Those of you who have shipped rods, tell me how you packaged them. I might be selling a few of my rods (7' one piece) and wonder what the best way to package them is for shipping in the lower 48.

The safest way is to use plastic tubing.

8' hard cardboard tube with a plastic cap duct taped on, and packed tight with a lot of newspaper at the top and bottom so the rod can hardly move in the tube. Have not had one bust yet.

personally, use pvc...costs more, but worth it.

if i don't have a bubblewrap sheath, will tape paper around the eyes (newspaper will do)...wrap both ends with a good amount of paper...tape both ends from the inside of the tube to the outside of the tube...prevents sliding...cut out two cardboard end pieces and duct tape the ends, making sure you tape the rod ends tape that is now outside the tube.

don't spare the duct tape...fedex, ups and usps can get very creative in their destruction.

When I get mine from Kistler they are wrapped with bubble wrap in three sections.....top, middle, and bottom to fit the diameter of the pvc tube.   Now Fivebasslimit on the otherhand, all I can say is you better have a safecracker in your family if you ever buy a rod from him and want to get inside the rod tube. ;D

Shipping 8' of PVC sounds expensive.  If I were to ship 3 rods in the US, what sort of costs am I looking at?

I traded rods with a guy in California.  I shipped him a 7' rod for less than $10.  However, when his rod got to my house the cardboard tube looked like a dog's hind leg.  So be sure to buy insurance for the rods.

If you were to ship them in cardboard it would probably cost $15-$20 via Priority Mail. That's assuming they were bass rods not some heavy ocean rod.  I have shipped many rods and I've always sent them in a cardboard tube.  I'd just get some 48" X  3" tubes.  Then tape two of them together really well and cut it down to size.   For the rods, I wrap about 2.5 feet of bubble wrap around the tip, middle and grip.  That way it fits in the tube snugly but is easy for the customer to remove.  I also get the plastic end caps that fit into the tubes and tape them up real well.  I have always used priority mail and have never paid more than $14 to ship a rod and I shipped some big tuna rods.  The reason is that the package is real light but if you use PCV it may cost substantially more.  Good luck!

sell em locally!

if not, pvc tubes from lowes works well

Shipping 8' of PVC sounds expensive.  If I were to ship 3 rods in the US, what sort of costs am I looking at?

Best value and safety,  FedEx Ground.  MD to Washington State,  $17.  In a 7' PVC tube.  Go to their website and punch in the dimensions.

One of the reasons I won't build rods commercially is the cost of shipping. When rod tubes go over 7' the costs skyrocket. $30 to send 8' 4" rod via UPS + $7.50 for the PVC tube. Post office quoted me $135. LOL

Ronnie