Hard Case vs gig bag OR ruck sack for leads etc.

Jetfire

So I have a Faith "hard case" (which isnt very solid I will say) which I use for gigging and all my leads etc go into a tool box. I like having a hand free for carrying stuff at gigs to open doors etc etc.  Would anyone recommend a gig bag over a hard case for an acoustic or would they replace the tool box to a rucksack/bag or similar?

misterpete

I have a hard case for my Gibson J15 but it is so damn heavy I bought a padded gig bag for it, as long as I am in charge of it the gig bag works fine.

ElectricXII

I've got a hard case for my J35, but I use a Mono M80 Dual gig bag for gigging, so I can carry an electric at the same time.. Hard cases are just not practical enough for me, and unless a proper flightcase or maybe a Hiscox, they're arguably no better at protecting an acoustic than a quality gig bag.

Mellish

For me it's a hardshell. You can trust yourself, sure, but trusting others will be as careful near your guitar is a risk.

 

stickyfiddle

Hard case for acoustics, not least because I don’t have any soft cases that fit them. 

Cables stands and gubbins go in an old backpack as needed. 

(Gubbins includes spare patch cables, stands, DI, notepad, sharpies, paracetamol…)

ICBM

I use a gig bag for carrying my acoustics if I'm going somewhere I can be careful with it, but I have a much lower threshold for worrying about it* than I do with an electric guitar or bass. I've got a Reunion Blues RBX, which is not quite as good as a Mono although also lighter, but no gig bag will really protect against the body getting squashed even though it's perfectly adequate against bumps and dents. Given that a Hiscox isn't *that* much bulkier and only a bit harder to carry, I'd choose that even for public transport if I don't have to walk too far at either end. The pocket on the RBX isn't very big anyway, so everything else has to go in a small rucksack either way.

(*I'm happy with the RBX for a 10-minute bus ride to the next small town where the bus is never crowded, but I'd be much more wary about it on a packed bus into the city, if that makes sense.)

ESBlonde

I have a posh acoustic in it’s hard case but often gig the epiphone. When doing band stuff it’s all hard cases and proper bags for stands etc. when I do occasional open mic and aren’t driving I have a cheap padded gig bag for the epi with pockets for a music stand, guitar stand and cables/capo/tuner. I don’t trust it in other peoples hands though even though it’s my beater.

Supportact

I always use a hiscox case for my acoustic for gigs. The thing I find is with a lot of gigs you never know how safe the stage /storage /backstage area is until you're there so I'd rather have the guitar protected. I'm not precious about it getting a little scratch or whatever, it's more to protect it from structural damage.

Other stuff, including leads and such I'd put in a rucksack or flight case, depending on the type of gig and how much I need to take.