Features liked for whistle storage

Whistle
1

I plan on working on some stay at home, and on the go, whistle storage. I am more interested in travel storage ideas, but would like to hear about both.

I was wondering other than the obvious of good protection from drops or getting bent, and keeping them from clanking against each other, making noise and getting scratched, what would be useful or needed.

I was thinking about something for the travel carrier, maybe a design to store the whistles upright with a removable pad at the bottom to catch any moisture, or a pocket to hold a small packet is dissicant/moisture absorber.

I actually like a little bit of a worn look, but was thinking about making the whistle pockets out of anti tarnish fabric to keep the worst of the tarnishing at bay.

So has anyone every wished there was something they could incorporate into their travel bag? A flask, perhaps? :laughing:

I can easily make a whistle roll, which is what I plan to do for home, basically a whistle roll to hang on the wall. What I’m asking about is a rigid, more heavy duty carrier. I’ve got a heavy duty sewing machine, soldering irons, small band saw, drill press, chop saw etc, lots of home power tools at my disposal.

Thanks for your suggestions, Lisa

2

Some sort of container with rigid foam dividers, I would imagine. :slight_smile:

A lot would depend on how many, & what sizes of whistle you intend to travel with.

3

For some extremely posh ideas take a look throught these accessories https://www.hickeys.com/music/accessories/conducting_batons_and_cases.php

:smiley: Bob

4

Home: whistles reside in a jar (possibly originally a flower vase?). Most of mine are still packed away from a move. I do keep my go-to Generation D whistle handy on my work table in a pint milk bottle. Younger people may not know what a pint milk bottle is, so as a public service here is a photo of mine:

Travel: whistles go in the pipe case. There is enough foam and wrapped pipe bits in there that the whistles do not bang around much - but I don’t wrap them or put them in their own sleeve or case or anything.

5

My whistles live at home in a cut-off cardboard cylinder (originally packaging for a bottle of scotch) and when I pack one to go I put it in the small cardboard cylinder with stoppers one of my whistles was shipped in (or I just put a cheapie in the bag “as is”).

May I ask why you want a heavy-duty container for travelling? Many recorder player have their instruments in a roll-up bag (I think what you mean by “whistle roll”) and I figure if it’s good enough to protect those, it should work for whistles as well. Just use some padded fabric, or make some out of two layers plus padding. My € 900 Takeyama recorder came in a heavy duty padded cloth bag (and has survived just fine in it). Hanging an open roll on the wall for one’s instruments is a very neat idea, btw - I might be tempted to steal it…

If your travel storage must be rigid for whatever reason, you could make a box out of good-quality plywood, fill it with foam rubber and cut slots for the whistles in the foam.

Where do you travel to and what do you do there? Do you need notepaper and pencil/eraser? That’s something I would integrate into my perfect recorder bag (which would also have a place for sheet music). I also like to have a toothbrush and nail file at hand, but the latter is only for the thumb hole, so you probably wouldn’t need it. That’s all I can think of at the moment…

6

I built a whistle rack out of a piece of hardwood and various sizes of dowels

7

Something like a laptop case or pistol case has many of the features you’re looking for.

https://www.pelican.com/us/en/product/cases/laptop-case/protector/1495

Or PVC tubes with a wide diameter can be used with foam inserts for dividers and ends can be capped

8

Thanks for the ideas and comments, I do appreciate them.

As for why I want a rigid carrying case, the bottom line is I’m a pretty clumsy person. I wear reading glasses for up close, contacts for distance, and the in-between is pretty darn fuzzy. My eyes aren’t the best, the lenses are fairly rigid or some such thing, making it difficult for me to focus the middle distances. Anyhow, I’m clumsy. I also share a vehicle much of the time, and I’m not sure someone wouldn’t put a case of bottled water or groceries on a whistle roll if I forgot it in the car, thinking it was simply a rolled up throw blanket for chilly weather when I’m transporting an elderly client.

I think I’ve figured out what I’m going to do, I’ve got an idea in my head. I have to go to the hardware store and ordered some fabric from online. I’m hoping to have my “masterpiece” whistle case done my the end of the weekend and will try and post pictures. I might need help with that, I tried to post a picture and it didn’t show up. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, I’ve posted a picture to the world instruments forum before.

I do like the idea of a pelican or pistol case for a slim line case, as the idea I have is a bit bulkier. I’ll check out Gander Mountain and see what they’ve got on hand, bring my tape measure to be sure.

I don’t have anything longer than a C whistle or soprano recorder that I would take with me, at this time.

I have to take an hour lunch break, but live 25 min drive from work, so don’t go home. I usually go sit in the cemetery across from work, as there’s tons of trees to park under. As it’s getting colder, I’ll go to the park so I can sit in the sun. This winter, I won’t be able to do that, as I don’t want to idle the car for an hour, but for now, I do practice and surf the internet during my break, like I’m doing now.

Again, thanks for the comments, Lisa

9

I use these: Telescopic Carrier from Bigwhistle. They’re pretty cheap (but were maybe even cheaper before). They used to have another larger size as well (would fit my alto G), but I see only that smaller size now.
At home I keep the whistles in a vase or something, but when I travel I put them in carriers and stuff them at a place in my carry-on case where they just fit nicely.

