TubeNet

There is often discussion on this board about flight cases for tuba, so I wanted to share my recent experiences. I don't have a lot of experience with tuba cases, having owned only two. One was the typical plywood one-size-fits-all case, with a lot of extra room inside, that I had for my Alex years ago. It survived a couple of short plane trips, but I never felt good about any part of it. The other is a Yamaha case for my 822 F, which is form-fitted. The instrument can't move even 1/4 inch in any direction, being essentially locked into a block of styrofoam. It has wheels, and a handle for pulling.

I just returned from a 10 day orchestra tour of Australia and New Zealand. The tuba was checked as baggage on 6 different planes and loaded on 10 buses, dragged down the sidewalk in downtown Sydney, through alleys in Chinatown, and over those blasted cobblestones surrounding the Sydney Opera House. Besides being small, light, easily transported, and with solid latches, the case provided superior protection. After some 18,000 miles, the tuba got home without a scratch. The only mark on the case was a tiny gouge from being jammed up in an x-ray machine in New Zealand. At least twice, we looked out the plane windows and saw the case being tossed onto a baggage cart like a gym bag!

I would certainly recommend these cases, and suggest that other cases should have similar design features.