How to manage reeds

I've been thinking a lot about reeds this weekend.  I need to learn how to manage my reeds differently.

I currently buy my reeds from my teacher....they are excellent.  They usually need a week or so to "blow in" but then they last for about 4-5 weeks after that.  At which point I buy another one.  I don't like playing on poor reeds...so I do have a tendency to use one reed until it dies, and then I get another one.  The old one stays in my reedbox and then when it is finally full I will reluctantly pull apart the oldest one that I haven't played for months, finally admitting to myself that I will not use it again.

I've known for some time this system is poor and can leave me vulnerable, with no back up, for important events.  I should always have 2, if not 3, reeds on the go, one being broken in, one at it's peak and one probably on the wane.  I should be disciplined about keeping the rotation going.  I should be practised on playing on reeds that are not so good!

I should not be so sentimental about keeping old reeds but should break them up when I know that I am not going to use them again.  The old reeds currently give me a false sense of security.  Having a full (playing) reed box makes me think I have options, a back up - when in reality I only have ONE reed that really works.

The problem is being compounded now that I am starting to make reeds that could work.  Up till now my reed making and reed using have been two separate activities.  My first attempts never made it as far as the instrument - they leaked badly, cracked, disintegrated.  I am beginning to improve.  My (reedmaking) reed box is becoming full of half made reeds that I don't want to break up yet as they crow and will work in my oboe -   to take them forward I need to actually spend time playing them, breaking them in, assessing them, working out what I need to adjust to improve them.  This kind of work doesn't fit into my system, at all, at the moment.

So I need to manage my reeds differently.

...or I could just buy a bigger reed box....