Saturday, January 10, 2015

BAM case might not fit in car, perhaps not very rollable

http://cellofun.yuku.com/topic/5971/master/1/?page=1

I can't comment on the Rouillard but I travel a great deal with a BAM hitech and the large black BAM flight shell which you buy seperately. I've probably taken 40 international flights with my cello in the last 2 years and have a couple of things you should think about before you buy. 

Weight: 

A Hitech with cello inside and flight shell on weighs 16 kilos. Normal luggage allowance for flights that DONT go via the U.S.A. (ie anywhere in Europe, Asia, Pacific etc) is 20 kilos. That 4 kilos plus my cabin bag give me just enough for my Tux, tshirts, and a couple of jeans... nothing more. Fine for a week, tough for a month! Weigh the thing with the cello in it before you buy! If it's over 20 kilos your airline life will be hell. 

Portability at the location: 

Being able to remove my smaller lighter case from the flight shell to use in foreign cities is great. Taking any kind of large instrument/luggage through crowded subways like London, Hong Kong, or Tokyo can be extremely difficult - ticket gates and passageways are narrow, London has miles of winding stairways, no lifts, and elevators that would feel claustrophobic to a Singapore Airlines Flight Hostess with a 12 inch waist... 

Rigidity: 

The one thing I really like about my current flight case is that it's not actually very ridgid at all. The black rubbery plastic shell is flexible and combined with the 3 inches of foam act like a giant shock absorber. I could throw my cello out a 3rd story window and it would probably be OK (no I'm not going to try!...). Cases that are too hard can transfer shock through to the instrument. 

Wheels: 

A must have. Airport gates in some cities can be 30 minutes walk from each other. Backpack cases that weigh any more than 10 Kilos just wont do. Make sure the wheels are well positioned and that the handels make it easy to "drive" (definately NOT the case with the BAM... serious design flaws in this department). 

Safety even when upside down: 

Slapping a "this way up" sticker on your case will do nothing. The same goes for fragile stickers, and telling people NOT to put it through the conveyor belt. One or all of these things will be ignored every time. Make sure the case is designed so that, even when upside down, the cello never ends up resting on its bridge. 

Bow fasteners: 

Make sure these are secure - also make sure they are simple enough that the clever people in the TSA can safely put the bow back should they decide to remove it for whatever reason. A bow loosened by security wound up putting pressure on the belly, causing a substantial soundpost crack for a friend of mine who had the Accord carbon fiber case with the white flight shell. 

Hope this helps 
Charles brooks (who will fly Taipei-Seoul-Hong Kong-Auckland-Melbourne-Adelaide-Melbourne-Auckland-Hong Kong-Taipei next month with 1 cello and 4 kilos of clothes...)

I forgot to mention that the BAM flight shells, for all their good points, sometimes just refuse to fit in a car... they're often too wide to sit up like a person, too long to lie across the back seat, boot is out of the question. They seem to be about an inch too large in every direction (although in most hatchbacks they're OK - but how many cities have htachback taxis?).

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