Traveling case

[hyperbolica]

I took a train trip recently with my 88h, and had to decide which case to use. Nice leather bag, OEM wood case, fiberglass case, light foam case or buy a fancy Bonna, DAC, or BAM.

I used a $150 Protec Max, which was lighter than the rest. It was cheap, so I wasn't nervous about something happening to it. It was protective so I didn't worry about my horn. It carried stuff like a practice mute, bone stand, music stand and sheet music /books. What else do you need a case to do?

In 1984 I bought a brand new Reunion Blues O type leather bag for $350 which was a lot more then than now. I worried about both the case and the horn constantly.

Recently I've been thinking about another case. A Bonna would cost 4-5x what the Max cost and it's not clear to me it weighs significantly less or does anything the Max doesn't do.

So is the Bonna and cases like that just a vanity purchase? I could afford it, but I feel like I would regret it immediately.

So high vs low for cases?

[CalgaryTbone]

I have a Bonna case that is my daily driver, and my previous daily case was a leather Cronkite bag. The gig bag did a very good job, including protecting the horn for a couple of falls when the horn had shifted on my morning commute and fell out of the back of the SUV when I opened the hatch.

The Bonna completely protected the horn when I hit some ice below some melting snow while walking from my car to the hall. I think that the way the case sits on the back when you have the backpack straps on also protected my head from hitting the pavement - the fall had my legs sliding out from under me. It really worked well.

One more thing about the Cronkite - I used it this summer for the ITF, because I checked the horn underneath the plane in a golf case. The travel was fine, but I had a fall on some uneven pavement, and broke my arm. On that fall, even though I fell forward, the bag must have slipped a bit to one side as I hit the ground, and my bell got a crease from the impact.

As much as I like the Cronkite, and respect the workmanship, the Bonna has proven itself as a worthwhile investment.

Jim Scott

[slidefunk]

I've owned and used the Protec ProPac case for years. Plenty of flying, trains and buses with no issues. Its a wood shell, so heavier but very rigid. My main gripe is with the velcro material they used on the handle and inner straps, which gave out years ago. Other than that the build quality seems to handled its use reasonably well. It's also not the most comfortable to carry on a city commute; its heavy, wobbles on its backpack straps and you have to be super careful not to bonk anyone in tight spaces. The MAX case is a foam mold so I would imagine its much lighter, but I would worry about its durability over time, especially in the hinges.

I think Protec cases have the best value on the market when you consider protection, build and design. Most vendors sell them at a discount.

If I had the money I'd probably go with a Bonna Compact because of its size, the design seems super useful and I know the build quality will be good. I wouldn't trust it to be gate checked though.

[Burgerbob]

I’ve dropped a bass bonna from several feet in the air with no damage to the horn.

They’re also smaller than nearly any competitor.

[tbdana]

My horns feel more secure in their Marcus Bonna cases than any other case I own, and Aidan is right that they are more compact than others, too.

[slidefunk]

I’ve dropped a bass bonna from several feet in the air with no damage to the horn.

They’re also smaller than nearly any competitor.

I wonder if the case model makes a difference? My Holton 180 had its bell warped slightly in the Bonna double case while on tour a while back. I noticed after a flight home, but it could have happened while being packed into the truck during a load out I suppose. Either way I'm 95% sure it happened while in the case. Easy repair and I've had no other issues.

Just my experience . I love the design of the Bonna's, as a daily driver I think they are the best. Very easy to live with.

[Burgerbob]

The doubles are a bit different matter... there's sacrifices there in how protected the horns can be. They're also like 45 pounds, if that gets dropped there's some significant kinetic energy being dispersed!

[hyperbolica]

The only case I've had that damaged a horn was an Altieri, which had great slide protection, but terrible bell protection. But they were cheap and they would customize them with special fabrics and also customized for your horn. Very light as well, but the bell protection was poor.

The Crossrock / Eastman cases look tempting, but they have some flaws aside from being heavy.

A used Bonna came up recently, and it looked like @burgerbob snatched it up pretty quickly. They don't come up that often. I would like to get one just to do a real comparison to see if its worth it.

The one advantage is that they are compact. Is the worth $500+? Maybe. I don't worry about longevity with a $150 case because you can buy 4 or 5 of them and still break even.

Nobody has addressed the vanity issue. My Reunion Blues bag in 1984 was definitely a vanity purchase. It only protected tbe horn because I absolutely babied the case. 41 years later it's still beautiful and works like it always did.

Something driving this question for me is the memory of carrying my 88h in its big wooden case to school on the bus every day. Getting older doesn't make things lighter, and I want to keep doing this as long as I can.