How Not to Ship a Knife

This is not meant to point a finger at anyone in particular, but is just an observation of how not to pack a knife for shipment.



This afternoon an eagerly awaited package was delivered. As I carried it inside I noticed the contents were moving around a bit more freely than perhaps they should. I was dumbfounded when I opened the box.



Yes, that’s the point of the knife in the upper left corner. Exploring a little further, I found a blade guard that had come off the blade in transit, as it was not secured to the blade in any way.



Further inspection of the box showed where the tip of the knife had penetrated the sides of the box during handling. From the size of the slits, an inch or more of the blade could have been protruding from the side of the box. At least the lack of bloodstains gives me hope that nobody was cut.



Now the bad news. The tip is broken, not just blunted, but a couple of millimeters are broken off - just gone.



Folks, when you pack up a knife for shipment, assume that the good folks at USPS, FedEx, or United Parcel will likely not handle it like it has a dozen eggs in it, so that the contents must have enough packing surrounding it so that it doesn’t slam back and forth inside the box.

The blade must have rigid protection securely attached to it. If you use a blade guard, use masking tape to hold it in place. If you ship the knife with a saya, make sure the pin fits snugly, or run a twist tie through the hole. Don’t have a blade guard or saya? Cut some corrugated cardboard to fit the blade and tape it in place. Then, take some newspaper and wrap up the knife in it, folding over the ends and taping it in place. That minimizes the chance that the blade will come out of the guard, saya, or cardboard.

Use enough bubble wrap to keep the knife from moving inside the box. No bubble wrap? Crumple up newspapers. When you close the flaps on the box, shake it. If the knife moves around inside, you need more bubble wrap or paper.

Thanks for letting me rant. Now I’m off to fix the tip.

(Edited to try to show images.)

 

ave Wow.

Good tips on packing though. Rule of thumb I like to use for valuables is a box in a box and 2 inches of cushion all around.

 

pics are not showing for me. However my imagination is painting some very sad images here.

If there's a saya I like to plastic wrap the crap out of the knife (while inside the saya of course), making sure there's no movement. Some sayas fit looser than others, so I find wrapping it snuggly prevents this.
If no saya, I wrap a kitchen towel around the blade, and then wrap in plastic. Several times over.

Generally I don't have plastic wrap, but I usually have a ton ood plastic grocery bags. You ball and bunch those bad boys up you'll have some serious cushioning I the box. Squeeze them in, stuff them in, and that knife ain't moving.

Just my 2 cents

Sorry to see (hear) about what happened here, Rick.

 

not seeing the pics. story sounds interesting though

 

Pics should be fixed

 

Since my uploads didn't work, I tried linking from Google Photos. Please take a look see if I was successful.

 

that's no way to treat a Del!

 

I just had a server shipped to me at work. It had a couple inches of foam all around. It looked like someone with some nice steel toed boots gave the drive bays 4 or 5 drop-kicks in the face.
These guys are definitely not very careful in handling your goods. Ace Ventura springs to mind.

 

Lucky no one was injured.

 

Didn't show on my end. I fixed it again. Should be good now.

 

Yeah, that looks down right dangerous.

 

got it now. that must have been some treatment to get that big a gash in the box. a few inches of blade would have been exposed. hoping that there is no usps blood on it

 

If my foggy old brain remembers correctly, the shipper can be held liable if anyone is injured by an improperly packaged knife. I'll try and find the reference. Sorry this happened to you--would really put a knot in my tail to get a knife like that.

 

I bought a knife off ebay once. It arrived with one inch of the end of the knife sticking out of the side of the box. I'm really surprised the post office was willing to handle the package.