 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Chong
Date: 2003-02-09 21:42
what do u think are the best cases or case covers for protecting your clarinet from the cold? I live in quebec and it gets quite cold out here. since i do not own a car, I often walk an hour or so in below zero weather to get to my gigs. and often, there is not even time to warm up.
what have your experiences been with cavallaro, altieri, and other case covers? what about those foam cases? do t hose insulate well?
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Author: Peter
Date: 2003-02-10 00:22
I used to throw a "pocket heater" in my bag with the instrument case in it, usually separated from the case by a towel to keep it from overheating a particular spot on the outside of the case.
Pocket heaters are available at most good outdoors outfitters up north and not very costly. There are two types: Solid or liquid fuel. You might also consider a couple of them for your pockets, while you're at it.
When I was a kid, I spent two years hunting and trapping, as my first part-time job, in the mountains upstate NY. It was my equivalent of a "paper route" and made a great deal more money ($700.00 to $1500.00 a month, from November to late March, after I graduated high school in 1965.)
Pocket warmers were a blessing in sub-zero weather and deep snow, at the break of dawn, before going to my college classes, or whatever. When I had to carry "perishable" instruments around in the cold, I naturally thought of the pocket warmers.
But beware: Device a way to keep the pocket warmer(s) from overheating a specific spot on the outside of the instrument case and experiment with one or two to ensure proper heating without overdoing it. And I can tell you that they work very well.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2003-02-10 00:40
Peter - leave it to an upstate New Yorker to know how to keep warm -I spent several winters in Syracuse and below zero for weeks is the norm. I like the pocket warmer idea - there are chemically activated warmers that do not get super hot. I have an Altieri case cover - it is actually a case that you put your case into - that is very well insulated with three layers of insulation that should be dandy with a hand warmer inside. The Altieri folks (whom I have absolutely no connection with) are I believe from Colorado where cold happens too. They also make a dandy insulated coosie that fits over your A or Bb clarinet to keep it warm between parts.
The Doctor
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Author: Hank
Date: 2003-02-10 01:42
Hi Chong,
I have a fleece lined cover for my large Selmer case which is an Olathe. Very nice, found at WW & BW for about $60 to 70. Extra pockets for music.
I wonder though how long it would take to for the insttrument to get really cold though. I used to fly Cessna Citation jets and at altitude the OAT was -30 degrees F. The luggage in the front baggage compartment would not get too cold even after a couple of hours so a simple fleece cover would seem to be the ticket. Anything will get cold-soaked though after a lengthy periof of time.
Hope this helps.
HRL
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Author: Peter
Date: 2003-02-10 02:54
Hey Doc,
People who haven't been there don't know the half of it. Try being miles from home, or your car, breaking through the ice over a shallow pond or creek wearing rubber chest-high waders over your thick winter clothes!
Not only the waders fill up with nearly frozen water, but the clothes are cotton and wool, thicker and therefore more absorbent, the longer you need to stay out and the colder it is!
You have to strip bear-butt naked in the snow and below-zero temperature so you don't freeze inside your waders, start a fire as fast as you can, with wet, frozen wood, usually windy in between those mountains, and get warm and dry quickly, or you die!
Man, I miss those days! At least I had the energy to do these things back then. Now I'd likely look at you like you're nuts, if you asked me to go out and do this!
Peter
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Author: phatcat
Date: 2003-02-10 12:16
Peter:
Being mooned by a bear must have been the low point.
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Author: William
Date: 2003-02-10 15:33
I think that as long as your clarinet is in its case and unassembled, it will cool (or warm) gradually enough so that the wood will not crack. It is rapid temperature change that is the real culpert. And then, only if the clarinet is made from wood with an inherant--and undetectable--flaw in its grain, will it eventually crack.
My R13s have been sujected to the harshest travel conditions that Wisconsin winters can bring, and, even during long sub-zero treks from college rehearsal hall to dorm in the 60's, have never cracked.
I have even witnessed friends of mine bringing their clarinets (Selmers and Buffets) into gigs after having spent the day in a frozen car, putting them together and playing on them to warm them up--and never a crack. But, as clarinets cost thousands of dollars today--as opposed to hundreds when I bought mine--it is probably wise to be causcious and protect them from extreme rapid temperature changes in both directions.
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Author: Peter
Date: 2003-02-10 15:51
Phatcat,
Being "mooned" by a bear is not nearly as bad as you might think. However, finding yourself under the flyway of a very large flock of geese heading South after dinner can ruin you day in one quick hurry! Trust me on that one!
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Author: tetiana
Date: 2003-02-11 02:09
Chong
You walk for an hour to your gigs!!?? What, no metro or bus in your neck of the woods? Where on earth do you live/play? Alma? (Goodness, tomorrow, they're forecasting something like -30 C! Plus wind chill!). Your clarinet is one thing, but how do you defrost your fingers and your mouth!?
I'm not acquainted with Cavallaro, Altieri, but have you considered a case that you can wear UNDER your overcoat? Stuff it into a small backpack or a baby carrier and wear it on your chest. It might be a bit bulky, true, but your body heat is probably just the ticket.
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