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Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:22 am
by Thomaston
Now that I have an actual assortment of whistles from Eb down to A, I was wondering if anyone is currently making carrying cases of any type these days. The only one I've ever heard of is Sassafras, but they seem to still be on hiatus...
Or has anyone easily made their own?

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 1:08 am
by Whistling Pops
Have you checked to see if any are on ebay?

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 1:13 am
by maki
I've got one of these to hold my stone carving tools;
http://www.amazon.com/Arsenal-5782-Canv ... d_sim_hi_1
It may serve for whistles.

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 3:41 am
by Peter Duggan
Thomaston wrote:Or has anyone easily made their own?
Yes (my designs made up by a friend!), and I keep meaning to do a blog piece with photos, 'plans' and rationale...

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 7:08 am
by crookedtune

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 7:18 am
by Feadoggie
Thomaston wrote:I was wondering if anyone is currently making carrying cases of any type these days. ... Or has anyone easily made their own?
If you do a search through the old posts you will find a number of similar queries and some good suggestions on commercial sources.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=80237
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81996
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=79714

There are a couple eBay retailers that sell bags en mass these days.

My bags were made some years back by Kate Lozier of TuffBaggs. One holds my aluminum Burkes from high E down to low E.
Image
Others hold the brass Burke whistles and low D/C whistles. Unfortunately, TuffBaggs do not seem to offer instrument bags on their website any longer. But that type of bag is fairly straightforward to cobble up. And my wife and I have made similar bags in the past using Supplex nylon for the exterior and Polar Fleece for the lining. But most any material can be used.

The simplest roll bags are a trifold design. They can be made from a towel - you choose the size depending on the whistles. One fold forms the outer bag or back. The second fold forms the inner bag or front. The third fold forms the flap which hold the whistles in the bag. The third flap does not have to be as large as the other two. Basically fold the first two fold over and sew along the outer edges to form a simple beg. Then sew pockets from the bottom edge up towards the opening of the bag. Spacing depends upon the diameter of your whistle bodies. Sew a diagonal if you want the heads to stay up near the top of the opening. Finally sew on ribbon or cord to tie around the whistle roll.

Feadoggie

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 7:49 am
by Peter Duggan
Feadoggie wrote:The simplest roll bags are a trifold design. They can be made from a towel - you choose the size depending on the whistles. One fold forms the outer bag or back. The second fold forms the inner bag or front. The third fold forms the flap which hold the whistles in the bag. The third flap does not have to be as large as the other two. Basically fold the first two fold over and sew along the outer edges to form a simple beg. Then sew pockets from the bottom edge up towards the opening of the bag. Spacing depends upon the diameter of your whistle bodies. Sew a diagonal if you want the heads to stay up near the top of the opening. Finally sew on ribbon or cord to tie around the whistle roll.
Yep, mine were made from towelling after my partial mock-ups with safety pins and old towels (all I had to hand!) suggested that the material had some merits for the job, but edged across the pocket tops and round the outsides with acrylic tape. While we'd originally planned to sew the diagonals (or separate 'ends' like your bag shown above) to suit complete whistle 'sets', further testing led us to leave the larger bag at three discrete lengths (several pockets each at low D, low F and A length) and the smaller one (for smaller whistles) at a single length for increased versatility (the point being that you're not 'losing' a slightly shorter whistle in a slightly overlength pocket, but can't put a longer one in a shorter pocket!). And we've left off straps or ties for the time being, with separate (non-fixed) straps currently suiting me fine.

Will try to get some photos and measurements up soon.

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:23 am
by killthemessenger
I use Colin Goldie's bag, which is very functional. Before that I used an old keffiyeh, rolled the instruments in it and stuffed it in my bag.

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:57 am
by Byll
Sassafrass Grove whistle rolls are truly wonderful. One can hope that Sarah returns to the fray, soon.
Best.
Byll

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:00 am
by DrPhill
Rolls? pah! :D
Image
(This only works if you have a small number of whistles......)

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:58 am
by Peter Duggan
killthemessenger wrote:I use Colin Goldie's bag, which is very functional.
I'd enquired about the Goldie bags, but the flat-rate UK shipping cost (same price for one bag, two bags, a much more expensive whistle etc.) was pretty well prohibitive for what they were. So I told Brigitte I was getting my own made up and, friendly and interested as always, she was pleased about that!

:)

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 10:45 am
by JTC111
Michael Burke's pouches are of a very similar build and quality as the Goldie pouches (I have both). Short of a wooden box, both are as good as I've seen. He also sells 12 slot roll cases. I've never seen one, but I'd expect them to be of high quality as well. He sells the pouches for $5 and the roll cases for $40.

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 2:04 pm
by Feadoggie
DrPhill wrote:Rolls? pah! :D
Image
Rolls, no. Yours looks to be more in the Rolls-Royce category, DrPhill. :) Nice work there!
JTC111 wrote:Michael Burke's pouches are of a very similar build and quality as the Goldie pouches (I have both). ... He also sells 12 slot roll cases. I've never seen one, but I'd expect them to be of high quality as well. He sells the pouches for $5 and the roll cases for $40.
Yes! I do have a bunch of Burke pouches and a couple of the roll bags. They are indeed quite useful and protect the whistles nicely. One thing I would offer as a comment on them though is that the outer vinyl layer on the roll bag can crack overtime and with frequent use. But still a good option.

Feadoggie

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 7:28 pm
by Thomaston
Thanks for the info. I'm not a fan of ebay, but I'll peruse the links and old threads. The Burke case looks promising.

Re: Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 11:21 pm
by killthemessenger
Just in case of any misunderstanding, I meant the Goldie multi-whistle gig bag, not the pouches for individual whistles.