Reed case

Uilleann Pipes
1

Hi,
Can anyone recommend a good case for storing reeds in?
One that can help a poor-piper survive travelling to and gigging in dry, reed-destroying places!!!..
I’ve just finished a show in London which managed to finish off my best reed by the end of the run!
This was despite me trying to cope with the very dry conditions, eg, average humidty of 20ish%, by popping a little bit of orange peel in the pipe case (an old reed storage trick, so I’ve been told…).
Thanks all!

2

Never heard of orange peel being used but I keep an apple in my case. It keeps the humidity north of 40%, when the rest of the house is in the low 20s.

I suspect that changes of temperature (house/car/pub/car/house) do more damage to reeds in Winter than low humidity in the pub.

3

Search junk shops for old tobacco tins. I try to collect these at Car Boot Sales ( as they call these things in UK)… street markets, garage sales, yard sales etc etc… whatever they call these things in you country.

I prefer the metal tins with hinged lids… making sure they are long enough to fit the reeds with some padding around.

4

Won’t Altoids tins do as well? And more readily available.

5

Altoids. The boxes are ideally sized for chanter and regulator reeds.

6

Altoids ? What are they ? Sound like a cure for Adenoids or Piles :astonished: :slight_smile:

Yes , probably more readily available…

7

Yes, any product ending in “-oid” is quite suspect in my book. :laughing:

8

Thanks for advice all!!
Will keep in mind, and fashion a case out of a small tin. Although now I’m back in a city in the UK (Birmingham) with ordinary humidty and not super-dry like London, things and reeds are behaving as they should. And I may also investigate/invest in one of these if I do go touring again…http://www.reedsnstuff.com/en/Oboe/Reed-Cases-Instrument-Cases/Reed-Cases/Hygrocase.html
(Eg. When I popped into Howarths, Oboe shop, to investigate reed cases, the girl behind the counter was bemoaning dryness in London, even down to differences between different areas there!!).
Btw, re the ‘Apple’ solution: how long does one Apple get used for (before it would go off) and is that something only to do in really dry climates?..

9

€120 !?!

10

For years now I have used a shotgun choke case, kind of like this:

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/mtm-choke-tube-case/pid-33579

(mine has padding in the top, also ). It is long enough to hold the longest of reeds. There is also a minimum of moving around as the dividers -and the padding- locks things in pretty well.

I have this velcro’d to the inside of my pipe case, so I don’t lose/loose it.

t

11

You can use 20 Guage for concert pitch and 410 for flat pipes :slight_smile: