Soft-padded Concertina Bags

[Peter Brook]

Just a word of warning for those that use soft concertina bags.

 

I went to a workshop on saturday where a guy on his way to the event had dropped his english concertina. It was in a padded soft concertina bag that went over his shoulder. Unfortunately for him he slipped on the snow and the concertina hit the ground - end first.

 

You might have thought it would be protected but the wooden fretwork was completely smashed on one end, which meant the fingerplate just span round when he started to try and play. It was really sad.

 

I don't know anything about EC but this one looked really old and was obviously in excellent condition before the accident.

 

Hard cases might be slightly heavier and harder to carry but I know what I'll be keeping my concertina in.

[Jeff Stallard]

Man that sucks, but is this news to anyone? I certainly HOPE no one is out there thinking their soft case will protect against a fall like that. Now me, I spent the last 7 years honing my mind and body so that, should I fall, I'll be able to deftly throw my body between the ground and the concertina, so hey, I'm not worried.

[BruceB]

Just a word of warning for those that use soft concertina bags.

 

I went to a workshop on saturday where a guy on his way to the event had dropped his english concertina.  It was in a padded soft concertina bag that went over his shoulder.  Unfortunately for him he slipped on the snow and the concertina hit the ground - end first.

 

You might have thought it would be protected but the wooden fretwork was completely smashed on one end, which meant the fingerplate just span round when he started to try and play.  It was really sad. 

 

I don't know anything about EC but this one looked really old and was obviously in excellent condition before the accident.

 

Hard cases might be slightly heavier and harder to carry but I know what I'll be keeping my concertina in.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That entirely depends on the soft case. I have a custom made one that has really dense foam about an inch thick that surrounds the concertina. There is no way the fretwork would be even slightly damaged in a fall. In fact, my concertina would be SAFER if dropped in it's soft case as opposed to it's hard case. It was made by someone in Virginia I think. Wish I could remember as it's a really great case. I use it sometimes when I take it out (usually at NESI, plus see my post in "What's Your Ideal Situation?), but most of the time my concertina lives in it's hard case.

bruce boysen

[John Wild]

It is not just falls you need protection against. Some years ago I was carrying my Lachenal edeophone in a soft shoulder bag. I had plenty of padding in it to protect against it being dropped downwards. However, while we were watching a firework display, it was resting on the ground. I discovered some time after the event that it had been hit sideways on by something very heavy - I never will know what.

 

One end was almost totally demolished by the impact. When I gave it to Colin & Rosalie Dipper, I was informed that the impact had also damaged the bellows. So it needed a new end and new bellows. Luckily it was covered by insurance as the repair was more than I paid to buy the instrument some 11 years earlier.

 

I used the time of its absence to learn the Hayden duet, and when I got it back it was better than ever.

 

Since then I have never carried a concertina in anything other than a solid case for protection.

 

- John Wild

Edited March 7, 2005 by John Wild

[Mark Evans]

I would never have my concertina in anything other than the blocked case it came with plus a fitted nylon zippered outer case with insulation. Sounds overly protective....you betcha!

 

Before I got the fitted outer case, I had exited the car with my satchel and concertina in a hurry and caught the latch of the case on the door handle. Open it came and Tina come a' rollin' out. Was barely was able to catch her. Called the Button Box and put an end to that foolishness. They had me that nylon fitted outer case in two days. A little extra insulation and padding can't hurt either.

 

I also never leave her sittin' out at a session or gig. Back in the case and me chubby hand on the handle...even ta' the little house out back! Just reading these tails o woe made me queezy.

Edited March 8, 2005 by Mark Evans

[Stephen Chambers]

I would never carry my concertina in anything but a hard case, but I must confess that I do use a padded gig-bag for my melodeon. Indeed I was horrified a few years ago when I was in a car that rolled over, and as I climbed out I saw my melodeon bag lying on the road, having exited through the back window !

 

My first thought was not "do I have any broken bones ?", but rather to rescue it before anything worse befell it, and I was delighted to find that the only damage to the instrument was a bit of a ding on one of the metal corner plates. I guess they build them pretty strong in Louisiana !

[Aquarussell]

Who makes a good soft case? I can't use a hard case for travel, I ride a motorcycle. A small motorcycle with no place to put a hard case, so the concertina rides on my back.

 

The soft case that came with it is beginning to split (I am lucky it lasted this long, the way I carry it almost everywhere), and I need to look for a new one.

 

Russell Hedges

[David Barnert]

I had an accident 10 years ago that would have creamed my Wheatstone were it not in a hard case. I tripped up the top steps of a flight of outdoor metal stairs (my sandal got caught under the step) and I fell forward, sending my box into the posts of a wrought iron fence. The case still has the imprint of the ironwork and the underside of my toe needed 8 stitches, but the instrument was unharmed.

[Mark Evans]

Russell,

 

You are a brave chap to ride a bike in San Diego squeeze box or no. My brother and I were mad bike enthusiasts (1970's) until he went to pass an old blue-haired dear on a two lane road, gave her a signal and a little beep on the horn to let her know.

