Aerocase and humidity management?

[BleedingFingers]

Have a Taylor that I wanted to get in a better case (it’s older, I bought it used, and it just came with an unpadded gig bag that doesn’t fit it very well). The Aerocases look like an interesting “best of both worlds” hybrid between gig bag and hard shell. What has people’s experiences with the Aerocases been? Interested in feedback about them in general, but also specifically wondering how they work for humidity management — do they retain humidity any better than regular gig bags, or at the end of the day is a zipper still a zipper, and you’re better off with a hard shell for climate control?

I’m located a bit outside Atlanta GA so in my case I’m most needing dehumidification…

[Strumming Fool]

My understanding has been that a hard shell case is more effective for climate control. The good news is that older guitars are not as susceptible to climate change as newer guitars. You can buy a hard shell case from Taylor if you like.

[Earl]

Ditto what SF said.  My experience is that a gig bag needs to have the humidity devices (whatever you use) replaced or recharged about 3X more often than with hard cases.  The gig bag padding itself is generally impermeable to moisture, but the whole case loses a lot more moisture through the zipper.  You could keep the gig bag inside a large dry cleaning or contractor-grade plastic bag to better contain moisture and reduce the humidifier maintenance interval.

I keep my remaining wood guitars stored in both gig bags and hard cases.  The ones in gig bags are mostly older instruments (10+ years old) with well-seasoned wood.  Among all my guitars, most travel outside of the house in the Taylor Hard Bag, basically an older version of the Aero case.  Granted, a gig bag is not as protective as a hard case -- serious impacts and crushing being the major risks.  But I'm the only one handling my instruments these days.

And welcome to the zoo!

[BleedingFingers]

Thanks - sounds like I should stick to hard shell for ease of maintenance

[SDTaylorman]

Thanks - sounds like I should stick to hard shell for ease of maintenance

Yeah, the general formula I use is hardcase at home when I'm not playing...for care/maintenance purposes...and gig bag when I'm away from home (unless that calls for a bus/train/plane where I'll use the HC)...for ease of carry and transport.