I'm Moving, any tips on how to pack LPR rockets for a move?

[goose_in_co]

Yep that dreaded day is coming, we are starting to pack the house and get ready to move.

So are there any tips on how to move over 100 built LPR rockets and a bunch of kits without getting them destroyed in the process?

Thanks
Goose

 

[K'Tesh]

Use large boxes, with lots of padding around all the sides (including top and bottom) Do not stack anything on top of them. Try to keep the rockets vertical (upside down or right side up) to prevent fins from sagging if they are left in the box for long periods of time.

 

[dr wogz]

hit the local liquor store..

For some needed 'relaxing liquid' and they boxes they come in. Wine, beer & booze boxes have cardboard dividers. Great for keeping things compartmentalized..

 

[les]

I use large 45+ gallon plastic tubs with bubble wrap. I put a layer of bubble wrap down first. Lay in some rockets. Then another layer of bubble wrap, more rockets, another wrap layer, etc.
I start with the biggest/heaviest on the bottom

I alternate the rocket direction so the nose of one layer is on top of the fins of the previous layer.

I use this to bring my rockets to launches and displays

Typically the rockets are stored for less than a week and I've never had an issue with sagging fins.

 

[Gary Byrum]

I use pool noodles. Great for stacking horizontal. I incorporate vertical standing where I can. This works great for going to launches and I'd probably use them for moving as well. They're dirt cheap and you can cut them to fit.

 

[Peartree]

I prefer Rubbermaid totes or plastic under bed boxes. Then I pack with bubble wrap or ziplock bags full of dig barf wadding. Using dog barf has the added advantage of insuring that I always have some when I go to a launch.

 

[Steven]

Have someone else do it.

 

[Mustang67]

What do you have for transport? Car, truck, U-haul? How far do you have to travel?

 

[lakeroadster]

Have someone else do it.

When we moved from Ohio to Colorado the folks from Graebel packed a couple rockets and numerous model cars, a B17, etc. that I had.

None of it was damaged when I unpacked them. They simply wrapped everything in brown moving paper and placed it in moving boxes.

The lesson I learned is any damage has more to do with mishandling the moving boxes, than the packing materials used inside the box to protect the valuables.

 

[Steven]

When we moved from Ohio to Colorado the folks from Graebel packed a couple rockets and numerous model cars, a B17, etc. that I had.

None of it was damaged when I unpacked them. They simply wrapped everything in brown moving paper and placed it in moving boxes.

The lesson I learned is any damage has more to do with mishandling the moving boxes, than the packing materials used inside the box to protect the valuables.

You did say nothing was damaged, right?

 

[lakeroadster]

You did say nothing was damaged, right?

No I didn't say "nothing" was damaged. I said...

When we moved from Ohio to Colorado the folks from Graebel packed a couple rockets and numerous model cars, a B17, etc. that I had.

None of it was damaged when I unpacked them.

We had some other items damaged that were handled by a 3rd party. When those boxes arrived the boxes were damaged, due to mishandling. Thus, regardless of how good the items are packed the contents can be damaged if the box is mishandled.

You know, like when you got to a store and buy something, you take the undamaged box, instead of the box that is beat all to hell.

 

[Gary Byrum]

You know, like when you got to a store and buy something, you take the undamaged box, instead of the box that is beat all to hell.

Guilty as charged. Why do we do that? I can understand if a crunched box means broken Saltines, but I'll do that with even the friggin cereal boxes. Why should I care if that box has been a little crunched? It's not like it'll have damaged Rice Krispies in it. :cyclops:

 

[goose_in_co]

First off, thanks for all of the great ideas. I have commandeered several of the large plastic totes that we have, and I will get more packing material.

What do you have for transport? Car, truck, U-haul? How far do you have to travel?

Good Questions. We are planning on packing ourselves, and hiring a company to move the boxes and furniture. I am sure that once we close, every trip we will take something in the car with us as well. Oh, we are moving about 5 miles away, 600 feet higher in elevation, downsizing, don't need a bunch of bedrooms with no kids in the house.

 

[K'Tesh]

Typically the rockets are stored for less than a week and I've never had an issue with sagging fins.

Depending on how much stuff the OP has, or how busy they are "in the world", a week can turn into months, or even years... That' show my early surviving rockets ended up with sagging fins.

 

[Mustang67]

Being that you are only moving 5 miles away there will not be a transfer of your stuff, so It will remain on the same vehicle. I would go to uline.com and order a roll of "this side up Fragile" stickers. And "only" use it on the stuff that is fragile. Its more of a heads up to the movers to be carefull and not drop the box. You can also order triple wall boxes from uline and packing paper. Like someone mentioned above, if it sits in boxes or storage for years, pack it right the first time now. Also get a tape gun with some thicker tape from Uline, not the thin crap. Tape the bottom of the boxes well, so if they stay packaged for an extended time or some teenager goes to pick up the box the wrong way the bottom does not fall out. Lastly being you are only 5 miles away, you can box them up and drive them over yourself.. now you know they arrived safely :wink:

 

[Steven]

Guilty as charged. Why do we do that? I can understand if a crunched box means broken Saltines, but I'll do that with even the friggin cereal boxes. Why should I care if that box has been a little crunched? It's not like it'll have damaged Rice Krispies in it. :cyclops:

Yup.

 

[r66astro]

point them towards new home recover when you arrive

 

[Steven]

No I didn't say "nothing" was damaged. I said...



We had some other items damaged that were handled by a 3rd party. When those boxes arrived the boxes were damaged, due to mishandling. Thus, regardless of how good the items are packed the contents can be damaged if the box is mishandled.

You know, like when you got to a store and buy something, you take the undamaged box, instead of the box that is beat all to hell.

Pack the delicates yourself, let someone else deal with the rest. Makes sense to me. I had a professional company pack a 1/5th scale RC Zero to fly from Phoenix to Seattle in two boxes and would you believe no damage was done. I was sure SOMETHING was gonna' get it.

 

[goose_in_co]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. It has been a while, there were a lot of things in the new house that needed to be fixed, upgraded, organized, and with the downsizing, things had to go. Fortunately the rockets have escaped the chopping block, so far.

I had several different types of packing for the rockets. First all of the kits were packed in cardboard boxes, that were marked with FRAGILE stickers that we got from Amazon. They were moved by the movers and fared well. All of the built rockets were moved by us in the back of our car. There were many things that the movers would not take, and since we had to move all of that, we took the rockets also. I had made some custom boxes years ago when I had about a dozen rockets, but making custom boxes for the present fleet was out of the question, there was not enough time. So I got creative. We had a couple of under bed plastic boxes, and largerplastic boxes that were filled with bubble wrap and packing peanuts. The tall rockets were put in a special box that I made out of 4 boxes from walmart that were about 12x12x12, they were taped end to end to create one long box that four of the long rockets went into.
I haven't unpacked everything yet, but the boxes that have been unpacked had no damage to the rockets. Hopefully
by next year the dungeon workshop will be operational and I can start building more kits!