The drum should be stored at normal room temperature, which definitely excludes baking in the open sun. The room should not be too humid either (no wet basement).

The RWE and other tunable drums should be stored ready-to-play with a normal tension on the skin. In other words, you do not need to reduce the skin's tension when you are done with playing. However, if it's summer and you leave a normally-tensioned drum cooking in the trunk of your car for several hours, then the heat could contract the skin so much, that the frame will crack. But who would be so careless?

Bags

If you decided to buy a high-end bodhrán, you certainly wish to protect the cherished instrument properly. There are several bags available out there. In both Germany and reportedly the US, you would have a hard time finding bodhrán bags in music stores, very much like finding a proper bodhrán in such venues. If at all, you would find a simple nylon bag with a shoulder strap and an attached tipper pocket (which is very practical).

A good solution are so called "gig bags" for snare drums. The size specifications (usually in inches) are often imprecise, though, since some manufacturers do not give the exact measurements of the inside of the bag, but the diameter of the snare drum's head. But unlike a bodhrán, a snare drum has additional screws (lugs) on the outside of its body which further augment the drum's total diameter. And some bag manufacturers that work with snare-head-related size specs do not add this additional volume. Thus, a "14 inch bag" may actually have a diameter of 15 or 16 inches. This can lead to unwelcome surprises for bodhrán owners. This is why I would strongly recommend you take your drum to the music store for a regular "fitting".

Two manufacturers come to mind that offer snare gig bags/drum cases that also work for the bohdrán: GEWA and Protection Racket. (Protection Racket even announced recently that they plan to offer real bodhrán bags soon). If your command of German is OK and you are interested in further information, you may check out The Yellow Forum, where members discuss different bags in detail.

At the moment, I am using a snare drum gig bag by GEWA. The bag is called Side Protection System "SPS" 14 x 5.5 inches (Art.-No. 232.330; specs henceforth given are always in the format "diameter x depth"). Metrically, this would be 35.6 x 14 cm. For instance for my RWE, which has 40 x 15.3 cm, this should be too small. The actual inside measurements of my bag, however, are more like 43 x 18 cm. And this is a little bit too large. But while the bag does not provide a perfect fit that way, I find it acceptable, because I think the drum is very well protected in it. See how my drum fits into the bag in this online gallery.

For shorter trips, I also got Protection Racket's Snare-Backpack 14 x 5.5 inches "Standard RSS" (Art.-Nr. 3011-01). Its actual inside measurements are more like 42,5 x 16 cm, which means it provides a better fit for the RWE than GEWA bag. Inside, the backpack is lined with lambskin imitation, which provides good protection. Inside, I have glued a rubber foam on the metal zippers (look for the white "thingy" in the picture on the right), because I am afraid the metal might scratch the frame of the bodhrán. In addition to its handy size, a big advantage of the backpack is of course that you can strap it on your back during transport.

Update: In the meantime the ever notorious Christian Hedwitschak, sensing the strong demand for good Bodhrán bags, is also offering two bags of his own design in his shop.

Stands

This is my homemade bodhrán stand. You certainly do not need a stand to play the bodhrán, but it can be very convenient. If you put down the round drum for a spell, it is prone to roll away. You can see how the drum sits in the stand on the couch My "RWE". And here is a simple construction plan for the stand I made. It is in German, but the process is pretty straightforward (cut pieces, glue them together, sand).

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