I intend to order some David Daye pipes soon... he offers a little pipe case, but I'm not sure I want to use that one. Are there any good alternatives? What do y'all use? What do y'all suggest? I once met an uilleann piper who kept his pipes in a guitar case... what do you think of that? Is that safe?
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If a maker offers a pipe case, it is normally designed to fit his instruments well.
Of course you can store your pipes in a guitar case, if you use plenty of foam rubber, but I would prefer a more snug fit. Alternatively, you can use the extra space of the guitar case for two sets of smallpipes and many, many tin whistles...
The width and height of the case required is mostly determined by the width and height of the bellows, the rest is up to your preference. I like the case as big as needed and as small as possible, I take off the end of the bass drone and the bass regulator cap, and push the baritone drone in as far as possible to fit my pipes into their case. I can understand well if someone does not want to take off the reg cap but I wouldn't look for a case which allows for the full length of the drones, these are easily taken apart and re-assembled.
Some people use fiddle or viola cases. Gun cases are also good but usually too big for half sets.
I like the larger hard-shell mountain dulcimer case like this one. Place your pipes with the common stock on the small side, and the bellows on the big side. I believe it will hold a half set without taking the bass drone apart.
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I use a shotgun case for my half set, and it is just a bit too small. I have a half set with the bass reg bar, so that makes a difference though. I think that case would work well for your half set.
I had a lovely case from the Consort Case company in Mooncoin , Ireland. It's robust , pretty light and holds a half set ( 3/4) easily without having to take anything apart. I've checked their site and they do custom cases but if you e-mail them for an uilleann case they will know what size to do. Here's a link :
I looked at lots of cases but found that in order to get the length I wanted the width and height were larger than needed.
So I started making a case at work, 36" x 10" x 6" which will take my 1/2 set with the drones assembled.
Making it out of carbon fiber cloth over foam, should be light and strong.
I have one of these and after some minor alterations (I pushed really hard on some spots) it's been great for a D half set. The D chanter sits well in the accessories box and there's enough room between the drones to slip in a C chanter. I don't really have to do much other than push the bass drone in a little and turn it so it lays flat, and depending on the tuning, sometimes I don't even have to do that. Penny whistles, pipes bits, tuner and other sundries fit well in the outside pocket. I don't think this case would work for a full set though.
