going camping with a mandolin

[caboose]

hey guys, my family and I are taking a 2 and 1/2 week camping trip to yellowstone in july. We're tent camping (of course. It's camping. not a vacation! ;P )
I'm wanting to take my gibson f9 but at the same time am aware that taking it with me could be risky.
My plan would be to keep it in the van and not in the tent, not only for security but keeping it away from the elements.
Anyone gone tent camping with their mando before? tips and suggestions would be great, especially when it comes to the weather element and keeping it in the van. (I'm also going to be trying to convince my sister to bring her fiddle too)
thanks!

[MikeEdgerton]

The temperature inside a van in the sun can kill a mandolin (or any other stringed instrument) very fast. Take a look at this (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41118&highlight=festival+heat) thread.

[Folkmusician.com]

I was suggest not taking the F9. It would be more economical to take something like a KM-150.
Tents and vehicles have issues with condensation in addition to the standard temperature and humidity issues that would be present.

But then again, if there were to be a lot of jamming going on, I might risk it. :)

[caboose]

mmmm, thanks for the quick replies.
Last time i was in yellowstone was a couple years ago and we went in august, at that time at nights it was dropping to the low 30s (actually dealt with rain/sleet/ice/snow all on the drive back to the campsite one night) and during the day it was 50s/60s.
this does make me reconsider taking it with me now
unfortunately, I have no other mandolin at my disposal currently, so it's this one or nothing for two weeks :( which I can do, but don't really want to.;)

[Potosimando]

I'd say get a Martin Backpacker (or Sweet Pea) or take nothing. Your F9, or whatever, ultimately will likely fare just fine, but dutiful caring for it will prove to be a stone around your neck and might cause hard feeling between your wife and you, and maybe the kids too. The vacation is for you and your family, not for you and your mandolin--eliminate the stressers that can be eliminated, I say.

Yeah...again, take nothing if you don't have a Backpacker available...either that or throw caution to the wind and don't let your concern for the mando be a preoccupation and a family stress issue.

[man dough nollij]

Hey Caboose,

Say hi to my house in Livingston when you drive by! The temperatures in that part of the world should be quite moderate this time of year. I think you'll be fine bringing it. I wouldn't leave it in the car in the heat of the day, but in the tent is should be fine. If you go for a hike I might wrap it in a sleeping bag to slow temperature fluxuations. I can't see any reason why a camping trip to Yellowstone in May would be hazardous to a mandolin.

They are meant to be played, and there are very few finer places to do it.

Lee

[mandotrout777]

The temperatures you'll experience in July are likely to be a bit different than what you described for August (but then they could be about the same) you just never know. I've seen it snow in July many a time and I've seen it above 100 more frequently. Plan on temp swings from the 90's to the 30's- 40s just about every day. Not the best conditions for a mandolin. I'm assuming you're staying in an established campground, so you MIGHT be able to talk them into stowing your instrument in the check-in building during the day, but that's kinda doubtful. I feel your pain... but if you don't have access to a "beater", if it was me I'd probably leave it home and just enjoy the park.

[caboose]

mmmm.
ok, thanks again for all the advice, giving me something to think about.

[Tobin]

Definitely de-tension the strings if you're going to leave it in a tent or car during temperature extremes. That will cut your risk of damage by 90%.

(OK, I made up the 90% number, but honestly, most damage in extreme temperature can be avoided by taking the stress off the instrument.)

[Mike Bunting]

Hey Caboose,

Say hi to my house in Livingston when you drive by! The temperatures in that part of the world should be quite moderate this time of year. I think you'll be fine bringing it. I wouldn't leave it in the car in the heat of the day, but in the tent is should be fine. If you go for a hike I might wrap it in a sleeping bag to slow temperature fluxuations. I can't see any reason why a camping trip to Yellowstone in May would be hazardous to a mandolin.

They are meant to be played, and there are very few finer places to do it.

Lee
I quite agree, normal care is all that's required. A mando is not fine crystal. Don't worry about it and have fun.

[mandotrout777]

I quite agree, normal care is all that's required. A mando is not fine crystal. Don't worry about it and have fun.

