Shipping Fly Rods

[billems]

I'm looking for recommendations and tips for shipping fly rods.
Looking to save money while shipping out rods.

[ibookje]

I don’t think there any easy ways or short cuts. Just pack well & sturdy. Make sure the rod bag doesn’t move in the tube by using paper towels to remove any space

[kimk]

Round tubes tend to get caught in the handling machinery, so it is better to use a triangle on the outside. You will probably need to telescope two triangles together to make one long enough.
AgMD

[fragmentum]

Shipping inside a PVC Sch 40 tube with glued ends has always served me well, especially sending to Europe.

[kevinhaney1]

Just make sure you use UPS. You can ship a rod across the country with them in 5 days. If you use USPS, it could take a month.

[Hellmtflies]

Round tubes tend to get caught in the handling machinery, so it is better to use a triangle on the outside. You will probably need to telescope two triangles together to make one long enough.
AgMD

DITTO! I've gone to the 6x6 square boxes from UPS. I roll the tube in foam then slide it in the box. The square boxes won't get caught in the conveyors at all or roll into trouble. Also, the square box doesn't look like a rod tube. Think theft.

[quashnet]

Just make sure you use UPS. You can ship a rod across the country with them in 5 days. If you use USPS, it could take a month.

Send it USPS Registered Insured. It shouldn't take a month, but if it does, what do you care? The entire point is that the package must arrive safely and in one piece. Speed means taking shortcuts, and shortcuts result in damage.

[mer]

Padding inside the rod tube: you don't want the rod to be able to slide back and forth. If the rod can slide (rod in tube, cap on, shake longways) you can break a tip because anything that looks like a javelin will get tossed. Doesn't take much, a packing peanut or two prevents this.

PVC is good but weighs a lot so will add to the cost.

USPS registered insured priority adds a bit more "signing on handover" (internal tracking, so handlers pay a little more attention and care). USPS can also lead to Federal crimes if something goes missing. UPS "oh well, so sorry".

That said, I've not had issues with either USPS or UPS in the past, but prefer USPS.

[Tommasini]

I don’t think there any easy ways or short cuts. Just pack well & sturdy. Make sure the rod bag doesn’t move in the tube by using paper towels to remove any space

+1 , most important!!

[Vaughanwilson3022]

Shipping safely and saving money don’t go together. Better to pack well and pay for registered USPS for any rod of value.

[uppercreek]

Lightweight rectangular boxes are the worst for shipping. Every rod I've received in them has had damage to the carton from being bent, and sometimes damage to the rod or tube. If you're going to use a square package it had better be very thick walled and heavy.
I started using sturdy fiber tubes from Uline with plastic caps for shipping rods after receiving rods packed in them from Langs. If it's good enough for Langs, I figure it was at least worth a try. Haven't had any problems after shipping dozens of well padded rods in them. Never had the "damage from the conveyor belt" problem, probably because these tubes are very hard to bend or dent. Also, the longer the tube, the thicker the walls on them - it adds some weight but still not as heavy as PVC. They aren't too expensive if you buy them in bulk, or find somebody to go in with on an order.
The USPS Priority triangular cartons are better than the lightweight square boxes but not as good as a sturdy round tube. You can splice two triangular cartons together to make a fairly sturdy shipping container but need to overlap the two cartons as much as possible. I've used the spliced together cartons for odd shaped rod and reel combos, multiple (lower value) rod shipments, etc.
My two cents ...
Kevin

[troutnut]

I've always sent fly rods USPS in their triangular boxes. Like someone else has said put 2 of them together depending upon the length. Pack it extremely well so nothing moves or rattles around in the box or the aluminum tube and tape the box very well. If you think you have enough tape on it put some on it. You do not want any movement at all. I would also insure it so it has to be signed for at every stop.
Fred

[woody osborne]

i deliver thousands of cases weekly in a semi. do everybody a favor and go a bit overkill on packing safely. we move pallets constantly. if something falls , it falls. we do pick it back up. if something breaks, we go on with the rest of the delivery.
our load is just that. something to haul to the destination as it is. we are responsible for a delivery in good order but we don't have time to "waste". got to keep things moving. pack as though your rod is going to meet the real world and be cautious.
by the by: a friend shipped me an fine, expensive pool cue through UPS. he was/is a driver for UPS. he packed the cue(ivory jointed Joss) in a very thick round pvc tube. it made the 250 mile trip safely.

[RAZINGKANE]

I use PVC. 1 1/2" x 50" long insured USPS is usually under $20.00 anywhere in the CONUS. 2" PVC, a bit more. Cheapest part of any rod is the shipping. Two caps secured with small screws to make unpacking easier, and give a wrap of Gorilla Tape around each cap for extra security. Have never had a problem, although it can take longer than what my optimistic PS employees suggest... all's good. Besides...I've never had the postman try to run over my dog in the driveway. I'm not sure who trains UPS and FedEx drivers, but up here in Northern Michigan I think they come right out of National Guard tank training at Camp Grayling.

