<html> My dear Oregon Curmudgeon -- You have jumped to a conclusion! My old worn-out bag has a slot for the tuning hammer, a leather pouch for the tuning fork, a separate slot for the lid prop, and the chopstick needle and mutes go into a long pouch of their own. The mutes do clunk along next to each other, but since some of them are over a decade old and are still going strong, I can't believe it's doing them any harm. The Papps mute (1978), for instance, seems to be enjoying unheard-of longevity ... I'm using a Schaff extension lever with a short 20 degree head made by Jim Coleman, Jr. I can't quite remember, but I think I got it set up this way in about 1989 or so, after I simply broke the shaft of the old one OFF at the head from overuse. Neither the chuck nor the head of that one fit very well, but it still tuned an awful lot of pianos before it gave up. Now, THAT hammer --!-- THAT hammer did have a rough life. The corduroy bag is worn out, all right, but nothing has been bashing anything else. It's just seen too many days and been shoved into my general kit too many times. ssssssssnnnn <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Susan, I'm not picking on YOU specifically, as I 've seen the same done by others.<G> With all that JUNK, in the bag, it's small wonder the hammer looks like it's been through a small war.<G> The Bag should be for the tuning lever ONLY, imho.<G> Also, I have a kit that allows me to Velcro the lever, in the bag so that it won't be banging around loose. My Hale is about 15-20 years old and has very little wear/dings. The dings mostly come from Square Grand damper upstop rail bolts! Regards, Joe Garrett, R.P.T. Captain, Tool Police Squares R I</blockquote> Susan said: "My old hammer (14.5" crowbar) is in a corduroy bag lined with heavy cotton, with a velcro closure, and with room for mutes, lid prop, tuning fork, voicing needle, and felt strip -- but that bag is utterly, totally worn out"    </html>