Knife Shipping

[OwlWoodworks]

What is the gold standard for shipping a knife?

I have received knives in a lot of different packagings and states, some come covered in oil, some wrapped in saran wrap, some paper, cardboard, and all sorts of space filling materials in the box.

I was wondering if somebody who has shipped and received a lot of knives could give me some tips.

Thanks,
Luke

 

[Brian Weekley]

I’ve had the misfortune of receiving several knives that have been tipped in shipment. I believe that all instances resulted from inadequate protection of the tip when packing. Duh!

Best protection is a saya. A home made saya is fine provided it is well made.

So for me the most important tip is to ensure adequate protection of the tip by using a sleeve. Corrugated cardboard is fine and probably best. Bubble wrap is good for secondary protection and whatever is handy (paper, foam, chips etc) to take up the remaining room in the box. Here is a pic …

Note the space available to protect the tip. There must be no possibility that the knife can move forward and penetrate the saya and packaging.

 

[MSicardCutlery]

I've shipped many knives in the last 7 months, and I've changed my packing methods to some degree over that time. What I've currently settled on is putting the blade in a folded piece of carboard that's about 1" oversized, like a sort of sheath, (edge facing the crease) taping the back side shut, and then just wrapping and packing however, with bubble wrap and/or foam. For carbon blades I wax them before shipping, for stainless I don't. The cardboard keeps the blade from ever poking through the package and cutting someone or getting damaged.

 

[esoo]

How I received my Shihan:

This was then in the middle of the box surrounded by enough packing paper there was no way it was going to move.

 

[tostadas]

Double box with plenty of padding (either crumpled paper or bubble wrap) in between. Check that the box won't flex under minimal pressure, and I like to make sure there is no movement inside if I shake the box

 

[blokey]

For non-Japanese knives Kippington did a great job with a round container that looks like those tennis cans, it is super rigid and reinforced by steel wires, the knife itslfe is wrapped by hard cardboard and a lot of wrapping material. For Japanese knives Ryusen box is one of the more robust one, the knife fits tightly and won't wiggle a bit.

 

[Delat]

There’s a few different aspects for protecting the blade imho.

Definitely the most important is immobilizing the knife so the tip doesn’t get damaged; a simple cardboard saya/sheath described above works great. You do need to secure the sheath relative to the handle and wrapping snugly in bubble wrap does the job nicely. When I have the original typical Japanese knife box, I put a layer or two of carboard on top of the blade, snugged up against the ferrule to serve the same purpose, then I wrap a couple rubber bands around the box to hold everything in place.

Another aspect more important for long international shipping times is protecting high-carbon blades against rust. Either shrink wrap like some vendors (Kamon, Adonis) works great, or VCI paper applied before the saya.

The final aspect is the box. The most sturdy box I’ve received is a round cardboard tube (Smedja Aspen). Not your typical poster tube, this thing was at least .33” thick and could double as a baseball bat. The end caps were also stapled on. A little overkill as it could probably survive getting run over by a truck, but pretty darn safe. For shipping within the US I just use a typical carboard box though.

 

[OwlWoodworks]

Absolutely brilliant advice so far. Thank you so much everyone.

 

[Dull_Apex]

A few times I've received knives with an extra piece of corrugated cardboard on each side of the long side of the knife box, but slightly narrower.

This reinforces against bending and also makes the profile rounder, which gives me the impression of being sturdier.

 

[M1k3]

+1 for @Kippington's packaging. Brilliant and simple.

 

[mc2442]

Mailing tubes are great, you can bubble wrap til it is a snug fit. Someone mentioned there was around a $10 surcharge (if memory serves) using Fed Ex for the round shape vs a rectangle tho.
Just shipped a couple things USPS Priority on Tuesday morning from OC (Irvine). One was supposed to get there yesterday (northern California) and was pushed to today by 9 pm (ridiculous), and unfortunately needs a signature, so either trapping a person there or picking it up from the PO next week. What happened to 1-3 day Priority, this was 3 day and the one I sent to TX was 4 day!
Not sure if USPS Priority will be my default if that keeps up.