John

[Webfly]

3" x 2" plastic guttering at Home Depot or Lowes is amazing for shipping rods. Comes in 10' lengths and is rectangular, so no rolling problems. I use fiberglass tape on the ends and trust me, they have been shipped from Norway (Spey rods), to Australia, and everywhere in between without problems. Another advantage- you can cut to size for 2 piece rods. Many times that I drop them off at the PO, bystanders say "now that's a good idea!"

[kimk]

I neglected to recommend a sch 40 PVC tube on the inside of your triangle. Brutally tough -- yes added weight but how much is to be saved if a rod becomes trash. I did a lot of shipping back when I was working. If I shipped any thing that was particularly valuable, I would tape my business card to the item so that if the outer package got shredded, maybe some one would notice my card.
UPS -- be aware that their default position is to deny all claims. Always! No matter what you did "it was not packaged correctly".
The company I worked for designed our own 50 inch triangle tubes. Drafted up the plans and specs had them approved by UPS. In less than a month after we started using them, UPS trashed a package with about $800 of large photographs in it. All insured for total value. UPS denied the claim. Not approved packaging. Our boss sent the denial and the UPS package approval to the contact which actually approved the packaging, and our claim was accepted. But still -- every few months we would rinse and repeat.
AgMD

[Brian K. Shaffer]

My USPS buddy says the machine alarm will go off when the metal rod tube is crushed/bent/bending - so keep that in mind here guys.

No one will agree with me - but I myself decided this : You might want to stop trying to save money.

Nothing is worth saving 6 dollars... or even 13 dollars... or 22 whole American dollar bills.
These rods are more important. They cannot be replaced like our precious dollar bills.
My solution is to overpack - like has been mentioned - and will be mentioned again.

If the bill is too much for the buyer or seller to take,
I often will split the shipping costs 50/50 to make the deal happen.

It took a long time for me to convince myself... but now I worry less. 20 years of shipping fly rods.
It's terrible, but anymore all you OR I can do is just drop it off and hope.

[tiptop]

Many times I've received rods in USPS triangular "tubes" that have been severely damaged. The problem isn't the shape, it's the very light gauge cardboard that the tubes are made of. And splicing two together to fit a longer rod it a terrible idea because the combination of longer package and lightweight cardboard just compounds the problem. One solution that I've come up with is to take two unassembled USPS triangle boxes (they come that way from the PO and they're free), cut the flaps off of one and glue it using titebond and weights right over the other one, which doubles the thickness of the cardboard and adds strength in lamination. Then just assemble as normal. This sounds like a lot of trouble but honestly it takes about 10 minutes plus time for the glue to dry. The result is an extremely strong triangle box that looks stock.

[kimk]

I put the rod's original tube in a PVC tube -- with PVC end caps. All this goes into a triangle tube. The aluminum tube is padded with soft foam, the PVC tube is padded with bubble wrap. the triangle is padded with bubble wrap.
A gent I worked for many years ago told me that it was important to always get my monies worth -- and some times you have to spend an extra five dollars to get your monies worth.
AgMD

[BigDog57]

1. Forget saving money
2. "put the rod's original tube in a PVC tube -- with PVC end caps. All this goes into a triangle tube. The aluminum tube is padded with soft foam, the PVC tube is padded with bubble wrap. the triangle is padded with bubble wrap." as Kimk says above.
3. Pad the rod, pad the rod, pad the rod including the ends of the tube

4. Seriously consider Registered Mail for more expensive rods - personally, when I'm buying anything above about $900 I ask for and volunteer to pay for registered shipping. The package will have to be signed for by every person who handles it. I offer to pay because shipping registered is a pain for the shipper (requires one particular type tape etc.)
A gun dealer who we shipped a set of REALLY valuable pistols to last year insisted on Registered and says his mailman tells him he hates to see a Registered package because he figures if he loses it he loses his job!!
It is probably not worth it for the less expensive rods but for something valuable, why skimp on the shipping?

5. My experience with USPS standard insurance is pretty much identical to kimk's with UPS. They will automatically deny the claim.
May come back with a ridiculous lowball offer. They insist package be returned to the post office - we had one computer manufacturer who refused to do this with a returned laptop that was broken. It was shipped back to us and USPS then refused because it was returned to point of origin.

6. Since nobody's insurance is worth a crap - might as well pack the rod in case with padding, then pad the case and put in Sched 40 PVC
Box over that is optional but one more layer cannot hurt

Did I mention forget saving on shipping for better rods??