Shipping bytes

August 7, 2007 1:12 PM

Shipping hard drives - need good robust packaging...

I ship hard drives to various companies and am tired of wrapping them in foam/bubble wrap and then taping up a box. I am familiar with turtle cases, but they don't have exactly what I need. Can you recommend any other products?

http://www.turtlecase.com/

These are external hard drives, with cases and power cords. Secure with shock absorption are my goals.

Thanks!

posted by fluffycreature to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Pelican makes similar cases. Lots of people seem to sell them (try googling for pelican case for more).
posted by pombe at 1:41 PM on August 7, 2007

I've never used 'em, but Benson Boxes look neat. They claim to be 1/5th the cost of ATA-style "flight cases" and come with foam interiors to hold whatever you want to ship. They're definitely meant to be reused, but they look cheap enough so that if one of your clients lost a box and didn't return it, you wouldn't be out a bunch of money. (I'd really be concerned about Pelican cases disappearing.)
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:55 PM on August 7, 2007

Wow, I just bookmarked Benson Boxes! Those look sweet.

I found an impressive list of transport case suppliers that might be of use. Seahorse products are similar to the big-name Pelican, in that they're nearly indestructible and fairly expensive.

If you're looking for single-use boxes, check out the suspension boxes from U-Line. They have plastic "trampoline" inserts that shockproof sensitive electronics without bubble wrap.
posted by Myself at 12:58 AM on August 8, 2007

The suspension boxes are great. I used to work for FedEx, and those types of boxes are the only shipping boxes that FedEx will use for packing laptops.

For vases and other extremely fragile items, we would double box, use untold quantities of bubble wrap, peanuts, and packing paper, but even this treatment was deemed insufficient for laptop shipping. (I have no real basis for this claim, but I imagine that FedEx has devoted a reasonable amount of energy to the problem of laptop/electronics shipping.)

Plus, the suspension boxes just so much fun. I want to hug the Engineer(?) who came up with that idea.
posted by ZeroDivides at 1:35 AM on August 8, 2007