Accessories

4 Best Drum Stick Holders Reviewed

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As drummers, we are always looking for places to keep our sticks on stage. Grabbing a pair out of your stick bag may not always be an option when a drop happens.

Fortunately, there are many companies out there making great products that keep your sticks readily available in any spot you desire. In this article, we will give our pick for best drum stick holder.


Best Drum Stick Holders Available

The above table lists our top picks.  Read on to get a more detailed view of each product.


Vic Firth Stick Caddy

Available at Amazon

The Vic Firth Stick Caddy is an excellent choice for anyone looking to show off their favorite stick brand. The cylinder canister holds approximately two pairs of sticks, but if the sticks are small enough (Vic Firth 5A), it can hold three.

You can clamp this drum stick holder to any piece of hardware on your kit. The opening on the clamp opens to about 1 1/2″ in size, so most cymbal and hi hats stands work great.

You also have the ability to angle the tube to your liking.

I personally use a stick caddy in conjunction with my stick bag that is mounted to my floor tom.

I have sticks to my left and sticks to my right. If I every drop one, I’ve always got a place to go for a new one.

Some stick holders are often bags made from nylon. The downside with bags is over time, the bag will rip from the bottom.

This is due to drum sticks wearing away at the fabric as sticks are continuously dropped in.

Plastic stick holders will be more durable and will last you much longer.

The bad? It’s basically just one large tube holding all your sticks. It can get confusing to know which stick is matched to what pair.

Pro tip: Label your sticks! To keep your pairs of sticks matched, use a sharpie and draw symbols on your sticks. This ensures you’ll always pick up the matched sticks!


Pro Mark SD200 Stick Depot

Available at Amazon

Pro Mark’s Stick Depot is arguably the most popular drum stick holder. I’ve seen it used by many different drummers on tons of tours.

The SD200 can hold two pairs of drum sticks, which may seem like Vic Firth’s product gets the advantage, however, they do make a model of the Stick Depot that can hold four pairs.

The clamp on the SD200 is the major downfall of this product. It’s very weak and tends to slip off of hardware that is too thick. I find this drum stick holder to be the worst product on our list.


String Swing Drum Stick Holder

Available at Amazon

String Swing’s drumstick holder features the most unique clamping system (if you can even call it that) on our list.

The stick holder features black power-coated steel with a non-slip padding that attaches to your hardware in seconds.

The plastic tube that holds your drum sticks does feel pretty cheap, but that’s what you’re going to get with this product.

There is no clamp mechanism, just two steel arms that suspend themselves from any piece of hardware.

For me, if it’s between this and the Pro Mark holder, I’d opt for the latter, as it’s cheaper and better quality.

I honestly can’t believe that the plastic will hold up for a long time, being that it’s so brittle and thin.


On Stage DA100 Stick Holder

Available at Amazon

First of all, before we get started here, that logo is absolutely terrible. If that branding was omitted, I would be much happier with this product as a drummer.

The DA100 features an impressive eight stick capacity. The large quantity is a result of the cloth bag.

Some users have reported the cloth bag falling off after use, which we did not experience.

The clamp is very small, so it might not fit on all hardware stands, especially if the stand is very thick.

On Stage doesn’t have the greatest reputation in my book. I think their products could use a bit of improvement, as more companies are beginning to step up to the plate with better innovation.

Strangely enough, some users of the DA100 aren’t even getting the actual “branded” product they bought. While the product itself may be the same, On Stage appears to be selling Drumfire DA-100 stick bags as their own.

Maybe they’re the exact same product and they’re just trying to move an old product from their warehouse. Personally, I like the Drumfire branding far more than the On-Stage.

Update: Yes, it would appear that Drumfire is in fact a product line of On-Stage.

This tells me that at one point, the DA-100 was part of this line, but now has been moved to a general product line.


All about stick caddies

What is a drum stick holder?

Rather than a traditional drumstick bag, drum stick holders are generally made of plastic and clamp to a piece of hardware rather than strap to the side of a drum (like you see on most floor tom stick bags).

The major downside to stick holders is that the number of sticks that it can carry is usually small, maybe just a few pairs.

Who uses drum stick holders?

Many drummers use them! The primary goal of a stick holder is to have a option to recover a drum stick after dropping one.

I’ve seen everyone from beginning players to professional touring musicians using them.

Drum stick holders make for great gifts for drummers, due to how cheap they are and their usability.

Where can you mount a drum stick holder?

Most drum stick holders offer some sort of clamping mechanism which allows you to place it on most hardware stands.

Some popular spots include underneath the hi hat cymbals, on a cymbal stand, or even on a dedicated stand for the holder.

Why not just a stick bag?

Stick bags are generally made of fabric. My Vic Firth marching stick bag (which is attached to my floor tom) has ripped after a few years of use.

My drum sticks would actually fall through the bottom, had I not taped it up.

As I stated earlier, drum stick holders made of plastic will last much longer than a traditional drum mounted stick bag.

Depending on where your stick bag is located, it can be difficult to grab a new pair from it. I have seen stick bags that both mount to drums and ones that sit on the floor.

With my mounted stick bag, pulling sticks out of the bag quickly is tough, due to the fact that it is a fabric case and a splintered drum stick can easily get caught on the way out.


Do you use a drum stick holder? Let us know in the comments below. If we missed something, we’ll be sure to add it to our list!

Staff

Contributions from Drumming Review Staff are from drummers and percussionists with a variety of different backgrounds, both professional and amateur. Interested in making a contribution? Click on 'Contact Us' at the bottom right of the page.

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