Best container for a bounce box

[Pan-Pan]

There was a semi-recent thread on bounce-boxes, but it mostly dealt with (a) how to request that a Priority Mail package be forwarded without taking possession of it and (b) what kind of items to ship in a bounce box.

I have a more fundamental question: What type of container do folks recommend for a bounce box?

I’ve heard of people using Home Depot buckets, which seem like they’d be very sturdy. But do the local PO’s hassle you if you try to forward along a bucket? Is it even legal to send a bucket via Priority Mail? If so, how is the postage calculated? Have folks had any problems with the buckets getting looted along the way? Any other containers that have worked for folks in terms of durability?

I'm going to be carrying some delicate and/or valuable gear in my bounce box (SD cards for my camera, electronics, etc.), so I'd like to find a bounce-box container that satisfies the following criteria:

1. Durable
2. Secure
3. Won't cause the PO to go on tilt.

TIA for any advice,
Jon

[Miner]

On both the PCT and AT, I just used the Large Size Flat Rate Priority Mail boxes. I bounced a small laptop, USB harddrive and my battery chargers and never had any issues with damage. I used some some extra gear and extra clothing to pad them in the box. I'd replace the box whenever the PO had the same size box in stock in their lobby. I also kept a small roll of packaging tape in the box. If you want to go the bucket route, I know hikers who did so without issue.

For non-flat rate boxes, Priority Mail is calculated by distance mailed, package size, and package weight. Flat Rate boxes cost the same price no matter what you have in them or how much they weight.

[Ricky&Jack]

yea, stick with a flat rate box.

No need to buy anything fancy.

[burger]

I used a 5-gallon plastic bucket on the PCT and CDT. Anything smaller would not have held all my maps and other supplies I kept in there. I must've mailed it 40 times in all, and I never had the slightest problem (I did get a small crack in one lid, but it was fine after taping). If you tape the lid shut, which you should, I can't imagine someone would steal from it. A postal clerk once pointed out to me that post office employees risk losing their jobs and going to jail if they steal from your mail. It's not worth it for them for whatever junk you might be sending.

You can mail anything that you can slap a stamp on. In trail towns, the postal workers have all seen buckets and other strange things mailed. On the PCT, when I was done with my bear canister, I slapped a label on it and mailed it home without a box.

[Wise Old Owl]

Nice post Burger! never considered that.

[Ricky&Jack]

if you use a flat-rate box, the only think that must be visible is the front address and "priority flat rate" on the box.

I used the neon orange duct-tape (You can use any color) and taped up most of the box. That way if your box is waiting at a busy post office for a while and its hard to locate when you show up, you can just say "look for the bright orange box" etc. so you don't sit around while they try to locate it among all the others.

I like to make my box easily identifiable.

[MuddyWaters]

You are of course aware that anything besides a cardboard box will incur a "nonstandard container" charge, about $12.

You can get a new priority mail box at every post office. You are overthinking it.

[Venchka]

Somewhere at WhiteBlaze is some good info about low cost Priority Mail traveling 2 postal zones or less. Ask the USPS about it. Also, I use my own box and weigh them and buy postage online and save a couple bucks over flat rate boxes under 6 pounds.
SD cards don't require special packing. Some bubble wrap and Ziploc bag will suffice.


Wayne

[atmilkman]

You can mail anything that you can slap a stamp on.
Glad to see this is still true. My great grandma once sent me a banjo with stamps plastered all over the case. It arrived in perfect condition. But, this was when I was 13 years old. Don't think I would try that nowadays.

[handlebar]

You are of course aware that anything besides a cardboard box will incur a "nonstandard container" charge, about $12.

You can get a new priority mail box at every post office. You are overthinking it.
must be something new. Never had a surcharge using Home Depot orange 5 gal bucket from 2008 thru 2012.

[MuddyWaters]

must be something new. Never had a surcharge using Home Depot orange 5 gal bucket from 2008 thru 2012.

Both my resupply buckets on the jmt were charged it. One by ups, and one by USPS priority mail. Cheaper to put the bucket inside a box.

[Oma-n-Opa]

if you use a flat-rate box, the only think that must be visible is the front address and "priority flat rate" on the box.

I used the neon orange duct-tape (You can use any color) and taped up most of the box. That way if your box is waiting at a busy post office for a while and its hard to locate when you show up, you can just say "look for the bright orange box" etc. so you don't sit around while they try to locate it among all the others.

I like to make my box easily identifiable.

Freaking remarkable idea! Man, I love this forum!

[Another Kevin]

You can get a new priority mail box at every post office. You are overthinking it.

My local (suburban) post office never seems to have them in stock and tells me either to try the office downtown or to use a non-flat-rate box and pay the rate by weight.

[Gambit McCrae]

I believe the 5 gallon bounce bucket seems like the best thing

[Rolls Kanardly]

I'm going to be carrying some delicate and/or valuable gear in my bounce box (SD cards for my camera, electronics, etc.), so I'd like to find a bounce-box container that satisfies the following criteria:
Jon
Find a cloth store or perhaps a furniture remake supply store and you can buy good foam in various thickness'. Cut the foam to match your gear and to fit the box.

Rolls