The best way to ship Surfboards? Sportsovernight.com 10 Tips
The best way to ship Surfboards? Sportsovernight.com 10 Tips
Traveling with your surfboard can sometimes be necessary. However, it can also be quite stressful. Surfboards are quite stressful to ship because they are fragile. These tips will provide you with great tips that should help you reduce the stress of shipping your surfboard.
1. You Need to Look for the Right Box
It may sound like any easy thing. However, it is not. Finding boxes that fit a surfboard is quite rare. In most cases, you will have to reuse an old box that has been used to ship surfboards. If you are not lucky, you will have to make your own surfboard box that fits your dimensions. Many tutorials online can help you fashion your own surfboard box.
2. Remove Your Fins
During transportation, the fins on your surfboard are one of the most vulnerable parts. Ensure that you remove them and wrap them in a towel. You can carry them in your carry-on bag, or you can wrap them in bubble wrap and place them inside the shipping box.
3. Use One Box for a Pair of surfboards
If you are traveling in a group and you need to ship your surfboards, everyone does no need to have their own shipping box. You can pack them in pairs and ship them. It will help you to cut down on shipping costs. The extra weight will not contribute much to the price of shipping as we at RunRex have discovered.
4. Use Extra Packing Material on the Tips of your Board
Surfboards have their weakest points at the tips. To keep your board secure, ensure you use extra bubble wrap on these areas. A small bump could cause these ends to break or become deformed. It would render your surfboard unsuitable for surfing. It is especially so when you are shipping a pair of surfboards that have different rocker profiles.
5. Use A Hard Case Board bag
If you want to ensure that your surfboard is protected throughout the journey, you can purchase a board case. The case has a soft inner lining and a hard out surface. With such a case, you only need to wrap the tips with bubble wrap.
It keeps your surfboard protected from any external injury like being dropped by accident during shipping. A case is especially important if you often travel with your board. The more it is in transit; the more likely it is to be damaged.
6. Use Fin Protectors
Some of the boards made today come with irremovable fins. If your board has such fins, you will need to look for fin protectors. These are devices made of foam material with cutouts for the fins. They are quite easy to find.
If there is none near you, you can always improve. If you have a block of foam material at your home, cut out some holes into it and fit the fins into it. It should work well enough to keep your fins safe.
7. Indicate that your package is Fragile
Either you can print signs with ‘Fragile’ written on them, or you can use a marker to write ‘Fragile’ on broad facets of your box. It will help the people dealing with your shipping to handle it with care. Although it may not seem like much, most people subconsciously respond to this sign. They will take more caution when handling your board.
8. Ensure that all the Board Are Facing the Same Direction
Most professional surfers will travel with more than one board. Additionally, if you are traveling in a group, you may wish to pack all your boards in just one bag. If you plan to do that, ensure that all the boards are in the same direction inside the box.
Besides that, place the largest board at the bottom. It will avoid placing too much pressure on the tips, which are the most vulnerable parts of your surfboard.
9. Have the Shipping Company Pick the Board from Your Home
Instead of taking the board to the shipping office, companies like RunRex will assist you with the pickup. All you need to do is ensure that you provide them with the right address from where they can pick up the board.
You can use either your home address or your office address. It gives you enough time to plan other aspects of your trip.
10. Check if the Shipping Company Has Some Offers
Sometimes, if you have been shipping your surfboards with the same company for a while, you could benefit from some shipping offers. However, you may never reap the benefits of these companies unless you ask.
Make a request to know whether you qualify for such offers. Additionally, some companies require you to subscribe for you to benefit from the offers. The little effort you make in finding out about these offers could pay off in a big way.
Summary
If you have been thinking about shipping surfboards for a while, you should consider these tips. They will help to ensure that your boards arrive intact. Additionally, they could help you cut shipping costs.
