27 Oct
2011
27 Oct
'11
11 a.m.
On 27 Oct 2011 at 11:11, Richard wrote:
Basically you're using the bubble wrap for shock
absorption. My
problem with people using blocks of styrofoam is that they *think*
this provides shock absorption when it doesn't. Packing peanuts are
superior in this regard. I have had units arrived damaged because
people use bricks of styrofoam and think they're providing protection
when they aren't. There's a reason people use peanuts and not busted
up bricks for shipping.
I guess, YMMV. One problem with styro peanuts is that they will
allow heavy objects to shift in the package. And that essentially
seals the fate of the cargo, once it's been allowed to move in the
box. I've shipped CRTs with rigid foam, but with a "balloon" of
bagged styro peanuts between the wall of the box and the face of the
screen. A partially inflated child's plastic beach ball works
similarly.
I've received items packed in styro peanuts only and they've been
heavily damaged because the object was allowed to move in the box.
Once that happens, the momentum of the heavy object becomes the tool
of its own destruction.
That aspect of the cargo shifting really is the cause of much damage.
A local packager here who ships furniture and fine art doesn't use
styrofoam blocks or peanuts for valuable stuff. Instead, they
construct a "cradle" of wood or laminated corrugated cardboard that
firmly holds the object in place. Double- or triple-walled cardboard
is used for the box itself; paintings are often boxed in plywood
crates.
None of this is going to save you from the cowboy forklift driver or
the UPS freight handler that allows the object to drop from the
loading conveyor belt, however.
But again, YMMV.
--Chuck