I was thinking about throwing a bow or two in to the St Judes auction. I have never shipped a bow. How do you guys ship bows? Box or tube? Where can I get a box?
Thanks for any help.
Ray

Here are the box plans:
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000125

I've used USPS Priority Mail several times without a single problem.

Thanks Marc thats what I needed.

If you ship in a tube, expect to pay double. Box your bow and send it USPS priority.

Keep your total dimension (length + girth) less than 84" and you won't pay any extra.  Go to USPS and learn the rules because clerks often do not.  I prefer to ship from home with USPS click and ship.  It's cheaper and the postman picks it up from your house.

I have shipped bows and bow blanks in all kinds of packages but the safest, cheapest, and easiest is 4" PVC for longbows and 6" PVC for recurves.  You might have to partially brace the recurves to get them to fit.  Some just don't and you'll have to make a box.

I am about to add a bow in the auction also. When I received the bow, it was mailed in a plastic downspout. Seems pretty sturdy.

Thanks guys. Kook, I think I might try the downspout. I bet it works pretty well.

If you are talking about the thin plastic rectangular downspout, I can't imagine it is any stronger or cheaper than PVC pipe.  Shippers are notoriously rough on long skinny items.  PVC is no guarantee but it's gotta be better than the downspout.

4" PVC will cost you about $5 for enough to ship.  6" is higher but can't be any more than $10-15.  Save the money you might spend on shipping insurance (claims are a beeotch anyway) and buy the PVC.

You can figure around 25 dollars for bow unless they ding you for oversize then add about 10 more I think the rates went up because I've been paying a lot more lately on shipping.

QuoteOriginally posted by John Scifres:
If you are talking about the thin plastic rectangular downspout, I can't imagine it is any stronger or cheaper than PVC pipe.  Shippers are notoriously rough on long skinny items.  PVC is no guarantee but it's gotta be better than the downspout.

4" PVC will cost you about $5 for enough to ship.  6" is higher but can't be any more than $10-15.  Save the money you might spend on shipping insurance (claims are a beeotch anyway) and buy the PVC.

The downspout I have is pretty stout. And a 10' length of 6" PVC runs $40 or more. the caps alone are 7-10$ a piece.   :eek:

I don't use PVC caps. I cut a piece of 1" board to the proper diameter to fit inside the PVC. Insert the board into end of the PVC and use 3 or 4 screws through the PVC into the wood.  I cover the end with duct tape.