Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/08/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Marc James Small wrote: > Send cameras by national mail, NOT by FedEx, UPS, or their ilk. [...] > BIG shippers -- LL Bean and Eddie Bauer and QVC -- sell clothes for the > most part and these companies know how to pack clothing so that it > will not > be damaged. But a precision instrument ought NEVER be entrusted to the > care of these ham-handed apes. B&H in New York used to ship everything by FedEx and now ship everything by UPS. I've bought insensitive items such as negative holders, as well as delicate items such as scanners and printers from them. Never a problem. I spoke to my local Post Office representative some time back, who recommended that you pack everything so that it survives a 3ft (1m) drop onto a hard surface. "Is that a general guideline?" I asked. "No," she responded, "that's just what I've seen myself." So, it would appear that the same "ham-handed apes" work for USPS too. The trick is to double-box EVERYTHING and to ensure that you have enough packaging material to spread point forces across large surfaces. Boxes are often available from your local supermarket, packaging "peanuts" and bubblewrap from Public Storage, U-Haul, and the like. Precision instruments, regardless of shipper, just need to be packed right. There's no bad weather, only bad clothes. M. - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html