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I may be in the market for a new hard case soon, and I've heard some good things about these. I'm trying to figure out what sets them apart from any other hard case. Anyone have any first hand experience?

I VERY periodically fly with my instrument, but that happens very infrequently as of late, so if anyone has any experience with how well they hold up in the evil airplane that would be helpful too.

Your input/opinions would be helpful.

PS
I know flying is dangerous, and I should spring for a flight case...In a perfect world I would buy an accord case, but I can't get their sole US distributor to answer an email, so I don't KNOW if I have the money for the case!

Winter cases are ok, but not for flying, in my opinion.

For getting an idea about the Accord tuba case pricing, this is what their German distributor's website says:
https://www.fiedler-cases.de/en/accord- ... light.html

I have had four of them, cases for a Rudy, a 1291 a 186 and one for a Meinl Weston 2011FA. They are better fitting and better padded than the MTS and SKB in my opinion. But I would not use them for flying as baggage.

Rick

Winter cases have a couple advantages, to me, over most hard cases:

1. The shape is much less bulky (more form fitting)
2. The cases tend to be much lighter weight

In terms of construction materials and hardware, they're all similar. I'm not terribly impressed with the small plastic wheels on the Winter cases as they are on the bell end, but at the narrow bottom side where the hinge is. They aren't durable and the very narrow track makes the case relatively unstable when rolling. Replacing them isn't simple. The plastic pull handle on the bottom bow end is flimsy and will eventually break unless you're extremely careful. The hinge is fine, but the latches are of a rather delicate design in my opinion and not very durable. If the case gets compromised along the aluminum valance on the outside edge of the lid, closing the case can become very difficult. With all of that said, I'd still buy a Winter case over a gigantic MTS or SKB case.

It's not a flight case, as you know. You might get lucky and have no issues occasionally flying with it. Or you might have major issues. Me?...I wouldn't fly with a tuba I really cared about in a Winter case. Not worth the risk to me. If I had to fly with a tuba (and I don't and won't) rather than buy a $3000 case (ref: Accord), I'd actually buy a Chinese tuba and use the stock case to fly with it. If it gets trashed, at least it's not your primary tuba and you also didn't ruin a multi-thousand dollar case in the process. I can't say if that's a practical option for you, but that's what I would do if I needed to take a tuba somewhere.

Much better case than MTS or SKB. Better made, much better latches, case hinge and handle. Mine had a good sized rubber (not plastic) pull and that worked quite nicely. Lots of nice little touches that you come to appreciate over time especially if you use it a lot. The wheels are small, but that was never an issue for me and it was easy to pull over flat surfaces. I wouldn't haul it over grass or real long distances, but from car to & through performance halls it worked well. The maker was very easy to work with. When I lost the keys to the lock they figured out what the key was and sent me four replacements at no charge. The case is lighter and more contoured and that made it easy to walk with by carrying it by the handle -it also made it much easier to get in and out car trunks. It isn't a flight case and not designed for that. I did fly with it once and it was fine (but I held my breath). I actually liked it so much that I used it all the time and didn't get a gig bag for that horn.

I like the slimmer profile. Would like to see one in person for a pt6p