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any tips, issues with shipping flies? I am shipping some flies to say "thank you" to someone.
I have about 10 - 12 tungsten beadheads I am sending.
Do you just drop in a regular envelope? Or should I go to the post office and use one of those cardboard envelopes?
Would there be >= $20 insurance automatically?
thanks
Mark
Hooks tend to damage envelopes and sorting machines can damage flies or be jammed by them. I put flies in some kind of hard container ( altoids tin, empty bullion cube jar, etc.) in an envelope. Insurance is extra and I don't bother with it. The rates are high and the odds favor just planning on replacing a set of flies if necessary. I've never had to do it yet but some people in a swap I ran did have their flies lost.
If I had one, I would use the plastic hook boxes like DaiRiki, but don't know if that would be big enough.
If you go to the PO, they have the boxes that you ship CD's in. That is what I use. Dimensions are approx. the size of a CD(slightly larger) and twice as thick. This way you don't crush the hackle or anything else on the delicate fly.
For most things, I have bought 2x3" and 3x4" plastic jewelry bags to organize flies and jigs for shipping, and ship using bubble wrap shipping envelope. I have never had a problem, and have shipped everything from #20 zebra midges to 1/4-oz bucktail jigs.
I just get a padded envelope and a travel soap bar case from wally world for about a buck. You can stuff a little foam in there to keep the flies from moving around if you like. I have about half a dozen that have traveled all over the country in fly swap's many times and are still going. I think one has a small crack in it. It's a cheap but effective method.
I don't always, but try to, use an Altoid tin with adhesive back foam in the bottom. Then ship in a P.O. padded envelope. I can't remember the cost but I can ship about 2 dozen flies for cheap. Never have had a problem.
The flies I get from Blue Fly Cafe and other places are sorted into little lidded plastic "cups" like you might get sauce in with your Mexican take-out, which are then mailed in an envelope of some kind. I've seen a lot of fly shops use these as well. Don't know where you can get them but they seem to do a good job of protecting the flies. I've also received flies in little plastic "zip-loc" bags; those seem to work too. If it's a special thank you, how about an inexpensive plastic fly box?
Recently I bought a rod, and because of some problems with the transaction (PayPal's fault, not the seller's) the seller said he was going to send me some flies. When they arrived, it was a very nice selection from nymphs through dries, around 50+ flies, in a very cool little Okuma 6-window/foam fly box. Now, that's class!