how should I ship it?

[MDbowhunter]

What do you guys use when you need to ship a bow.  

I could create a box out of cardboard, but I was wondering if anyone had a better idea.

[vermonster13]

Take-down or one piece? Recurve or longbow?

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by MDbowhunter:
What do you guys use when you need to ship a bow.  

I could create a box out of cardboard, but I was wondering if anyone had a better idea.

Read this ....

 Shipping Bows - things you oughta know.

[MDbowhunter]

Its a recurve.

Thanks for the link Rob, I guess I should have tried the search feature first.

Looks like I may try to find a cardboard tube from a carpet store.

Thanks for the help.  

Any other answers still appreciated.

[vermonster13]

Take-down or 1 piece?

[fyrfyter43]

I recently shipped a bow in a piece of PVC pipe with a cap on each end. Worked great!

[MDbowhunter]

1 piece

[Desperado]

Wayne...When I shipped one of my Black Widows back to the factory for limb shaving I used bubble wrap, newspaper and I made a cardboard box to fit.       (3 piece takedown) Took it to the Post Office...less than $10.00 and all was excellent.
Whatever you do, stay away from a UPS store. They wanted nearly $50.00!!! Cotton

[vermonster13]

You'll need one of the large tubes most likely. Make sure you measure it before you take it in. There's a bubble charge if the total dimensions (length + diameter) is over 86".

[TonyW]

I just received a 64" longbow. Packed in a PVC tube with a screw top, it cost $12.85 USPS priority mail. Mailed on September 9 in Kansas, it arrived on my doorstep in Maryland on September 11.
Kinda hard to beat that.

The real pisser?

This is my first longbow, and they are really cool. Light as a couple of arrows, quiet as a tomb, and shooting off the shelf is a whisker away from shooting off my fist.

I really like recurves - but man is this longbow nice.

[HATCHCHASER]

USPS Priority Mail.  Cheaper, faster.

[MnFn]

When I received a longbow from Dan Quillian, it came in a roof downspout, plugged at both ends of course. Came thru the USPS just fine.

[MDbowhunter]

Got it off today.

Ended up splicing a couple of arrow boxes together.

Missed the standard size by a few inches, due to extra width.....oh well.

Should have the trade in about a week.

Thanks for the help.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by MDbowhunter:
Got it off today.

Ended up splicing a couple of arrow boxes together.

Missed the standard size by a few inches, due to extra width.....oh well.

Should have the trade in about a week.

Thanks for the help.

Using a flat cardboard box, yer gonna need a buncha luck, so ... Good Luck!

[MDbowhunter]

Rob,

trust me I tried to find something better for a few days. a PVC or cardboard tube that would fit the bow, was huge, heavy and hugely expensive.

The bow was wrapped with a bunch of foam and packed with paper.  I feel pretty confident that the package would be ok.  

I also called the bow shop that I got the bow from, to see what they would recommend.  They stated they they are constantly shipping and recieving bows to and from the factories in the standard rectangular boxes.  The guy also said that he has never had a problem on either end.

Doing the xmas present test (shaking to figure out what was inside) there was absolutely no movement.

Regardless, I got insurance so if the worst happens, I'll be picking up a new one.

Either way, I have my fingers crossed.

[Rob DiStefano]

Rectangular or triangular cardboard boxes offer little or no bend and crush resistance.  Shaking a cardboard bow box is not what UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc., will do - they'll drop it from a height of 6' - 8' onto concrete and then throw a stacked row of computer monitors on top of it.  You are taking a far greater chance of bow damage with such flimsy shipping vessels.  

Stout tubes are THE way to go for the best compromise of cost and protection.  YES, it costs more to ship with PVC tubes.  It all depends on how much you care about the bow being shipped, what intrinsic value it commands, and if it's worth protecting for both the seller and buyer.  

Chances are, your cardboard boxed bow will ship without serious incident ... but then again, as I said before, good luck .......

Oh yeah, shipping vendors don't wanna part with THEIR money when a bow gets a smashed limb ... and trust me, they WILL make an issue of the vehicle you used to ship out the bow when you put in for your full insurance claim.  Words to wise.

[Shawn Leonard]

Rob is correct and the real downfall is the conveyer belts your package traveles on a long box can get hung up and a bunch of other stuff smash into it or tilt it and get hung up in the belt. A piece of light schedule PVC wieghs maybe 2#s more tha your box with all its packing but if ya go to a LOwes or Home Depot ya can get different size carpet tubes for free. Shawn

[fyrfyter43]

I just looked up the shipping info for the bow I recently mailed.

It was a 62" one-piece recurve. I packed it in 4" drain/sewer PVC - a coupe of short scrap pieces I had laying around. I glued a cap onto each end, and slipped the 2 pieces together in the middle. Used a bunch of tape to make sure the 2 sections didn't come apart. I didn't want the recipient to have to cut it open with a hacksaw!

I'm not sure of the actual dimensions, but it was under the balloon-rate size by quite a bit. We've been having alot of problems with out post office lately, so I took care of the postage online to make sure they didn't try to charge me a balloon rate. It weighed in at 6 lbs, 8 ozs., and cost $8.84 to send it Priority Mail.

I might have saved $2 by using cardboard instead of the PVC, but I wouldn't have had the peace of mind of knowing that it would get there in one piece.