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My personal favorite feature of my old tuxedo bag (aside from the backpack straps) is that it will stand up on its own. That is, I can lean it against a solid, vertical surface (a wall, side of a car, piano, another person, etc.) and then use BOTH hands to load it from the top. I have another bag (the kind that Custom now ships with purchases) for my F tuba that is a royal PITA to load because it "bends" when stood up straight. This means that I must hold the bag with one hand and load the tuba with the other. This isn't impossible to do with the F tuba, but it would be a real risky chore if i had to do it with my C. For the life of me, I can't figure out why, as just a standard manufacturing technique, top loading bags are not made to stand up on their own.

Kyle

the next time around i'll go for one with hard sides, dolly or soundwear.one nasty dent will make you believe.

What I do with floppy gigbags: let the horn rest on its bell and use BOTH hands to slide bag over it from the top. Tip horn and bag over, rest on bow guard and close circular zipper. Done.
Edit:/That will turn a TOP loader GB into a BOTTOM loader.:/Edit

The SoundWear bag is semi-rigid and features extra compartments for MP, tuner and the likes.
Plus, the seperate bag for utilities (valve oil, music, pen...
is really neat and looks cool.
Edit/: that bag is a soft briefcase attachable to the gigbag. :/Edit
This is heavy, though, so in addition to the backstraps I could live with an additional hip belt.

Statman wrote:
What is the one feature you like the most about your case or gig bag?

Gig bag: Backpack straps

EDIT: Sparked by Rick Denney-- Has got to be a side loading bag.

Case: It's almost worthless to me if it doesn't have wheels... GOOD wheels...wheels that can make it through a parking lot or down a sidewalk without disintegrating, and wheels that have a wide enough track to keep the case from rocking from side to side when being pushed or pulled

Either: STRONG hardware (especially latches and handles) that can withstand lots of use in order to avoid exactly what it was that happened to you.

Statman wrote:What is the one feature you like the most about your case or gig bag?

Is there a case or gig bag that can include a Baltimore Brass stand?

A pocket (preferably two) to hold music, mouthpieces (more than one), valve oil, a few small tools, and music glasses. The hard case for my Yamaha F tuba fails here and I have to bring along an extra briefcase which is annoying. The relatively inexpensive Pro-Tec bag I use for the Holton succeeds admirably, with two large pockets.

If a hard case, wheels. And preferable a couple of native bearers if the tuba is very large. If a gig bag, backpack straps, but only for normal-size instruments. Carrying the Holton on my back isn't fun. I also require my gig bags to open on the side--I've wrenched my back several times loading heavy tubas into top-loading bags.

I carry my Baltimore Brass stand in a DEG-stand padded bag, down the bell of the Holton inside its Pro-Tec bag.

Rick "who uses gig bags most of the time because they fit in the car and provide more convenient handles, but who has no illusions about getting much protection from them" Denney

Backpack straps, especially now that I don't go in a stage door and have to do flights of stairs to get down to the bandroom (and up again).

Rick Denney wrote:I carry my Baltimore Brass stand in a DEG-stand padded bag, ...

This is interesting news! So, the BBC stand fits in the DEG case (the only feature I like about the DEG)?

Mark wrote:This is interesting news! So, the BBC stand fits in the DEG case (the only feature I like about the DEG)?

Yes. You have to slip off the cradle and put the two parts in separately, but they fit fine.

Rick "not impressed with the 'handle' on that case, however" Denney

Assuming that you have a front-action tuba, you want a large pocket for your music folder on the BACK of the bag, so the folder will not be bent over the valves. I actually sewed a new pocket onto my old Altieri bag after destroying several folders and several fragile old pieces of sheet music. With top-action tubas this is not such a problem - and that's the only nice thing I have to say about them.

Art Hovey wrote:... I actually sewed a new pocket onto my old Altieri bag after destroying several folders and several fragile old pieces of sheet music. With top-action tubas this is not such a problem - and that's the only nice thing I have to say about them.

Well, it's better than nothing ...