10

I keep my collection in a plastic drawer from Walmart. I line it with cloth and keep it under the chair where I do most of my playing at home. Top drawer has high whistles, the middle has the mezzos. The one low D I have lives alone in a closet because it doesn’t fit. The drawers are always slightly open for air circulation. When I carry the whistles out of the house, they go into an old leather attache case. Or, I use a hard plastic sponge lined instrument carrier that only holds two whistles. When I carry a whistle to work, which is every week day, I put the whistle in a cloth whistle bag and stash it inside my canvas all purpose bag that holds all my teacher stuff. (I never let any whistle get near food or drink.) I don’t feel myself if I don’t have a whistle near me. Rather odd, but I can’t help it. :astonished:

11

I have some whistles (& a piccolo) from Tony Dixon, they came in those square plastic tubes when he sends them out.
I thought that was a good idea. :slight_smile:

12

I have a whistle roll bag that I got from an old user, NancyF.

It’s held up for something like 15 years (though I don’t remember the exact date I bought it, I imagine it had to have been around 2003). This year, I finally removed the velcro closures and replaced them with newer velcro.

13

To me, these are fine for posting a whistle to someone, but just too much of a footer for regular use. I have a Goldie multiple-whistle softcase for when I want to carry a full range, various homemade towelling rolls as sometimes more compact alternatives, or sometimes just add a whistle or two to a flute or pipe case. Unless you’re looking for protection for priceless wooden models, I just don’t see the need or desirability for more when simplicity is frequently more user-friendly as well as more than adequate.

14

Pistol cases are great and fairly inexpensive. Note: whatever you get, make sure it’s not airtight. You want any moisture in the whistle to be able to evaporate. A pistol case does not allow this, so when you get home with your whistles, open up the case to let them dry out. Mold or fungi can grow in moist whistles.

15

Absolutely, I second that - the more ventilated, the better. I just discovered mould on a wooden recorder which I had stored in a zippered vinyl (?) bag (I don’t think it’s airtight, and I was sure that the recorder was dry i. e. unplayed for quite some time when I packed it away, but still…)

16

After reading several comments about ventilation, I’m taking that to heart. I do run a recorder swab up the barrel when I’m done, but obviously not into the mouthpiece area, that just has to dry on it’s own. Moldy mouthpiece, yuck.

https://www.amazon.com/MEEDEN-Brushes-Zippered-Holder-Handle/dp/B01GCBBSOM?pldnSite=
I’m tentatively looking at this case, though it’s a couple inches longer than needed, but has some really good ventilation. I posted a question asking about the diameter the slots will accommodate, because I can’t see a purpose for it if it doesn’t work, I’m not a painter. I’d rather not have to bother with sending it back.
I’m assuming as it’s 5.2 inches wide closed, each slot is about an inch across, and also seems to pooch out, they aren’t flat, so it might work and be a decent travel case for about five whistles, if you put three in every other slot on one side, and two on the other, spaced to fit the spaces between the other three, if that makes any sense.
Anyhow, anyone interested, take a look and see if you think it’s got good possibilities.
Lisa

17

Interesting idea, I don’t think you would be able to fit a Bb though, mine are 15" long, but for C, D, Eb, F, G, it looks like it might work. :slight_smile:

18

I was at Menards yesterday, which is like Lowe’s or Home Depot, a giant hardware store. I was wandering around, looking for ideas, and came across some trays to hold sockets. It was less than eight dollars.
I used large diameter straws, the kind from McDonald’s or other fast food places, to slide over the shorter pegs in the front row to make them long enough to support a whistle, normal straws are too narrow except for the five or so skinniest pegs. I’m going to get a piece of felt and use a paper puncher to make holes for the posts, to give it a neater look. I actually put straws over the longer pegs, too, to extend them and keep the whistles more straight and upright.
The holder is on a couple pieces of foam to raise it up a little, but I might change that later to accommodate a Bb or low whistle. It fits nicely in the upper section of a small cabinet made for my biological mother back in 1940 by her brother in high school wood shop class. I’m so pleased it’s working out as a nice whistle cabinet.
Anyhow, it’s cheap and works well. I hope others find this hack useful.
Lisa

19

And my other hack.
This is an electrode tube, or welding stick tube. The description says it can hold sticks up to 14 inches in length, but it’s closer to 15” inside, to give a little headspace so the sticks don’t rub I suppose. These tubes are also available to hold 18 inch sticks. They are watertight and fairly sturdy, not as thick as pvc pipe, but not as heavy, either. One could easily drill holes in it for ventilation. The 14” ones are usually under 15 dollars, with the 18” ones around twenty. I got mine from amazon. It’s called a Safetube, and is a thicker plastic than the tubes for sale locally. I also like that it’s square and can’t roll away, some electrode tubes are round. I also got the Velcro harness for it, with a cap strap so I have a nice carrying handle. I’ve got thirteen whistles rolled up in a thin kitchen towel as an example. In use, i’d have enough towel to fold over the mouthpieces to protect them, but this is to show that a D whistle fits completely in the body of the tube. The C sticks out a bit, about a 1/2”. The tube is 12.5” and the cap gives another 2.5” of height, and it’s 4” x 4” square. Overall, it’s around 15”
So another hardware store hack for a very sturdy travel carrier for whistles.
Lisa