Best Way to Ship Ice Hockey Equipment – 10 Tips
In the sports equipment shipping world, one of the most common questions that we get at RunRex.com is how to ship hockey equipment. We are shipping experts, and we have the right answer for you. Here are some important tips that you will need to remember if you are planning to ship sports equipment.
- Wrap You Hockey Stick
Before shipping your hockey stick, ensure that you wrap it in furniture wrap. On top of that, you will have to add bubble wrap. To protect your hockey stick from moisture, wrap it in heavy-duty plastic. A trash bag works just fine. Your stick will be quite safe during shipping.
- Use A Plywood Box
If you want to keep your stick safe during shipping, you can place it inside a plywood box. Making such a box is quite easy. Besides that, working with plywood should not be that difficult. Fashion a box that your hockey stick can fit in. However, ensure that there is still enough room to place padding.
- Bind many Sticks together
One of the safest ways to ship hockey sticks is to tie many of them together. Wrap them tightly in padding to keep them safe during the journey. They are less likely to break than an individual stick.
- Use an Equipment-Specific Bag
It is important that you use a bag designed for carrying hockey gear. It contains padding in all the right places, which help to ensure that your hockey equipment is safe during shipping. If you do not have such a bag, you will need to make sure that the bag you use has enough padding. Thus, you reduce the chances of losing your equipment during shipping.
- Use Skate Guards for Your Skating Blades
When planning to ship your hockey skating blades, ensure that you have skate guards with you, which help to protect the rest of your equipment from being punctured. If you do not have skate guards, consider wrapping the blades in a thick layer of bubble wrap. It is advisable that you take some time off your schedule to buy skate guards; they are an effective way to keep the rest of your equipment safe.
- Use the Pads as an Extra Layer of Protection
When the time comes to load all the equipment into a shipping bag, you should use the hockey pads and the shoulder pads to line the bottom. The shin pads should be used to line the sides of the bag. The reason for this is that they are quite rigid, which will help maintain the shape of the bag. Place all of your other equipment on top of the padding. However, do not forget to wrap it in some padding even when you use the pads to cushion it. If more than one person is shipping their equipment, stuff each bag with two layers of padding if the equipment can fit inside it.
- Get Some Insurance
When using a shipping company to ship your equipment, always ask for insurance. Hockey equipment can be costly to replace if you do not have insurance. Ensuring that you have enough insurance is vital. Otherwise, you may have to cover the cost of replacing your equipment mostly out of pocket. If not that, you may have to use rented equipment. Although a good shipping company will not lose your equipment, have some insurance for those rare occasions when equipment goes missing.
- Put a Detailed Sticker Inside the Package
When shipping ice hockey equipment, always have a label with the return address and package destination on the outside. The outside label could easily get lost or smudged. In such a case, your equipment may end up getting lost. A sticker inside the package helps to trace the package if it gets lost in transit. That way, you will not have to waste any part of your holiday trying to trace your equipment or having to use rental equipment.
- Always inquire about the Shipping address
If you are going to be shipping equipment, ensure that you call the destination where you will ship the ice hockey gear first. At some places, they have a shipping address separate from the one they use on their brochures. Additionally, the shipping address you used last time may have since been updated. A simple phone call should help to determine where you should send the ice hockey gear.
- Keep the Tracking number
When shipping equipment, you will receive a tracking number. Ensure that you do not lose this number. It helps to determine how far away your equipment is from its destination. That way, you can begin to plan for other aspects of your trip with some peace of mind. The tracking number shows you in real time, how far your ice hockey equipment has gone.
If you are shipping hockey equipment, all of these tips should help to ensure that it gets there in good time.