Thoughts on humidity...like hurricane humidity...

[B381]

See the end of the track this thing is supposed to travel....yea, that's seriously like right at my house. Thoughts on mandolin protection from the impending doom....I mean weather?



BTW....Jim Cantore is in the state, it's official, we're screwed.

[Louise NM]

Take the mandolin with you when you evacuate.

[George R. Lane]

Put it in the case and cover the case with a big plastic garbage bag, use duct tape to seal the bag.. If you can't take it with you make sure it is high off of the floor. Better yet, take it with you. Good luck and stay safe.

[O. Apitius]

I agree with the above posts. The thing I would ad is to use heavier plastic than a common garbage bag or use several. You want to make the wrap completely water and vapor tight. Tuck tape for vapor barriers gives a good seal as well. If your home is air-conditioned, the idea would be to seal in the drier, air-conditioned air in your case. If you don't have air-conditioning, try doing the wrap and tape job in the driest environment that you can.

Of course, as the others have stated, it would be best to bring the mandolin with you when you evacuate. If so, it may not be a bad idea to wrap the mandolin up anyway. 'hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Wishing you and your loved ones all the best.

[yankees1]

Take it with you !! If I had to evacuate, my instruments would be the first items I would take with me ! Wife would have to keep up with me or she is on her own !

[liestman]

Having gone through Hurricane Harvey here, don't forget to take pictures of everything valuable before you evacuate. Just make a movie on your cell phone, with a running description of what you are showing. That video may (hopefully not) turn out to be priceless for insurance purposes. And if you put the mando "up high", remember that most furniture floats and may turn over so choose your spot wisely.

[Doc Ivory]

We had Jim show up here this day last year.
Irma did a number on us certainly.
I kept all my instruments in their cases and for two weeks sans electric, they did quite well. I suspect they would have suffered mold and such if we went day a month without power though.

Stay safe up there.

[MikeZito]

All of the above posts are excellent advice. My only addition would be to slack the strings a bit - maybe a full step down. Very wet conditions may cause the neck to bow, so relieving some of the string tension might be a good preventative measure.

STAY SAFE!

[DerTiefster]

This is a belt-and-suspenders suggestion, but if you have the instrument in a case with its humidifier, that should maintain a lower level of humidity for a few weeks. Placing that into a couple of bags, well-sealed, should keep additional outside humidity from entering. Placing this with a desiccant inside another couple of bags should keep everything happy, moisture-wise, unless something terrible happens and your neighbors in the next state find the package in their back yard with a hole through the outer layers and the mandolin of their dreams in perfect shape inside the innermost layer.

Not many would do this. Not many would need to, as any instrument meriting such care would be carried along in evacuation.

Michael

[ukenukem]

On a lighter note, having grown up in SE Florida I have found that this far out if it shows it's hitting your house you are accually pretty safe.

However, the models are getting more accurate over time! Stay safe!

[Em Tee]

All of the above posts are excellent advice. My only addition would be to slack the strings a bit - maybe a full step down. Very wet conditions may cause the neck to bow, so relieving some of the string tension might be a good preventative measure.

STAY SAFE!

Second this. I live just outside of Miami and last hurricane season my electricity was knocked out for weeks. I forgot to slacken my strings and one of my mandolins got a hairline crack on the side by the neck.

[Jim Franey]

Move to Arizona! 😎👌

[Jeff Mando]

Family and safety first! I'd run for the hills! Mandolins can be replaced, if necessary.

[Dave Greenspoon]

Having gone through Hurricane Harvey here, don't forget to take pictures of everything valuable before you evacuate. Just make a movie on your cell phone, with a running description of what you are showing. That video may (hopefully not) turn out to be priceless for insurance purposes.

And get SERIAL NUMBERS! Seriously. Then, post that video or those pix to your google drive so you can get it and send it to whomever, whenever, no matter what happens to your phone.

[wildpikr]

We've been through our share of hurricanes and none of them were any fun at all. Lots of good advice here, get pictures, list serial numbers, take what you deem your most precious [not just mandolins either] when you evacuate...but don't wait too long to evacuate [don't ignore evacuation warnings either] - you won't want to be stuck in slow-to-not moving traffic on the highway while you wait out the storm!

On a lighter note, my wife asked me the hypothetical question, "Which one would you take if we have to leave?" I countered with, "But I have two hands!"

Seriously, be safe.

[B381]

So far just somd wind and a little rain....thanks for all the responses.

[MikeZito]

Good news B381 . . . keep us updated.

[B381]

Still minor wind and rain at 9:30pm. It's amazing how many resources are here and they are prepared. Water rescue teams from as far away as Los Angeles, utility companies from everywhere.

Dang shame is in preparation I bought a generator.....that could have been a mandolin....lol.

[wildpikr]

I was happy to watch it continually downgrade, you're spared the catastrophic winds...hope it doesn't stall and rain to excess.

Generators are useful tools - I backfed my home panelboard [through a 2 pole 60A breaker]from the sub-panel in my shop and made a patch cable to go between the generator and the connection to the shop panel bus...it served us well for a few weeks when we went through hurricane Rita in 2005 and comes in handy for the occasional nagging utility outage from storms, etc. Getting and keeping a gasoline supply to run the generator was an adventure too...

[B381]

We're still here, flooding is everywhere....Florence, GO AWAY!

[mee]

I wonder how many instruments are under water right now.

[wildpikr]

We're still here, flooding is everywhere....Florence, GO AWAY!

B381,

Are you still okay?

[B381]

We're good. I am LEO so have been working non-stop.....really ready for a day off. Our river is rising so more flooding is expected, my family and house came through ok.

Thanks for asking.