 

[Kippington]

For non-Japanese knives Kippington did a great job with a round container that looks like those tennis cans, it is super rigid and reinforced by steel wires, the knife itslfe is wrapped by hard cardboard and a lot of wrapping material. For Japanese knives Ryusen box is one of the more robust one, the knife fits tightly and won't wiggle a bit.

+1 for @Kippington's packaging. Brilliant and simple.

Thanks guys!
Unfortunately I've had a couple of postage mishaps over the years. Each time it happened, I modified my method to stop it from happening again.

The amazing thing about a mailing tube is that you can add loads of pressure on the inside without deforming the package. Kinda like a pressurised gas cylinder.
I use this to forcefully push the knife into a safe position where it can't move inside the cylinder. In the past I used bubble wrap to do this, but found that scrunched paper can do the same thing with more force. It's also cheaper and less plastic-y.

 

[Matt Jacobs]

I vacuum seal all the ones that I send out. I then box them and make sure there is 0 movement. I think everyone I have shipped to has been very happy. It protects the knife from rust and I think it keeps the tip from poking through the box.

 

[cooktocut]

If I had my way, all of my knives would be shipped to me in a padded zipper case like some makers do, with two tip protectors and that’s it (and padding around that on both ends) That, to me, would be the gold standard. The smell of the case and the knife all nestled up in there makes me happy. Unwrapping a mile of bubble wrap from some sketchy cardboard sheath does not albeit both effective, one more realistic than the other.

Edit : to add to this, on more than one occasion I’ve had a knife damaged because it was TOO well packaged, in the sense that customs or whoever had to destroy the package in order to verify the contents, and then the resulting Frankenstein package is no longer sufficient enough protection. This is also something to consider, when sending a knife.

 

[Dan-]

Make sure you smoke about two cartons of Marlboro reds, exhaling on the packaging, before you mail it.

 

[M1k3]

Make sure you smoke about two cartons of Marlboro reds, exhaling on the packaging, before you mail it.

Maxim has entered the chat.

 

[captaincaed]

Ask @KAMON Knives
Vlc paper, with a black paper cover over that.
Wrap in corrugated cardboard roll for stiffness.
Vacuum seal for moisture
Add candy (the most important part)

 

[Logan09]

Just don't throw them in a box like some people.

It amazes me that some people don't care about anything once they get your money, and just toss your items in a box. If its anything decent I wrap it in plastic wrap and/or put cardboard around the blade. I shake my head everytime I've spent $$$$$ on Nihonto that was shipped bare blade in saya that got a rub mark on a polished blade.

 

[Hz_zzzzzz]

Just don't throw them in a box like some people. View attachment 198312

It amazes me that some people don't care about anything once they get your money, and just toss your items in a box. If its anything decent I wrap it in plastic wrap and/or put cardboard around the blade. I shake my head everytime I've spent $$$$$ on Nihonto that was shipped bare blade in saya that got a rub mark on a polished blade.

Don’t tell me this is a Kato…

 

[Brian Weekley]

Just don't throw them in a box like some people.

I feel for you … I’ve had three A+ knives (paid north of 1K for each of them) shipped to me that arrived like that or worse. One was shipped in a padded case … the tip hung up in the zipper. There are so many ways to protect a delicate knife tip that it left me stunned when it happened. I have the skills to fix the damage … it’s just steel … BUT having to embark on a repair immediately upon receipt of a knife really takes the enjoyment out of a purchase. I can never look at the knife the same way. I recently dumped an expensive DT at a $400 loss because of the sour taste I had in my mouth from having to do an extensive tip repair from shipping damage.

It’s one reason (of two) that I have for not purchasing through BST. Were I to have experienced this on a knife that I purchased from a dealer I would have returned it for refund in a heartbeat.

 

[superworrier]

It's simultaneously heartbreaking and infuriating to receive a knife that was damaged because of poor packing. It doesn't really take much time or energy to do it right.
If you shake the box and you hear anything, re-think your packing.

 

[Troopah_Knives]

I vacuum seal as well and Ive also got these slick plastic tip guards which I like.