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Who are the backpack straps design for? Andre the Giant? Are there better gig bags out there?

Not fine as fas as I was concerned - shoulder straps are far too big.

I recommend the Gard sousaphone bags. They come with extra padding that can be placed anywhere inside the case for added protection.

I went through three Pro Tecs in 4.5 years. The salty winter streets of Toronto ate them away. They literally came apart at the seams. When the Gard came on the market I breathed a sigh of relief. It held up better and lasted 2.5.
(speaking someone who took the sousaphone all over town on his back, on the subway, on the bus, on the back of a scooter, every day all year round.)

I use the Ritter gig bag (http://www.thomann.de/gb/ritter_rbs7_sousaphone_bdt.htm" target="_blank) after having gone through several Pro-Tec bags. The Ritter gig bag has help up well for several years now.

I cannot say enough bad things about Ritter gigbags.

I've had quite a few and I have also seen friends', students' and colleagues' Ritter bags fall to pieces with the lightest of use.

You may have lucked out, but they don't get my recommendation...

I've got a Ritter sousaphone bag. In terms of quality of build, it's worse than the ProTec.

Nobody around me stocks them so I couldn't check it out before I had my local music store order it for me. I had high hopes but they didn't really pan out.

I'm still using it for my 22K (fiberglass) but I wouldn't feel comfortable putting my 38K in it. The backpack straps had to be "modified" since one of them broke right away. They definitely didn't use more thread than they absolutely had to. Also, there isn't a whole lot of padding anywhere in the case.

The one thing I do like about it is all the pockets/compartments on it. Much better than one big pocket like the ProTec.