Why the Bannatyne Canister Moisture Control System?
When approached by Craig Bannatyne to work with him on bags and moisture control, I have to confess that although I had used the bag for a couple of years, I had never seen sight of any of the Moisture Control devices currently on offer from Bannatyne. Having used several different devices for varying periods, I was pleasantly surprised to see what the Bannatyne Canister Moisture Control System consisted of.
Having tried it on my pipes in varying climates, humidities and altitudes, I have to say that it was very impressive and gave my pipes the stability I was looking for. I also got quite an extended period of play without changing the gels.
The cups connecting the hoses to the stocks are robust and do not restrict airflow, there is not much difference to the hose width and the stock. The hoses are pretty flexible but do not kink when put in the box. They do not tend to come out of the stock easily. The canister is cylindrical and fits in the bag easily. One huge advantage is no dust apparent in the system. This is important in terms of the reeds as well as potentially the health of the user. With the pressure material, I find stops are easier without restrictive valves. The hoses can be obtained without cups for pipers who may wish this option and prefer to hemp them into the stocks.
This didn’t deter either of us from looking at the system top to bottom we have made some minor adjustments where necessary. This would either be to the quality of the product or the usability and customer friendliness of the Canister system.
The colour-changing gels are excellent and recently we have added a clear canister which gives the piper an instant reading of the condition of the gels making it easier to monitor and taking all the guesswork away.
The other important step was to re-write the instructions for use of the system and the various different ways it can be fitted to suit the individual needs e.g. I only use it for the drones. Others want the chanter connected to keep it dryer. We also decided a tube trap or bottle trap would still be available to the customer to give another option. Each piper will have different moisture levels that work best for them. This gives everyone an option.
One very important point….DO NOT microwave the gels. They are only to be dried out in the oven.
The latest instructions can be viewed by clicking here. The Canister Moisture Control system can be purchased from our online store.
Best wishes
Willie
