the them. I can easily get my Yamaha 700 hi-hat stand and 4 Gibraltar flat based straight stands in this one.
 
I'm too lazy to undertake projects that would enable my laziness.
 
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