I play bassoon for my high school's concert band. We have a "block" schedule, so class is 2 hours/day, every other day (Mon-Fri). My problem is holding the darn thing up! It's nearly as tall as I am, and I have rather small hands. I've tried both the seat strap and the neck strap, but neither support it very well. I love this instrument and do not want to give it up, so what are your suggestions? What's your viewpoint on the neck strap vs seat strap debate?

As you appear to be quite small I suggest not using a neck strap - it's best for anyone to remove the weight from the neck. Apart from using a seat strap there are other alternatives too the main being -
Full harness - this spreads the weight over both shoulders.
Body strap - really a longer neck strap which is worn diagonally over the right shoulder & round the body.
Floor peg - the weight is taken by a spike attached to the boot cap - this has to be fitted by a technician.
These are the main alternatives although others have been devised - leg supports, more complex floor mounts & stands that the bassoon hangs from.
Look at wwbw.com for pictures of the first two of these possibilities.

Hi there!
I would suggest a dutch le rest (its called something like that or similar!) its a contraption that is put on around the top of the bottom joint of the bassoon and has a rest which, as the name suggests, rests on the leg. all the weight will be placed on leg which is a lot easier than having it on your neck and i think it might be easier for you... the disadvantage with this is you most probably have to get a new case for it and you will have to put it down more often during long rests! i hope this helps anyway!!! http://www.foxproducts.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=acc918

Most people use a seat strap, but not everyone knows the correct way to place the strap on the chair seat. Make sure it is very far forward on the seat. If it is too far back, you will still be holding most of the weight on your left hand. The further forward the strap is on your chair, the less weight you will have to support.

hi so I also play bassoon and am tiny as well and i use the seat strap but i use a neck strap when i stand up like times where i dont have time to move a chair stand bassoon seat strap and music but ru sure ur using the seat strap right i mean my school also has block scheduling and we are in band for jus that long and it works fine and the instrument is more then half my height