StarBox: Bruce Gandy lists Every. Single. Thing. in his pipe case

If you’ve seen the movie Up in the Air, you might have some idea of Bruce Gandy’s lifestyle as a world traveller, going from airport to airport to satisfy the robust demand for his expertise by groups looking for knowledge and inspiration to help guide their futures.

He’s not quite George Clooney, but, relatively speaking, the Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, piper could be far more accomplished at his craft.

Gandy is, of course, one of the world’s greatest solo pipers, winner of most of the top solo contests offered on earth.

Here’s an abbreviated list: both Highland Society of London Gold Medals, the Senior Piobaireachd at the Argyllshire Gathering, the Silver Star MSR, the Bratach Gorm (twice), the Gillies Cup, the Bar to the Gold Medal at Maxville (five times), the MacCrimmon Cairn (eight times), the USPF (seven times) . . . you get the drift.

Coincidentally, in Up in the Air, Clooney asks employment workshop attendees, “What’s in your backpack?”

We suspected that an exhaustive list of the contents of Bruce Gandy’s pipe box would make for interesting reading.

It did not disappoint:

The main case:

• Piper’s Choice pipe case (had it for about 23 years; now been on approximately 900 flights, and it fit on every plane)
• “Gandy” pipes by McCallum Bagpipes (as we refine the finished product), with BalanceTone tenor reeds and an Ezeedrone bass.
• Lee & Sons goatskin bag with grommets and zipper
• Highland Gear bag cover
• Hardie FlexiStick blowpipe
• Five Gandy pipe chanters, four with Chesney reeds and one with a G1 reed
• Water tube for the blowpipe
• A few of sets of extra drone reeds made by Ezeedrone and Highland Ridge
• Three sets of earplugs in case I lose one
• Two Nike wristbands for the sweat
• Glengarry with an antique hat badge of great value to me personally
• One roll of Teflon tape (not sure why)
• Bag of reed elastics
• Asthma puffer
• Medical bottle with some specially marked chanter reeds (again, not sure why as I don’t remember what the marks mean)
• Roll of hemp
• Set of five soft brushes
• Two bristle brushes for cleaning out the bag
• Extra roll of hemp
• Several of my current piobaireachds printed out at the bottom of the case for reference at events

Top section of case:

• Another roll of chanter tape
• A little package of baby wipes
• Tool kit with some reeds, sandpaper
• T-Zip lube for the zipper on the bag
• Another bag of elastics
• A couple of spare corks
• Goo-Gone pen
• Sharp knife
• Reed poker
• Glass file
• Scissors

In the other pocket:

• More baby wipes
• Elastics
• Deodorant (yes, perhaps TMI)
• A comb
• Small jar of Advil
• Small jar of propranolol (in case I get wound too tight at an event)
• Bannatyne dry-flow tubes (in the bag right now)
• Extra bag of gel beads for the tubes
• Another roll of tape out for modifying while I practiced
• Three or four corks that go in the bag
• White towel inside the bag (but again out as I was currently practicing when I did this)

Our thanks to George Cl . . . sorry, Bruce Gandy for laying bare his piping travel accoutrements.

Is there a piper (or drummer!) whose carrying case contents you’d love to see? Send your suggestions and we’ll see what we can do!