Last night My pipe band wanted me to play my uilleanns throughout the entirety of Our Robert Burns supper. I feared they would pick that moment to go out of tune finally for winter, as they have been fairing so nicely up to this point (while I was only playing them in my basement). I was right, the dry environment of the elks lodge finally effected the reed.
Now however, I’m faced with a dilema. The reedmaker taped around the reed with teflon tape, including the bridle. So without retying the whole reed should I be able to cut the bridle free and adjust it? Also should I?
The chanter seems to be still in pretty good tune, more sensitive to pressure, but in decent tune, however the tone is gone. The reed doesn’t have anymore power. I would think moving the bridle up would increase the power, but would it also send the reed and chanter wildly out of tune?
Jeremy
Put…the…reed…down, and back…away…slowly… 
I am not certain if I would cut the tape away, try ‘unwrapping’ it first, but yes, the bridle ought to be adjustable… it is part of the tuning process in most cases.
Try to keep your reed humidified (if at all possible) while you are not playing, and while you are playing at home. A good and simple way to do this is to boil a keetle of water 2-3 times daily (for1/2 to 1 hour), with your pipes (with reed exposed) somewhere nearby (but not too close).
If you do this while playing, give it a 1/2 hour or so before starting to play to allow the reed to adjust a bit. Expect to retune your pipes.
As far as taking it somewhere else to play… I can’t really suggest a way I would humidify it…I am not at all excited about putting water in the bellows fearing it will considerably shorten the life of the leather (IMHO), but some do it this way and are usually happy with the results.
Good luck, all the best.
What reedmaker? What bridle? Just squeeze the bridle a bit with your fingers or maybe some pliers–carefully if you need to open it.
Royce