You're right they're not fine crystal. Fine crystal would hold up considerably better inside a car on a summer day.:)

But yes, I tend to forget that the average visitor to Yellowstone probably won't be out of their car for more than an hour at a time.... Otherwise, if you are going on a long hike or fishing or something you could just carry it with you and use it as a bear deterent. :grin:

[mandroid]

My little Leo, a subcompact travel mandolin, survived some pretty adverse conditions , taking it on 2 fairly long Cyclo-camping [bicycle] tours, including a flooded campsite .. :disbelief:

I was warned about the pending storm , but only in German. :redface:

:whistling:

[Nighttrain]

Hello Caboose,
I tend to agree with Jeff. I have done a lot of camping over the years (in Alaska, Yosimite & the Redwoods) I would NEVER take my main instruments with me. Take a beater or just enjoy being with your family and the surroundings. Just my opinion. In the end do what makes you happy !

[jim_n_virginia]

I am camping this weekend but I don't expect it to get too hot but I have taken my Fern many times camping and to Bluegrass festivals.

I bring a travel lite case and tote it around with me. If I store it I park in the shade and put it behind my truckseat, crack the windows (not low enough to stick a hand in and unlock though) and if it is sunny I put a blanket over it.

I have camped in the dead of winter and 100 degree days in July and August. Generally you don't have anythung to worry about at night as it doesn't usually get hot enough.

The hot part of the day if it is hot outside is generally between 11am and 4pm and if it is a scorcher I'll put my mando in my tent or camper while I am at camp under my sleeping bag and leave the windows unzipped for ventilation. We always camp under trees so there is shade.

If I leave to wander the camp grounds or festival during that time my mandolin is with me, this is when having a heavy Calton or any other heavy fiberglass case is a pain and the Featherweights are a life saver.

In all the years I have brought mandolins to Bluegrass festivals and camping I have never had a mandolin ruined by the heat ... so FAR!

[mandozilla]

I am camping this weekend but I don't expect it to get too hot but I have taken my Fern many times camping and to Bluegrass festivals.

Right on Jim. What's the difference between camping in a tent and attending a festival and using a tent? Zip, Zilch, Nada! I too take my 'Good' mandolin and play it most of the time at festivals. :cool:

I spend probably 80% of my waking hours picking at festivals so my 'Good' mando is either in my hands or in the gig bag with me at all times. After dark, it's safe to lock it up in the car...then the beater comes out.

I bring my beater but usually only play it at night while jam hopping...especially after having consumed a few (hah, many!) adult beverages. :grin:

~o):mandosmiley:

[sgarrity]

Take it with you and play it!! That's why you own it, right?

[Capt. E]

I often carry a mandolin or an accordion in my car even on hot summer days here in Texas and have yet to see any real problems. My accordion may be more sensitive to heat than the mandolin as temperatures over 140 degrees will melt the wax that holds the reeds in place. A mandolin can be equally sensitive, especially if hide glue was used in the construction. So, whenever I park, the instrument goes with me in the case. If I must leave it in the car for any length of time, full shade is an absolute must. My main parking space is a covered garage. The search for shade is a constant here in Texas.

[earthsave]

Just about anyplace is better than a locked car with the windows up in the summer. For that long camping, I'd take a beater or an instrument you dont mind losing. If you dont have one, it'd be worth buying an inexpensive one just to take if you want to play. Then you'd always have a beater, assuming a bear doesnt runn oft with it.

At festivals, I carry my instrument with me everywhere in my Travelite. When I have a guitar too, I keep that in my tent in the sleeping bag.

[caboose]

Around the campsite I had planned on keeping it out of the van whenever I could, and even with the van there, the doors are always open with people jumping in and out. During the day we're planning on doing a lot of driving to and then hiking around. The only time I would HAVE to keep it in the van would be at night and then if we did any activities like some rafting and trail riding, and if I knew we were going on a really long hike and didn't want to take it with me. but again, all of our hiking is just trail hiking, we aren't hiking, setting up camp, hiking some more etc.

[woodwizard]

Common sense will be a big factor. You will be able to tell when you can keep it in a car/van and when it's not's so good an idea to store it there. It has become a natural feeling for me to take care of my instruments ... almost without thinking.

[GTG]

'Camping' can mean a lot of things, and I think this is why you're getting a lot of different types of responses. If you're going to be hanging around the campsite 90% of the time, then there shouldn't be a problem as you can leave the mando in the tent or make sure it's in the shade, etc. You can take it along if you go for a hike for an afternoon or so (Boulder-type bag with backpack straps will help immensely here), and bring it in the car (with AC on) for grocery runs and other drives.

