It’s meaningless to have nice equipment if you don’t take care of it. The only real way to make sure your drums and hardware don’t get damaged is to get quality cases, especially if you gig and/or tour frequently. You might think that you have to spend a fortune on quality cases that will sufficiently protect your instruments, but this is not entirely true. The term, “you get what you pay for” definitely applies here, but a few companies make very high quality gear for the price. Obviously the ideal situation is to get hard cases for all your instruments, but if you don’t have the means to do that, there are still options. I recently went on the road for a month, and brutalized my gear, but avoided damage altogether by using Roadrunner drum cases. I have always used Roadrunner products, and never had a reason to switch. I use their soft drum bags, and their stick bag with the shoulder strap.
Roadrunner Soft Cases
To protect my cymbals, I found that SKB makes a great hard case that comes with individual pads to put between each cymbal to separate them. Their Hardware cases are also great, and all of their hard-cases come with wheels for easy transportation.
SKB Hard Cymbal Case
SKB Hardware Case
Lastly, Pelican makes some great cases for any electronics that you may be using. I use a small pelican case for my in ear monitors, but their cases are great for electronic drums/pads, or just cables and wires.
Pelican In Ear Monitor Case
All of these companies have great cases, but the ones I have listed and pictured are, I believe, the best that each of them have to offer. The bottom is that you have to protect your gear, and there are ways to save money while effectively doing so. Good Luck!
