Advice Please on Taking an Acoustic on a Summer Holiday in France.

[kiwisabby]

Hi everyone.

I’m looking for some advice please.

I’ve very recently purchased a beautiful Taylor AD22e. I love it and would like to take it to France with me for the summer in my campervan, but I have concerns because of temperatures in the mid 20s to mid 30s, and because of the high humidity, which I think can be between 60% to 80%.

It has a Taylor AeroCase with the zipper. So, I’m concerned that it might not protect it well enough from the humidity. Do you think it's necessary to buy a hardcase for it? And/or do you think the D'Addario Planet Waves Humidipak would work in a Taylor AeroCase?

And then there’s the heat. Fortunately, the van is white and I can leave the windows down a little and leave a couple of small solar powered fans left on inside, which does keep the temperature down several degrees lower than the outside temperature, but other than that (shade for parking is usually not an option), the inside temperature can be at times very warm. I think it can get up to about 30c to 35c.

Do you think it’s a terrible idea to take it with me? I’ve taken a Taylor Baby (that I no longer have), which had a soft case with a zipper for summer camping in France before with no issues at all, but it cost a fraction of my new AD22e to buy, so I wasn’t so concerned.

Any thoughts / advice would be very much appreciated! Many thanks in advance!

[Earl]

I would not want to be without my guitar on vacation for weeks or months.  First of all, don't panic.  You and your guitar will likely be fine in those moderate temperatures.  Temps of 20-30°C (68-86°F) are perfectly fine for a wood guitar.  If you are worried about leaving it in the van on a hot day, you can wrap the Aero Case in extra clothing, blankets, sleeping bag, and so forth to moderate the heat uptake.  Place the guitar on the floor where the temperature will be coolest, and in the shade.

The case padding is probably impervious to moisture absorption, likely being closed-cell foam of some kind.  However, moisture will transmit through the zipper of the Aero Case.  I have found that humidity devices (water beads in a perforated soap dish in my case) last about 3X as long in a hard case than in a gig bag.  You will have to recharge them more often if it is too dry -- but that sounds unlikely.  Exposure to 60% and even 80% RH will not automatically kill your guitar.  Heat is more the enemy than humidity.  Download the "symptoms of a wet guitar" info from the Taylor website and get familiar with what to watch for. 
https://www.taylorguitars.com/support/spot-fix-over-humidified-guitar
https://www.taylorguitars.com/support/spot-fix-dry-guitar

Although they recommend the two-way Humidipak system, the conventional wisdom is that those are actually poor absorbers of excess moisture.  Packs of silica gel, as used in electronics, can be used to soak up excess moisture.

[Earl]

I tried posting a picture of my soap dish / water beads, but the forum would not take the attachment.  I keep getting an error message.

[kiwisabby]

Thanks so much for your thoughts and advice! That's very helpful and reassuring!

[Earl]

Remember that the RH from the weather report only applies to outdoor conditions, meaning open windows or sitting outdoors.  And the outdoor RH will change hourly with temperature.  Indoors, whether heating or cooling, you can have a very different number -- probably lower in most cases.  Having a hygrometer (not a hydrometer, which measures something else entirely) would give you peace of mind.

Another attempt at posting my soap dish photo.... (didn't work).