But if it's one of those 'set up the tent and then take off' trips, where you park in a different spot every day and hike or visit all sorts of different areas (Yellowstone being big, with many beautiful spots to explore, I suspect this might be the case), car parked for several hours at a time, then more vigilance is needed. In that case, it may well be a 'stone around your neck' of sorts. It could work, but you'll have to make sure you are ok bringing it with you all the time, included all the crowded mini-hikes that Yellowstone is known for (Old Faithful geysers, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone overlook and all that). I did this last year with my Collings and it was ok, if a bit unnerving at times.

[CES]

I think Janet Davis Music has Rover A-styles for 129 bucks right now...they'll set it up, and if you call them they'll probably play a few and let you pick the one you like the best...won't be your F-9, but it'll sound and play like a mandolin, and won't hurt too badly if something happens to it...

I'm all for taking your instrument with you, and if you treat it like a pet (ie, don't lock it in the hot car, leave it out in the rain/snow, or put it in any other situation you wouldn't put a pet (thinking dog or cat, not reptile :) ) into, don't leave it totally unattended (ie, easily accessible for theft), and use common sense it should be fine.

BUT, if replacing or expensively repairing your F-9 would be a financial or emotional burden you're unwilling or unable to undertake, then I'd opt for a beater (hence the reference above) or leave it at home.

There are many other good beater options out there, the one listed above is just the least expensive reasonable option I've seen lately.

[Dick Wade]

I have camped in Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks a bunch of times and all over Colorado. I have taken my Weber Yellowstone a few times and worried myself sick with it in the car and me on a backpacking trip. It kept my mind of off some fine cutthroat fishing. I was more worried about the mando than the bears. I would get paranoid about it being stolen or the heat messing it up. I never had either of those problems and I sure enjoyed playing it when I was in a base camp. Now most of the time I take a washburn msw3. Its my electrified mando and the one that doesn't get used much. I wouldn't want to see anything happen to it , but it wouldn't break my heart either. I have found that I don't play that much when I travel to the wild outdoors unless its to a festival or a town with a great music scene like Fort Collins. I always take the good stuff to festivals or any of the Colorado foot hills towns. I guess you have to balance the risks for yourself. If you can't walk away from your mando when its stashed in a tent or locked in a car with out a lot of worrying then you should probably take one that you can turn your back on.

[Mattg]

or a town with a great music scene like Fort Collins. I always take the good stuff to festivals or any of the Colorado foot hills towns

Shhhhhhh... Don't want to let the cat out of the bag. ;).

[mandotrout777]

Shhhhhhh... Don't want to let the cat out of the bag. ;).

The more the merrier, I say.;) I moved from the Fort Collins area a number of years ago. The music scene is the thing I miss most (the fishing is better up here though). :)

[mandroid]

The Mix F5 would do the trick, theres a used one in the Classifieds .. not mine ,

I got an A5 as my go anywhere , spilled beer resistant too.

[barney 59]

Take it with you and play it!! That's why you own it, right?

I have to go along with that. I would take my mandolin anywhere short of river rafting. You just have to be aware of your surroundings and watch out for direct sunlight and overheated cars, thieves and of course bears!

[caboose]

thanks for all the advice, given me a lot to think about and consider.

[CES]

I have to go along with that. I would take my mandolin anywhere short of river rafting.

Of course, if you take a Mix, Applause or Ovation you could actually use it as a back-up paddle in a pinch :grin:

Let us know how the story ends, caboose!!

:mandosmiley:

[DryBones]

find a used Mid-Missouri with the original hard case and don't look back. They make a perfect camping mando.

[caboose]

thanks a bunch, and I'll keep you posted. I talked yesterday with the guy who set it up for me and his advice was "Take it....it's a tool, not a baby that is going to blow up if you take it outside....just be careful and TAKE CARE OF IT"
still thinking. This is my first nice mandolin I've ever had (just got it 2 months ago) I had been playing a Johnson A (little dinky thing) but when I went to australia a couple years ago it got pretty messed up in travel (I didn't loosen the strings and it warped pretty bad in some places) so I had been playing one someone had loaned to me until I got my F9 which I've wanted for close to 7 years.

[David Cottingham]

I'd say get a Martin Backpacker (or Sweet Pea) or take nothing. Your F9, or whatever, ultimately will likely fare just fine, but dutiful caring for it will prove to be a stone around your neck and might cause hard feeling between your wife and you, and maybe the kids too. The vacation is for you and your family, not for you and your mandolin--eliminate the stressers that can be eliminated, I say.

Yeah...again, take nothing if you don't have a Backpacker available...either that or throw caution to the wind and don't let your concern for the mando be a preoccupation and a family stress issue.

Backpacker is what I take. The sound may be a bit funky, but no worries about damage!