My daughter starts secondary school on Tuesday. It is a 15-20 minute walk and she will need to take her trombone two days a week. I am slightly worried about the weight of the instrument and wondered if a) I am worrying unnecessarily and b) if I'm not, if anyone has any suggestions as to how best to carry it.

I should perhaps add that in France the bags of children in the first few years of secondary school are ridiculously heavy and weigh 10-12 kg.

May i suggest a trombone case/bag that you put over your sholders much like a normal rucksack. This would then however present the problem of where to put your school bag.....

My Trombone Bag Suggestion: HERE!

Then maybe a school bag in the form of a satchel type thing?
This sort of style?HERE!

Obviusly your daughter may not approve of the style of the bag


Final suggestion: Carry it how she is comfortable with it. Get her to carry it around in different ways until she finds the most comfortable way and use that one.



I myself play Euphonium and am in my 4th year of secondary school. I get the bus to school when I need it but then again I could just be lazy....(I do normally cyle!)

Good Luck at Her new school

I should think she'll be fine. It's one of those things that might be a bit more difficult at first, but she'll probably get used to it. I've been carrying my trombone to school and back for about 9 years, and I don't remember it ever really being a problem. I did know someone who put their trombone on a kind of wheelie thing (sorry that's not very specific!) and then was able just to pull it along easily. I don't know whether you might be able to find anything like that. To be honest, though, I think she'd be ok carrying it.

Now that she's started school, I have realised that it is not really the trombone that is the problem but her school bag, which on some days weighs 12kg. My own bag (I am a lecturer) only weighs 7kg on a really heavy day and I'm an adult, not an 11 year-old!

I'm a trombone player myself and have to say carrying a hard case can be a major hassle if you do any walking or cycling which i do. I've tried several gig style bags but the only decent one i've come across is made by 'GIG'. Unfortunately they are not so easy to find being a specialist item but if you do an internet search you'll probably find a company who can supply you with one. The main advantage being the re-inforced seperate section for the slide. Others will have their own suggestions but you can't go wrong with this bag.

Weights of bags are very annoying and carrying a trombone is even worse when you have to walk that long. I am hoping to get a new soft case for my trombone which should help and I thing that I soft case offers enough protection until you start flying it on planes if you ever tour - when a hard case is necessary

In the end I bought her a school-bag with wheels - they are common here because the bags are so heavy. I was reluctant to buy her one because once at school she has to carry it up the stairs and because of the wheels it is slightly heavier than a bag without wheels. (And no, she doesn't have a locker in which she can off-load her things when she arrives at school so she has to carry everything all day, although fortunately there is a room where she can leave her trombone).

Initially I said she should just use the bag with wheels when she has the trombone but she has in fact ended up using it every day because she says it makes the walk to and from school much easier.