Hey, I had a general question to all you Drum Majors who use Batons with one cord, or two on them! I own 2 exellon Military Drum Major batons and one I have been using since 08 and the cords have basically worn out and are at the breaking point. I am going to send it in to get fresh new ones, but does anyone have any tips in keeping your baton cord relatively in good order for a long time?

I have a hunch that they wear and tear due to continual use and exposer to the elements, but can it be also that some Drum majors (like me) use A LOT of finger rolling or spinning in-between the fingers instead of the hand?

Opinions are appreciated

Avoid water & moisture. They tend to get rough and have that dried-out look and feel to them when that happens. Granted, that happens after some time.

Cords will all eventually end up wearing down, like you said due to continual use, especially for more aggressive spinners. The best thing to do is learn how to tie the cords yourself (this may help if you can understand my jargon... viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15329), and keep two sets- one for practice and one for performances.

Take care of your equipment. If you think its not good for the cords, its probably not.