Board Packing 101 - The CC Way!!

Cripple Crusader · Post by **Cripple Crusader** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 2:01 pm

After probably about 20 flights over the last 3 years with kneeboards in tow, there are 2 things i've realises:
1) Its only the rails that get damaged, and
2) Weight is your enemy!!! - Those airport guys couldn't give an arse about the fragile stickers - if it is heavy, they WILL drop it.

This is the solution I've found and so far so good (4 trips down and no airline dings). Thought might be helpful to anyone else planning a trip.

Basic requirements:
1) 2x 2m hot water pipe insulation tubes - made out of foam rubber
2) Cling wrap
3) Duck Tape
4) Scissors

1) Join the 2 base tubes together at one end with the duck tape
album_picm.php?pic_id=2053

2) Duck tape at join to the tail - try use as little duck tape as possible in contact with the board as all the sticky stuff doesn't necessarily come off (Note those little patches next to the tape - all part of the learning curve!!)
album_picm.php?pic_id=2054

3) Stretch over rails and super duck tape the nose - ends up with most protection where it is needed. As above, try not to get duck tape on board
album_picm.php?pic_id=2055

4)Wrap cling wrap around 2 points and duck tape over the cling wrap super tight to keep tubes in place
album_picm.php?pic_id=2056

Drop in normal board bag and off you go.

Hope this helps someone out there!!!!

Jon Manss · Post by **Jon Manss** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 2:22 pm

Nice tip CC, Martha Stewart would be proud of your handy work. I'll use this on my next trip and it looks like a reusable solution for the return trip. Jon

MTBarrels · Post by **MTBarrels** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 2:28 pm

Nicely done...thanks.

I like the cling wrap idea...better than when I would use a second piece of duct tape stickem-to-stickem with the first where I didn't want the first to be in contact with the board.

For convenience, all the hinge pins in the HYPO board have a strip of duct tape over them to hold them in place. Makes it really easy to change forward foils and strut assembly. Also the 3M #77 isn't doing a very good job holding the pad on, so that's duct taped as well. A quick cheap (well, not quite so cheap today) solvent is plain old gasoline.

It's really too bad that the duct tape today isn't like the duct tape about 10 years ago. The gauze then never separated from the slick covering, and the adhesive stuck to the tape, rather that what you stuck the tape onto...even when it got hot. On the other hand, the tape did "dry out" more then. I've noticed the same thing with glass filament tape. Back in the 70's, the adhesive was MUCH better than it currently seems to be.

MT

Eric Carson · Post by **Eric Carson** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 5:52 pm

Good tips. Here in the States, we can buy "crazy noodles" from Wal-Mart and cut them down the middle for our rails. These are the float tubes that people buy for pool and beach use.

Cripple Crusader · Post by **Cripple Crusader** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 12:28 am

Now if only I can find a way to patent this and run it through a host of ficticious companies to defraud the general population of a couple of million I might be able to give old Martha a run for her money!!!

Eric, get the "crazy noodles" here too, but seeing as I'm a lazy bastard, the pipe insulation comes pre-split!!!!!

surfhorn · Post by **surfhorn** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 7:45 am

CC- good ol pipe insulation has so many uses! I've used several techniques in traveling with a board(s).

One time while flying to Baja, I just walked up to the ticket counter with a brand new board - no padding- no bag- and set it in front of the agent. I said, "See - brand new- no dings." It made it through without a scratch.

Thats the only time I did that. After the drugs wore off, I went back to packing my boards properly. I used your method but more labor intensive. I grabbed rail cuts off of a surfboard blank and shaped them to fit my board's rails, taped them on and slid them into a bag.

This was in the days when there were few actual blanks to choose from and a shaper would have to loose a lot of foam to get a shape out. Today there are so many blanks all you have to do is choose a blank thats really close to what you want, skin it and glass it. Not much foam to play with.

Jafo · Post by **Jafo** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 8:52 am

I've used pipe insulation to pad the stock roof racks on my car and the board racks in my garage. 1001 uses!

SCGARY · Post by **SCGARY** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 12:13 pm

Jafo wrote:I've used pipe insulation to pad the stock roof racks on my car and the board racks in my garage. 1001 uses!

I travel to Kona a couple of times a year and have been using the same pipe insulation for about 5 years. I also use foam insulation sheet 3/8" cut out in the template of my board on each side that fits within the the pipe insulation taped to the rails. Adds almost no weight and provides good impact resistence from the hard bag that the baggage handler throws on top of your board. Never had a ding but have seen dents in the insulation foam where an impact was made. Yikes!!!

Cripple Crusader · Post by **Cripple Crusader** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 12:17 am

Just got back from SA, and the packaging worked like a dream - not a single hint of a ding on the rails (or elsewhere) on the boards.

Scored some epic surf in Cape Town and up both the West and East Coasts of the country and got to watch from Round 4 to the Finals of the Billabong Pro in J-Bay. Had a couple of dawnies and duskies at Supertubes with Kelly Slater, Mike Parsons and Joel Parkinson. Unbelievable watching them surf (but couldn't convince Slater to take up Kneeboarding as a permanent occupation!!

).

Got some great shots, and will upload when I sort through them. If anyone is interested in the stand-ups, here is a sequence I took of Andy Irons' 10 Point ride in the finals.
http://forum.surfermag.com/photopost/sh ... /1/cat/502

DarcyM · Post by **DarcyM** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 8:20 am

wow! Great images CC!

red · Post by **red** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 5:07 pm

Marc

You can use superglue or contact to hold the insulation ends together. Well done on a great article.

I just gave up on trying to make up for shortcomings of commercial board bags and made myself a decent boardbag. Used 1/2" high density foam (like the stuff for kneepads). It offers full rail protection (single piece around rails) and is thicker over bottom deck. Now I just drop 4 boards in and go - no extra padding needed. I put 2 of the boards in fabric sleeves that I can use as lightweight board covers for local travel.

You have to cover the foam bag in something or the airlines tear it up something terrible. I considered a cheap sleeping bag (also for the utility), but it wasn't big enough, so I wrapped it in a tarp. I'm making a canvas sleeve for next trip.

SA sounded good.

Cripple Crusader · Post by **Cripple Crusader** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 8:23 am

Eventually managed to sort out most of the photos from my SA trip in July. Unfortunately all the kneelo ones are too big to post on the ksusa site, so will go back to the drawing board on those, but for those of you interested, I have posted about 6 pages worth of photos from the Billabong Pro in J-Bay on the surfermag site.
Photos are here:
http://forum.surfermag.com/photopost/sh ... puser=9274

CC

DrStrange · Post by **DrStrange** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 9:59 am

CC, good eye! Quick finger!

Cripple Crusader · Post by **Cripple Crusader** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 11:42 pm

DrStrange wrote:CC, good eye! Quick finger!

.....and the benfits of 4fps and a 512mb memory card!!!

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Board Packing 101 - The CC Way!!

Board Packing 101 - The CC Way!!

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