“Hey there! Just a heads up, our prices will be going up soon. Don’t miss out on snagging your new case at the current lower price!”

This case has been a long time coming! We first got interested in the benefits of Carbon Fiber many years ago when my uncle started showing me amazing new fly rods made of the material. It wasn’t long before I started seeing it used for many applications on Ed’s other favorite hobby—sports cars.

So strong, so light! Not to mention, wow, it looked cool. Like something straight from NASA. You could mold the stuff into complex shapes. The form factors would be so inspiring... like space age sculpture.

The wheels were turning!

But this was the early 2000s, probably about 2003 or 2004, and making parts out of the material was unbelievably expensive. I investigated molding options when I was still developing instruments and cases for another musical instrument company. However, it just wasn’t economically viable to make such an expensive item. “Oh well. Gotta make great mandos first” I thought.

Since 2007, when Northfield Mandolins was founded, we have developed and produced (independently and with some fabulous collaborators) several cases. Wood, foam, fiberglass, and even the plant-based materials found on our Airloom Recurve; we have gone deep into the case-making labyrinth.

It turns out they can be harder to make than the dang mandolin— we’ve worked on for 15 years—to put inside them!

Meanwhile, there have been many great products coming out on the market. Including some very nice instrument cases, and all the while I’ve been hoping we could develop our ultimate travel case. Imagine this, our oblong fiberglass deluxe case was taking us seven different vendors and a load of shop time to assemble. We had spent about seven years making them and still hadn’t found a productive way to offer them to the public very often.. and at 10lbs each the strength and slim profile just couldn’t make up for the hefty weight.

Three years ago, we finally met someone that could help us make the shells. We could tool up without breaking the bank; utilize the massive amounts of fabric bolts, hardware, AND know-how we had accumulated; and collaboratively, produce a new case. After lots of rounds of sample making and beta/road-testing, around the globe; we are finally (phew!), pleased to offer our new case—the Airloom Tūra.

—Strong—Light—Sculpted—Attractive—

A worthy companion to our first priority: the mandolins we make. This case includes many of the features we have grown to love about our other cases, in a brand new format. It’s designed to be stealthy and not cumbersome. Durable enough for the road without being overbuilt and oversized. If it’s flying you want to do, it’s small and light enough to go on board with you, and fits easily in most overhead compartments. Could it withstand a gate check?—Sure. Would we recommend dropping your prized possession at the airplane door and stomaching the unforeseen handling and risks?—Nope. It’s not for flame throwers, to be driven over by a truck, or thrown off a building—no. Its carbon fiber structure and wrap make it very puncture-proof, waterproof, quite thermally protective, and highly festival-friendly. Let’s put it this way “we find it to be ready for nearly anything reasonable. Even stretching that to mishandling at times—the occasional stumble, or collision with other gear, crammed to the gills in a trailer that’s headed to the next venue.”

But it’s not the prevention, or solution, to instrument abuse. That said, the Tūra is the strongest case we have ever made.

Why the long-winded description and story? First and foremost, I’m a gear nut and have a true love of high-quality product development and production. It’s one of the very core things that drive me and Northfield. We experiment constantly. We are evolving in real-time, not bound to do the same thing forever, just because we could. The Tūra is where we are today, we can see them benefiting players and travelers alike for many years to come.

All aboard.

Adrian + The NF Crew