[uncle duncan]

Go ahead and laugh, but...

I picked up a $29 Rubbermaid 45 gallon tote box with plastic wheels on one end. I put a 1/4" plywood divider in the middle. In the wheel end of the tote you can fit a 10" tom between the wheel wells, put a carpeted plywood divider on top, and stack a snare on top, with a few chunks of foam wedged in so it doesn't bounce around. In the other end of the tote you can fit a 14" floor tom with room above or below it for a drum throne seat. I built a little box to fit under my floor tom, to hold wood wedges and such for when we do the private party back yard gigs and we need to level the drum kit. The tote lid clamps on top, with a piece of foam under it to keep the drums from bouncing.

I'm a skinny old dude, and I can lift the tote into the back of my truck no problem. I've been meaning to post pictures, but RL keeps getting in the way.

For kick drum, we're using a new converted 18" floor tom, with the cardboard box it came in as the case. For hardware, we're using an abandoned keyboard case, long enough for the hi hat to fit without breaking it down. It holds 3 stands plus the hi hat and a couple of cymbal boom arms. For the kick pedal, I found a nice plastic box at Office Max for $12, but I could have fit the pedal in the tote box if I wanted to get anal with some more foam scraps.

So, not counting the keyboard case (which was home-made out of 1/4" plywood with aluminum angle metal on the corners) I've got my whole kit in cases for approximately $50 total. The plywood and carpet scraps would probably add another $20, but I had that stuff laying around from previous projects. Building an equivilent hardware/keyboard case would add another $60 or so. Probably more, since I always underestimate these projects.

It all comes down to how much your time is worth. In this economy, I come out way ahead going the DIY route.

(Snare roll - cymbal crash) Thank-you-very-much