First off, I just want to say thank you to all of you on this forum who’ve helped me with my project to recreate my father’s rod. It means a lot to me!
So...I’ve finally found what I think is the blank- Fenwick SP-841. Spin casting 84” one piece. I found a seller and an amazing price! Unfortunately, he doesn’t ship- pick up only. I’m considering all options and factors. The hardest factors are getting it safely picked up, packed, and shipped across the country, as this has been a long quest to find the blank...which makes me understandably nervous. At 7 feet long, it’s oversized and prone to damage. Even the hardest of cardboard tubing can be snapped like a twig at that length, right? Then it’s finding a service to do all that. Lots of options, but few or none that I fully trust yet. I’m not sure if FedEx or UPS will pick up an item unpacked, pack it for me, and then ship it. I’ve considered using an app like Task Rabbit in conjunction with my FedEx account. I’m requesting more of your experience and knowledge...

Thanks again,
-Raymond

Raymound,
You have a FexEx Account.

Pretty simple. Just ask the person to take the blank over to the nearest FexEX office, send along your FedEx account number and have FedEx pack and ship it for you and add the price of packaging to the shipment.

Basically, any thing that is shipped or moved can be broken - no matter the method of packing. But, as reliable packaging as anything is to simply have the person go to home depot, pick up a 10 foot length of 2 inch thin wall pvc, have Home depot cut the pipe to 7 foot 2 inches, put bubble wrap around the blank, cap the ends, address it and drop it off at the nearest Fed Ex office.

Blanks are shipped around the world every day in PVC pipe. No need to use anything heavier than thinwall DW pvc pipe. As long as the pipe does not get caught in a conveyor, the pipe and blank will be fine. If the pipe gets caught in a conveyor, it will snap like a twig, as will anything else that break. Put $500 insurance on the blank, so that if the blank does get broken, you will have some money to continue the search.

I have used this method to ship blanks and finished rods around the world, and have to admit that I have never had a rod broken during shipping of many many rods. I will also say, that one season, I had each of the big shippers break an incoming blank for me. i.e. UPS, USPS, and Fedex each broke one shipment for me. So, all were equally good as far as shipping was concerned. However, I have used each of these same shippers for years shipping everywhere and have not had the discomfort of a broken shipment.

Best of luck

Do what Roger suggests, but you might have to up the pipe to 2 1/2" if you have a 25 or 30 spinning guide on there. Check your postal service rates, they are most often less than the shippers. I use the blue caps (a small piece of bubble wrap stuck in them at each end) and 2" clear sealing tape.

It’s just two Fenwick SP-841’s. No guides or anything else. It’s gotta go from Staten Island to the SF Bay Area.

Looks like I’m gonna use Task Rabbit to pick it up, pack it in PVC, and drop it off at FedEx. Phew!!! The PVC idea from both of you is a slam dunk. I’ll be making that happen.

Thanks,
-Raymond

DO NOT USE CARDBOARD TUBES! Long Story! Cost ME $300.00 P.O.gave me $50

Cardboard NO, NO, NO. PVC is the next bet, little more $$ but better protection. Schedule 40 PVC is what I use. Yes it cost much more but I haven't had anything arrive broken. Think of the three little pigs and the delivery service as the wolf. No matter which way you go, insure it properly.

Update: Using TaskRabbit to get the blanks picked up and shipped. My guy is gonna pack them in 7.5 foot PVC with bubble wrap, and then take them to FedEx for shipping. Two of these Fenwick SP- 841’s for $150 is quite a steal. Solid advise from all of you! Thanks! BTW- TaskRabbit is a pretty cool app. Tuck that away for future knowledge...in case something similar should arise for any of you.