 

All to no avail, for she took a left turn into her driveway without a signal and my brother and the Triumph 650 we had just finished restoring encountered her front quarter panel. Lucky cat that he is, he sailed over the top of the hood (bonnet), did one bounce in the road and rolled into a ditch. (broken right arm, skinned up back and a chillingly ugly scratch on the helment)

 

Why don't you spring for a fitted case for your box and buy a backpack that can accomodate it. It might also help for you to avoid large concentrations of retired drivers who tend to drive those large boats with wheels from the 70's and 80's.

 

 

Whew!

[Henrik Müller]

I would never have my concertina in anything other than the blocked case it came with plus a fitted nylon zippered outer case with insulation.  Sounds overly protective....you betcha! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hard case, hard case! Nothing else. I have a custom-built case, now into its 24th year. I dropped it once from 1m/3 feet with no damage to the content (a Wheatstone Aeola). It attracted a few looks in Miltown in 1982: "Jeeesus, Paddy - will ya look at that case!"

 

And Mark - I have been known to bring it to the little boy's room

 

Henrik

[bigsqueezergeezer]

Hard Case for me, it also comes in handy as a foot rest if the seats available are a little too high for my vertically challenged legs!

 

Derek

[JimLucas]

Who makes a good soft case?

Nobody. There is no such thing.

Not if "good" means you want to keep your instrument safe.

 

BUT... the hard/soft distinction is misleading, since there are degrees of both, plus what I might call a "stiff" case. Stiff has already been alluded to: it's covered in fabric or something similar, but has a self-supporting shape made of dense foam. My "double concertina" case is like that... actually a camera case, with an adjustable partition and a couple of extra pockets, but with 1 cm-thick dense foam on all sides. Here's a picture:

Are the insulated lunchboxes a cheaper version of that?

 

The two main categories of "soft" case are padded and unpadded. Unpadded cases -- basically just fancy bags -- may be handy for carrying, but they're virtually useless for protection. They might prevent minor surface scratches, but not much more. Soft cases padded with quilting are a little better, but not a lot. They'll cushion against modest bumps, but if dropped from waist height or above onto a hard surface, you can expect the instrument's own weight to do a bit of crushing.

 

The dense foam of a "stiff" case, on the other hand, helps absorb some of the force of an impact by resisting the crush, but still being more easily crushed than the concertina itself. And in my camera case it's more than that. The vertical sides aren't just independent flat panels inserted into pouches in the fabric, but a "cylinder" of the dense foam. Its integral shape is like a weak spring, resisting -- even if only a little -- deforming forces from the sides, and especially against the corner edges, which are -- after all -- the places most likely to receive a blow from the side.

 

I think my stiff case would do a pretty good job of protecting my concertinas even if dropped from shoulder height... but it still wouldn't be much use if a table toppled onto it. That's where hard cases prove their worth.

 

Even hard cases come in different degrees of strength. Wooden cases can be plywood or solid, and of various thicknesses. Then there are various metals, plastics (plexiglass? cast nylon? kevlar?), and composites. (I would class Wheatstone's 1950's carboard cases on the low end of "stiff".) With wood, plywood is generally better than solid, as it better resists cracking and splintering. (The 8mm-thick solid mahogany case of my contrabass English may be an exception. ) If a solid-wood case splinters, the impact could actually drive a little stake through the heart of your instrument. (Really not very likely, but I couldn't resist the image. )

 

I can't use a hard case for travel, I ride a motorcycle.  A small motorcycle with no place to put a hard case, so the concertina rides on my back.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As someone else said, your best option would be a hard case that you could carry in a small pack, like in this picture:

Actually, not quite like that. If I were riding a motorcycle with that on my back, I would put dense foam inside the pack and around the hard case. That would be to protect me from the case's sharp corners, in case of mishap.

 

But take to heart the stories folks are telling you here, and hark back to the thread about being concertinaless. If your instrument is damaged or destroyed, how long would it take you to get it restored or replaced? What would you do in the meantime?

[RELCOLLECT]

In the case of our motorcyclist friend, I ( as a rider myself) might reccomend a larger tank-bag for the box. They can be had in a wide variety of sizes, and if you crash hard enought o damage the bag despite the pegs, handlebars, and (possibly) crash bars...the instrument will be the least of his concerns....

[Stephen Chambers]

My late friend Mickaleen Conlon in Lisdoonvarna used to have a large box, made of thick plywood, permanently attached to the back of his Honda moped. It was useful for carrying his groceries, but mainly intended to keep his accordion, or Jeffries Anglo safe.

[Aquarussell]

So I guess that the solution would be;

 

A. Tank bag, big enough for the concertina.

 

B. Hard case in a backpack.

 

C. Camera case with thick foam padding.

 

D. Invent or find something along the lines of the "Stiff" case.

 

Thank you all, I must look into this. I don't like the idea of being without my concertina at all.

 

Russell Hedges

Edited March 9, 2005 by Aquarussell

[Helen]

Gosh Russell,

 

You be safe. Take care.

 

Helen