SFR Mailing or shipping fly rods
- Thread starter Buzzy
- Start date
Sorta fishing-related
Having run the wtty dept of a fly rod company, I've seen it all.
Number one rule: NEVER go to a mailbox or Ups store. You will pay a massive markup. Go directly to a post office.
Post office has free triangle boxes that fit most rods. No reason to not use those. If you have a spey rod, you can connect two of them together to cover the extra length.
Number one rule: NEVER go to a mailbox or Ups store. You will pay a massive markup. Go directly to a post office.
Post office has free triangle boxes that fit most rods. No reason to not use those. If you have a spey rod, you can connect two of them together to cover the extra length.
Last edited:
I thought you might weigh in since you've no doubt handled one or two rod shipments........ ;-) I planned to head to the post office this morning to see about triangular boxes.
If I don’t have a USPS box like Evan described, I’ll just disassemble a cardboard box. Put the rod in its original tube then roll the cardboard box around the rod tube. Cut to size and tape it up. Pretty easy and it protects the rod and tube from getting thrashed during shipping.
SF
SF
Last edited:
Ditto this.
Glad to know I'm not the only one who has a stash of boxes in the garage.
Mine are all square though - I keep the boxes when I buy rods, arrows and golf clubs. They always come in handy having a few around.
I recently shipped a 4 pc fly rod in its metal tube, packed in my cardboard cylinder tube at UPS. It costs $54 to ship from Portland to Arizona. It would have been much less shipped in a box. But, If I purchased their box it would have been about the same. USPS for sure, if there is a next time.
I too have a mountain of boxes from fly rod purchases stacked in the upstairs bonus room. I keep telling myself I'll need them when I sell a rod, but somehow that never happens.
BTW - I recently sent a broken Redington rod back for warranty work and they were adamant on the instructions to NOT send it back in the original tube. I thought that was odd, but I complied and just bubble wrapped the rod pieces and shipped in one of the precious cardboard boxes in my upstairs collection. They ended up replacing the rod and the new one was sent in it's own new tube, so now I have an extra Redington cordura tube. Which is cool, but I just wonder why Redington didn't want the warranty rod sent back in it.
BTW - I recently sent a broken Redington rod back for warranty work and they were adamant on the instructions to NOT send it back in the original tube. I thought that was odd, but I complied and just bubble wrapped the rod pieces and shipped in one of the precious cardboard boxes in my upstairs collection. They ended up replacing the rod and the new one was sent in it's own new tube, so now I have an extra Redington cordura tube. Which is cool, but I just wonder why Redington didn't want the warranty rod sent back in it.
I too have a mountain of boxes from fly rod purchases stacked in the upstairs bonus room. I keep telling myself I'll need them when I sell a rod, but somehow that never happens.
BTW - I recently sent a broken Redington rod back for warranty work and they were adamant on the instructions to NOT send it back in the original tube. I thought that was odd, but I complied and just bubble wrapped the rod pieces and shipped in one of the precious cardboard boxes in my upstairs collection. They ended up replacing the rod and the new one was sent in it's own new tube, so now I have an extra Redington cordura tube. Which is cool, but I just wonder why Redington didn't want the warranty rod sent back in it.
Probably just worried it might get misplaced or lost and it is another thing to keep track of. The correct tubes also aren’t available for legacy rod models should one get lost. Sage does the same as well.
SF
I think ECHO should probably adopt a similar policy. Doesn't take long for a mountain of old rod tubes to accumulate. They're too long to go out in the normal trash (didn't have a dumpster service as it wasn't needed for anything else).I too have a mountain of boxes from fly rod purchases stacked in the upstairs bonus room. I keep telling myself I'll need them when I sell a rod, but somehow that never happens.
BTW - I recently sent a broken Redington rod back for warranty work and they were adamant on the instructions to NOT send it back in the original tube. I thought that was odd, but I complied and just bubble wrapped the rod pieces and shipped in one of the precious cardboard boxes in my upstairs collection. They ended up replacing the rod and the new one was sent in it's own new tube, so now I have an extra Redington cordura tube. Which is cool, but I just wonder why Redington didn't want the warranty rod sent back in it.
I definitely recommend mailing them in a cardboard tube or box. I purchased a really nice older Winston IM6 built on a loomis blank before Winston started rolling their own blanks online. Apparently the seller thought that it would be okay to just ship it in its original metal rod tube that he had just wrapped in paper and attached my address to. The rod showed up in its tube looking like a boomerang and the rod was broken. I was so disappointed. What a waste of an amazing fly rod.
Last edited:
I'd be so pissed. That's brutal.
That is definitely unfortunate, but I wouldn't say it's the norm. At ECHO, I saw literally hundreds of rods shipped this way, and never once saw an issue like that. Could be the tube type is just more sturdy, but we definitely never had that problem.
Sending rod tips, though. Whole other issue. Even with the sturdiest cardboard tubes we could find, the courier would still try to find a way to smash it.
I guess I've lucked out getting three (or is it four) spare Echo tips without any issue. Thanks USPS. But hey, USPS Ephrata - they don't stock the triangular boxes. Luckily the clerk found two stashed on top of a locker, dusty and grimy but that's okay (and the rod's still for sale). ;-)
To all you box hoarders, well done.
I had the gal at my local PO order some more to keep on hand for me. I think she likes me because I bring my own packing tape!
RCF
Life of the Party
Planning ahead is a good thing. But planning ahead for future rod breakage would not be on my list...
Pescaphile
Steelhead
I've put the mailing labels directly on the aluminum tube and mailed them off that way. A little tape to ensure the cap doesn't unscrew and it's good to go.
