My way is very effective, safe, and keeps the package very light weight so that we both benefit from the shipping costs!
Materials needed:
Plastic Wrap (I used walmart brand, works fine since it's OEM reynolds)
Bubble Wrap (your standard bubble wrap should do)
Scotch Tape (Scotch brand....simple enough...although I use Staples)
Packaging Tape (Don't use cheap packaging tape! hard to work with and tends to come off easy! I used Bandit One Arm)
Painters Tape (optional) (I used Scotch brand)
1. Wrap the entire stick in a layer of plastic wrap. If you know how to tape a hockey stick, this should be just as easy. I always start from the knob to the bottom and work my way around the blade.
2. Wrap the stick up in bubble wrap, I start from the knob with strips that will wrap around just enough to overlap a bit. Be sure to leave 2-3 inches at the top of the knob. You can double up on the layer if you wish but not necessary. Wrapping the blade can be tricky but same as blade tape method. I use Scotch tape to keep the bubble wrap in place before I'm able to wrap it with packaging tape.
2 a. Tape up the blade with the packaging tape just like blade tape until there is no exposed bubble wrap.
Here's the blade covered completely.
3. With the 2-3 inches of bubble wrap at the top of the knob, fold it down and tape it in place.
4. Now time to use the packaging tape to completely cover up the shaft, this allow the bubble wrap to remain protected during shipment and to be exposed to the elements. You will need to do 3 strips, each wrapping around the blade vertically. Some people may want to wrap the tape completely around the shaft and that's fine, but I find this neater and uses less tape.
Image is hard to see, but you can see the tape on the side ready to be wrapped around the shaft. It takes 3 strips to cover the entire shaft
voila! You can see the thickness of the packaging, trust me everyone who's received my sticks have been pleased.
5. Next using the painters tape, I wrap it around the knob, this helps keep the knob from possibly opening up during shipment, I choose painters tape since it tends to stick to the surface quite well.
6. Last step, if you're concerned with the packaging tape undoing itself or used cheap packaging tape, candy cane a layer of Painters Tape around the stick so that it stays in place.
This alone qualifies for USPS First Class since these sticks are so light nowadays, I paid $3.80 to ship I believe. Much better than $15-20 right?
