Hi Tim– When shipping recorders by air, the important things to remember are to keep them insulated and to keep them air tight. The insulation is to keep the inevitable temperature change from happening too quickly. Cold in itself is not the enemy–rapid temperature change is. The air tight packaging is to keep the recorders from drying out–something that is bound to happen to the air in an airplane’s unheated cargo hold. So, if you have a hard case, place the instrument in it, and if you don’t have a hard case, place the instrument in its soft case (or some substitute). Then wrap each packaged instrument in a couple layers of bubble wrap (more layers if the bubble wrap is thin) and seal thoroughly with packaging tape so that there are no open gaps. This procedure ensures both insulation and air tight packaging. Then place the instruments in a cardboard shipping box with enough packing peanuts or bubble wrap to ensure a complete separation from the box. The recipient will then allow the instruments to sit in their box and packaging for a while (up to a few hours) in order to slowly acclimatize them to room temperature before unpacking them–something you should also do when you get them back. –Dick– p.s. Before you seal the box, make sure that all of your info and directions are also inside the box–an easy thing to forget when you’re totally involved with the bubble wrap and tape etc.
