Hauling the Drums

  • Thread starter Thread starter Whyte Ice
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Whyte Ice

The Next Vanilla Ice
What is the most easiest, convenient way to haul a drum set like if you were playing live? I'm also looking for something that won't take up huge amounts of space. Drum cases?

I've also seen these things called Drum Caddy's but never really looked into them much.
 
i used to have an ex-army weapon case for all my hard ware. popped some wheels on her and off we go! not to mention the looks you get carrying a case like that! as far as drums go, i gave up on that...just keep some towels in the car to stop em rubbing together....my mum sewed me a heavy duty cymbal case back when i was fifteen and its lasted me ever since, she even put a little pocket on there for my tuning key (rest her soul)...
 
Soft, foam lined cases with carrying straps/handles. They don't take up much more room, make the drums easier to carry and give a fair amount of protection.
 
First off, after over 30 years of hauling drums, I've decided there is no "easy way" to haul em.

That being said, soft shell cases are the least expensive and lightest option. They propect the drums from weather and from small dings, but won't protect the drums against a fall down a flight of stairs or off the back off a pick-up (first hand knowledge).
You can find a set of bags for a standard 5 piece kit for $150-$200. Mars used to have a set of 5 bags (with the Mars logo) for about $130.

Sometimes you can find duffel bags, etc. at "Army/Navy" stores (I found great bags for hauling congas). These can be less costly than "drum bags". For hardware, go to rummage sales and buy used golf bags. You can get them for anywhere between $1.00-$5.00 and they work great (they're designed to carry long thin pieces of metal -which is what drum hardware is).

It all depends on what you want to spend to protect your drum investment, and how much your drum investment is. A good set of hard shell cases can cost about $500. If I had a $400 set I wouldn't spend $500 on cases. I personally use both soft cases (for a little jazz set) and hard cases for my "good" sets.

Hard shell cases stack better for storage (and for transportation) soft cases have to be placed carefully so nothing puts pressure on the drums.

One last thought on hardware cases. I used to have a heavy duty anvil trap case that held all my hardware, it ended weighing about 150 lbs. which was no fun hauling up stairs by myself (I didn't weigh much more than that). I ended up getting a couple of smaller cases - I think it's better to make any extra trip or two then risking an injury).
 
I fit my 6 piece Export kit, all hardware, cymbals, my bands mixer and PA amp, and a swag into a 89 corrola hatch. Definately not the easiest way to do it, but it's the only way I can for now.
 
My drums are in self made cases. These are hardboard over a timber frame. The padding inside the case is 1 inch or so polystrene sheet covered in very heavy plastic damp proof membrane to protect the poly from drum damage. The cases are square and stack easy one takes kick, snare and floor fit into a second and a third takes two rack toms. I have dividers in them so drums don't smash into each other. The case tops are fastened with old car seat belts. They work very well and cost so little I can't even remember the cost. Served me well for about ten years now and still going strong.

For hardware wrapped in a blanket and then into an army kit bag is about as good as it gets. The bigger and better yer cases the less help you get from other band members with the load in ! The kick case is always left for me... :rolleyes:

Cymbals - Zildjian Cymbal safe is what I bought when I was flush. I put some tape around the centre pin that takes the cymbals to try and avoid damage. When your carting alot of different sized cymbals an easy solution is hard to find. The safe is better than soft bags but not perfect.

Cheers
 
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Oh yeah forgot - the bases of the cases are plywood. These things are strong - I remember yelling at a couple of people who were sat on my kick case during a load in. I had visions of the empty case collapsing but it was fine - overbuilding is great !

Cheers
 
A worked with a band a while back that traved around alot by air and such. They had road cases for almost everything, and they have alot of stuff with them.

The kick drum and floor toms had pretty standard hardshell cases. The snare, hi toms and all the hardware went into a really nice roadcase. It had over an inch of that black foam stuff around every thing and it all was built so nothing was loose inside the case. it was around 26" wide, around 14" deep and like 5 feet long. The band had two or three more cases the same size all of which had cutouts and spaces for everything. They have mandolin, mandola, banjo, fiddel, accordian, hermonica, bass gtr, 2 electric gtrs and 3 accoustic gtrs(There is one more, that I can't remember). All of that fit into 2 or 3 roadcases along with a pile of patchcables and petals.

Their loadin is 4 roadcases, + another custom amp case, floor tom and kick drum. Very expensive stuff, but very nice all the same.

If you have the money for roadcases they are the best way to haul any gear around.

But on a budget, blankets and some hardcases is the easyest way to go.
 
Hardshell cases are the only way to go. In the mid 70s, I scored a bunch of Zero-Halliburton aluminum flight cases through the surplus channels for pennies on the dollar. They were deep-drawn aluminum, 26x26x16 for the hardware, and 4 26x26x36 cases for the drums themselves. Beautiful: 10 butterfly twistlock latches per case, and a gasketed seal at the lid. They were that very pretty NASA light blue, too. I made foam inserts for them so that everything had a place to go, and made little wood dollies with heavy casters for moving them (and speakers, and whatever else). In these cases, the gear can sit in the back of a truck in the rain and come out okay. I doubt that there are any of these exact cases are still out there, but mil-spec gear cases can be had through the surplus channels in any major metro area for very reasonable prices. Your tax dollars at work. I still have them: ought to shoot pictures of how they look many miles and years later. The gear inside is still fine, though!

Funny hard-case story one: the gasketed seal can be a lifesaver. I remember doing one booze cruise on Boston Harbor where things got a little rough, and my kick drum case got knocked overboard with my kick and the two rack toms (which live nested inside the kick) in it. Luckily, we were already tied up back at the dock, so all I had to do was grab a boat hook and retrieve it from the harbor: they float just fine.... And not a drop of water got in. With a soft case, I'd have been buying a bunch of new shells muy pronto.

Funny hard-case story two: having said that, mikeh is right. Trap cases are heavy, and having more than one can reduce the exposure to serious injury. If I had it to do again, I'd get two smaller ones, instead of the single larger one. We were loading out of a place called Chet's Last Call, the 2nd floor bar that used to be right across the street from the main entrance to North Station and the Boston Garden. The keyboard player was helping me get the 150+lb trap case down the fire escape to the truck, when a rather well endowed young thing decided to take an interest in him. So he let go to talk to her, and I ended up at the bottom of a flight of stairs with a beautiful, bulletproof, 150+lb Zero Halliburton case on top of me- and with a wrecked ACL and other damage to my right knee. My kick side, of course. That's when I started taking up other instruments, so I could play *something* while in plaster for the next 12 weeks. Twenty-plus years and three knee surgeries later, I still cuss that keyboard player on damp, cool mornings...
 
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