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So I'm about to move from New York to the west coast, and I have two horns I'd rather like to avoid selling. I'm toying with the idea of MTS Vault cases, but that's a rather expensive purchase, especially for two. That, or I could drive for like 5 days. Any advice?

Drive them yourself. It's the only way that you will be certain that they will get there in 1 piece and on your terms. Probably cheaper than buying cases and shipping them, and frankly, driving cross-country is a great life experience.

When I moved from NY to Minneapolis, I considered a bunch of different options as well. In the end, my father-in-law drove my tuba in his van with a lot of our other stuff. It was so much easier than any other option I had considered.

You could also try to find someone who can do this for you. All the way across the country is a bit of a stretch... but I had a tuba of mine catch a round-trip ride from New York to Kentucky, to avoid shipping. I posted here, and found someone in NYC who was driving way out west, and through Kentucky on the way. I paid him some gas money, and my tuba hitched a ride in his truck, and that was that. Definitely have to be careful about who give your tuba to, but draw up some kind of contract and make sure you have some kind of collateral just in case. But you can usually tell pretty quickly if someone is legit or if they're going to be trouble. It worked out well, though my wife thought I was crazy.

Buying 2 cases isn't going to save you much money, plus then what? Stick the cases on the moving truck, to be covered at 60 cents per pound with everything else? And stuck sitting in freight warehouses until it is loaded/unloaded multiple times until it finally gets put in a truck going out west?

For me, no way. Stick the tubas in the car and drive!

What else are you moving? I agree with Bort, drive if you can. But if you are shipping a lot, you can rent a portable storage container, load it yourself with the tubas protected in the middle. Then ship it to where ever. You open it there. I want to do that with my daughter's live in boyfriend. Ship him back to his mama in Virginia. It all depends on how much are you moving.

Charlie C. Chowder

Charlie C Chowder wrote:I want to do that with my daughter's live in boyfriend. Ship him back to his mama in Virginia.

HA! That's awesome.

When I moved from Connecticut to Alaska, I drove (for almost 2 weeks). In part it was for the fun of it. In part it was to avoid shipping my tubas. When I moved from Kodiak to Juneau, I drove as well. Same reason. Have not regretted it.

So what I'm saying is...I'd drive. Best bet to keep the tubas safe, and and it's a lot of fun.

Norm Pearson took a lot of time explaining the best way to pack a tuba for shipment. He included lots of pictures too.

See this post:
Packing a tuba for shipping (lots of pictures)

bloke wrote: UPS Ground/FedExGround - conveyor belts, higher cost of shipping, far more likelihood of damage, insurance available - but rarely honored, in my experience

I worked at a UPS sort center for 2 months. I would never let them touch my tubas.

Hi,
Two years ago I moved from Sweden to the sun in Portugal. That's a trip through all Europe.
Since we have horses they were transported by a Dutch professional company.
Our horse trailer was consequently free to be used for the most urgent furniture and of course my tuba. It's a Kaiser.
Our other property was packed in a 20 feet container for sea shipping.
The tuba was in its hard case but without any further protection.
The driving was very successful without any problems.
The tuba came to its new home completely unhurt.
Drive if you can!
The trip itself is really something to remember for the whole family.
Good luck,
Lars