Trap cases

dkerwood

Silver Member
So, I keep seeing these trap cases in the various schools I've worked in- big, bulky square cases on wheels that somehow are supposed to work for drummers.
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I never thought much about them, but my current employer was going to throw out one of these trap cases, so I volunteered to adopt it.

Used it for a gig Friday night, and it worked pretty well. I was able to fit all of my hardware and cymbal bag in there, but it weighed probably 250 pounds, and that was just unacceptable (I couldn't even load it in the car). I finally worked it out so that my "small" setup hardware would go in the trap case along with my snare (wrapped in a thick blanket), throne, stick bag, and kick pedal. I did have to pull out the cymbal bag, and the rest of the hardware for the "big" setup went in my old duffel bag. Then my two smaller toms and kick go in cases (two other things that my employer was throwing away). My 16" tom doesn't have a case yet, but that's okay because I don't use it for smaller gigs.

I have a small gig this afternoon. With luck, I should be able to load only the trap case, 2 tom cases, kick case, cymbal bag, and drum rug. Two trips should get the whole kit inside, since the trap case is on wheels. Greatly preferable to the first time I gigged out with this kit and had everything separate. One other concern is that my Chevy HHR was BARELY tall enough for the case to fit, so this might not work for everyone.

Anybody else have experience with these, good or bad?
 
I have the tall Humes and Berg Vulc Fiber trap case the stands fit in & it has wheels.
I really like it, and it's been in service for just about 18 years so I've got my moneys worth!

It's also tall enough that I only have to fold up the legs on all the stands and the hat stand can be put in without breaking it down
Makes it very fast for set-up & tear downs.
The various small things like the ft leg, stick bag, cowbell etc go into it too.

I did go to smaller tubed lighter weight stands this year because the stupid thing was so dang heavy.

I have Enduro cases for everything else and a cymbal bag.
Kick, rack, & 3 floor toms. The 2 snares fit into a 14x14 case which is cool.
Even though it's 6 cases, the trap case and the cymbal bag, my load in's are pretty fast.

I remember those 'holds everything' cases from school though.
Some were kinda small for those hat & 2 cymbal kit set ups, but we had a few larger ones for the snares, stands, cymbals....maybe even the bells.

I was going to get a couple flight cases made while in one band for an series of shows that were going to happen in Chile (I live in the US) back in the mid-90's....Pepsi was a major sponsor but they backed out for some reason or another.

I don't even want to think about how much it would be to ship that stuff these days!! YIKES!!! There goes the whole budget!

If those cases just roll into a truck, and all you have to do is roll the thing everywhere it's cool to have pretty much everything in one case.

My boss had one that fit everything for a pretty big kit (used to be for B.O.C.), and there's no way you could use it if it had to be loaded it into anything but a truck with a ramp.
2 people could hardly lift the thing when it was empty, plus it was big!
 
Here's another option... ...not for everybody but if you have someone to help you get it in, it is an inexpensive solution.

I bought three of these a few years ago for $50 each and I put casters on one of them for another $30. My day job is commercial photographer, so these work for light stands and grip, etc..
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=91573-000000230-3725
I'm sort of old-school, so I like the idea of a trap case, but they're so heavy.
Plus at smaller gigs, I've had casual gig organizers look at me like I'm overdoing by dragging in the monster trap case. Whatever.

I bought this bag a while ago and it was $100 and is extra long and has wheels. I can leave my stands up when I pack them away and set-up is a dream. It can get heavy too, because it's big but it has two sturdy straps on either end so two people can get it in easily. It rolls like a hand truck dolly and has heavy duty plastic on the back for bumping up steps and curbs.
http://www.roadrunnercases.com/products/index.cfm?cat=drums
picture of it is at the bottom of the page.
 
I used a trap case for years and loved it. I put my snare, kick pedal, cymbals, and all the stands in it. Yeah, it was heavy, but it was great to have everything in there together, and on wheels so I could roll it as far as I needed to. I had an old VW squareback that was very easy to lift the case up into the hatch. Only real problem was stairs. I had to stand below the case and lift it up one stair at a time, then move up one myself and lift again... and repeat until you get to the top. Fortunately most places don't have stairs, but I lived in a second floor apartment at the time, and had that to look forward to in the early morning when I got home from a gig.

Nowadays I have a New Beetle and the shape of the hatch rules out using a trap case. So I've switched to a hardware bag (it works great) and everything else in soft cases.
 
My high school band used that exact trap case you show in that photo. Its made out of some kind of fiber paper/plastic hybrid and didn't seem that strong to me. We filled it up, went to lift it into the truck, and both side handles ripped off of the thing. We managed to repair it by putting a metal plate behind the handle and bolting it back on, kind of like a huge washer behind the bolt to spread out the load. Other than that, it works alright. I agree that its a bit too heavy when loaded up. I believe that using a couple smaller cases is the way to go. Rubbermaid makes some super durable bins that I use. Sturdy, lockable and you can easily put casters, though I haven't put the time in to do that. Cheap, cheap, cheap too. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10569595
 
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