Recently I had to lend a friend my car, and unfortunatly I had no choice but to leave my vioin in the boot.

Now my violin is not worth that much, but they found it rather strange that I was more bothered how they looked after my violin than the car!

So by there logic my violin must be worth (financially) as much as my car! (really not the case)

Now im sure this will be a biased forum, but what would people do without? Before their instruments?

I guess, it always depends how much you rely on something, or how much something means personally to you.

My flute means pretty much to me. But, silly as it may sound, if there were a fire in my house, I would grap my velvet dog who has kept me company throughout my childhood far into my adult years. That thing means more than anything else material to me. Followed of course by my journals and three pictures, I made myself. And then comes the flute, or rather the flutes.

And I woud grab my soft toy alien first of all

The instruments are insured, and replaceable. I would make sure my husband and the cat were safe, and grab the bear I was given on my wedding day (he sat on the table with the cake).

I would grab my dogs, husband and, if I had time, also the box-file which contains all our household info including the phone number for our house and contents insurance policies! Followed by my laptop with thesis on it!

My instruments do come down the list a bit because they're not 'living'.

I do wish I had my violin and viola insured though.. including bows it really adds up. And I'm rather emotionally attached to my violin too because it was hand made and is unique. My viola, although lovely, was mass-produced and could easily be replaced.

If I have my violin in the car I always hide it because I worry it gets stolen.. and it lives in a very sturdy case.

I like my piano very much because it was a combination 21st birthday present subsidised by funds from grandma's will. I chose it particularly because of the way it plays and how it sounds. But it is only a Yamaha upright. It's a difficult thing to save in case of fire, so I'd have to rely on the insurance. But I'd be quite sad.

If there was a fire, I'd make sure the OH and Sonny Jim were out of the house (or at least aware that they had to get out sharpish) and then rescue the hamster and possibly goldfish if there was time. Other than that, things are things ultimately and can be replaced although it would be sad to lose some stuff like wedding photos etc.

Just after Easter this year, a fire was accidentally started in an upstairs bedroom of our house. At no time did I think of possessions. My first thought was to get my wife to get our two grandchildren out of the house, my second was to phone 999 and the lady who answered made it absolutely clear that I should not even think about tackling the fire but get out and stay out. I did not stop for anything at all, including papers and wallet, but did as I was told after first making sure that all the windows were closed, and all the doors were closed but unlocked so that the firemen could get in through any entry.

My sentimental possessions included several original paintings by my late father, treasured photographs, letters and even the data on my computer (which was directly beneath the room on fire) but none of these even came into my mind while there were other people in danger. Fortunately the fire brigade arrived very promptly and were able to contain most of the damage to just the one room.

So the answer to the question posed? In my case it was "Not at all."

Well, my boyfriend would be my main worry but I would hope that he could get himself out of the house

That's awful Gedall - glad the damage was only in one room and that noone was hurt

Very glad that you all got out safely and the damage was well contained.

After my parents, in the case of a fire my instruments, specifically my violin, would be the first thing I'd think of.
I'm very very attatched to my violin, probably for a few reasons. Firstly, it is the thing that gives me the most joy in my life alongside friends and family. Also, I seem to spend an awfully large amount of time carrying it round/playing it, so it's hard not to get attatched, plus it was my uncle's that he passed down to me and the obvious financial value.
I have been known in school fire alarms to leave my bag with various valuables such as phone/mp3/purse in it and grab my violin to take with me. To me, that just makes sense.

I

Lottie, about ten years ago I started putting all this sort of information into simple Word documents. I have just about every single piece of info we would ever need, all bank details, addresses, insurance numbers, important documents etc. Over the years I've collected thousands of bits of data. Because they're text, they take up relatively little space and I store encrypted copies in my online email accounts and at work.

The thread about a fire just reminded me that we have two smoke detectors still in their packaging even after six years!


Steve

Well, the original question was 'What would you do without?', not 'What would you save in a fire?'. And I think we can safely assume that the lovely and right-thinking people on the AB forum would rather do without their instruments than their loved ones.

So what objects would I do without? Well my clarinet is a basic student instrument that I bought on eBay for £50 (a terrible way to buy an instrument, I know, but it's worked out OK). My piano, on the other hand - a Yamaha upright - was bought for me when I was a student and I had it shipped over from Dublin a few years ago when my daughter started lessons (having made do with a minipiano in the intervening years). I would be very sorry to lose it, however acceptable the replacement.

And if the question really is what would you do without (i.e. it's not necessarily going to be replaced), then I think I would give up the clarinet rather than lose the piano. Or my iPpod, and even my mobile phone (ouch!). The car would be a tough one, though.

Most drivers know how to look after a car but not everyone knows how to look after a violin, so I think you were right to fret.

The number of friends I would happily lend my car to if they needed it, is quite large. The number of friends I would trust to properly look after my clarinet to is very small.

I value my violin a lot. I also would only trust it to a an experianced string player becuase they will understand that it is a delicate item which is not cheap, £1500 in my case.

I would trust my latop to most of my mates as I am not attached to it and most people understand how to look after a PC to a a basic degree.

If there wer a fire I would grab my violin and squash rackets and run becuase they are my treasured items.

There are way too many instruments, some very valuable, to even think about rescuing in case of a fire! Its the living first and thats it! Although I would miss my Denby dinner set which I have been collecting for 30 years and is no longer made

All important paperwork such as insurance documents, passports and wedding photos have been scanned and backed up on pen drives. These are kept in a fire proof safe for that purpose, and duplicated again at my parents house in a similiar safe...well just in case

We also have a fire blanket in the kitchen plus a fire ladder on the top landing! If we sound terrible organised and efficient its because my brother in law is a fireman! He instructed us to get the fire alarms and makes sure the batteries work! He also got the fireproof safes for us. He checks the fire alarm every time he comes over

Warning - a bit

To everyone looking after their violin I say well done. My OH was pressed into lending his violin to niece who declared she wanted to learn. Guess what happened. She lasted a few months and then eventually .... a few years later we asked for the violin back because our daughter wanted to learn and was the right size .... the violin came back in pieces. It had been put in the loft and left there over several very hot summers. RIP violin.

So make sure that your friends to whom you entrust your instruments understand how to look after them.