Shipping loaded holders

[Mike Lopez]

I'm taking a trip in October which will require that I ship my film to myself. I've done this before with Readyloads, but this trip is about twice as long and I want to have substantially more film available. I want to avoid the cost of Readyloads, which are more than double the cost of traditional sheets.

I'm thinking of shipping a large box of holders to my destination, and I'm hoping to load them at home, to avoid as much work as possible on the road. I'll take a few empty film boxes for off-loading on the road, if required. Does anybody have any experience shipping loaded holders great distances (to Hawaii)? I guess I'm asking if there are any reasons NOT to do this. Have you ever had film become "unseated" within a holder from being bounced around? I'll pad the box, but it seems there is only so much I can do in that regard. I'd like to hear any input on this. Thanks.

[Mark Sampson]

I've shipped cartons full of loaded holders (color and b/w) across the country twice in the last two years with great success. FedEx and UPS both delivered very well. I did this to avoid 1) potential airport inspection hassles and 2) loading/unloading in a changing tent or motel bathroom. IMHO the saved time alone was worth the shipping costs. Of course I only used 24 holders on each trip- how many holders you have vs. time spent and pictures to make might influence your decision.

[Mike Lopez]

Thanks, Mark. That's exactly what I had in mind (airport hassles, no changing tent, hotel rentals sight unseen). I was thinking about shipping several holders to one island and the bulk of my holders to another. This will be my first trip to Hawaii, and I'm going to invest in seeing as much as I can.

[Frank Petronio]

Not knowing what gets X-rayed or inspected these days, it might be a good idea to include something that would indicate if the holders have been tampered with (tape in a specific location comes to mind). And maybe a Polaroid that could be processes on arrival to see if things got X-rayed.

[Mike Lopez]

FedEx is good about not x-raying things if you make a request. (And maybe they don't x-ray at all). When I shipped Readyloads in the past (two trips, four shipments) they let me mark "No X-Ray" on the boxes and things turned out fine. Hopefully Homeland Security doesn't step in and force them to change the way they run their business anytime soon, because it works like a champ if you are willing to pay for it.

[Robert Ley]

I shipped loaded holders, and loaded grafmatics plus all my film to Puerto Rico last year via FedEx with no problems. I do not believe that FedEx x-rays any packages routinely atleast I have never had any film or paper spoiled by x-rays in the many years that I have received film mail ordered from B&H and UniquePhoto.

[Mark Sampson]

A FedEx advantage is that you can specify "hold for pickup" at their local depot. That way I didn't have to involve hotel desks, or deal with drop-off deliveries to private homes, etc.

[Ed Richards]

You can gaffer tape them to keep the slide in place if that worries you.

[Frank Lahorgue]

In my experience, you should hedge your bets on the shipment issue. Last year I had shipments to France arrive with no problem in one case and a huge customs delay in another. A Photographer's Formulary shipment arrived at a cousin's home with no problem. View Camera Store shipped an item by Fed Ex express which arrived a month after I had returned to California -- no fault of the Store.

In the future, I will carry some gear with me and ship other items so that my photo project will less likely be stymied by bureaucrats.

Good traveling --

[Glenn Thoreson]

You should mark your parcels "Contains Photgraphic Film" in large letters. Just in case.