Best way to ship stuff to Iraq

[bigmike82]

There's a guy who's looking for a load of soccer balls to hand out to kids while on patrol...I figure I'd help out and send some.

Any recomendations?

[smokingloon]

If he is in the military, the package will get sent to San Francisco Post Office where it will be sent to the correct unit.

[bigmike82]

Good call! Thanks for the heads up. I found a distributor that charges like 3 bucks for a single ball, so that's good.

If I have room in the box left over, what's a good thing to send out to those guys that's either hard to get or inordinately expensive out there?

[CavTrooper]

Be sure to send the balls deflated! Send a hand pump and attachment along with them.

[bigmike82]

"Be sure to send the balls deflated! Send a hand pump and attachment along with them."
Absolutely. The shipping charges would kill me otherwise.

I'm thinking 40 or 50 balls and ten or twelve pumps. That'll be enough balls for everyone and a pump here and there to keep 'em inflated.

[hitman13]

If I have room in the box left over, what's a good thing to send out to those guys that's either hard to get or inordinately expensive out there?

-good coffee
-snacks
-babywipes



I got a box from the USO (idk if they sent it or not, but had their logo on it and no paperwork inside) that had an itunes gift card in it. thought that was kinda rad since a lot of people have ipods

[CSACANNONEER]

Remember if ANY air is left inside the balls (and some will be) they will expand if sent in a non pressurized compartment by air. So, since you don't know how the military will ship them, make sure to leave a little dead space in the box to allow for the possibility of expansion.

[weezil_boi]

Remember if ANY air is left inside the balls (and some will be) they will expand if sent in a non pressurized compartment by air. So, since you don't know how the military will ship them, make sure to leave a little dead space in the box to allow for the possibility of expansion.

Maybe stick a valve in every ball. That way the airway is open and you'll have no pressure issues.
Those little needle valves are pretty cheap.

[CSACANNONEER]

Maybe stick a valve in every ball. That way the airway is open and you'll have no pressure issues.
Those little needle valves are pretty cheap.

That's a great idea. That way they have plenty of needles to inflat the balls with. I know, I used to break those things before I realized how fragile they were.

[Rob454]

beef jerky
Sunflower seeds
pringles chips
skittles
Hard non melting candy ( jolly ranchers)
suckers ( same liek jolly rancher_

I still send my buddies stuff like that. in fact Im ready to send another package.

Rob

[bigmike82]

Right on. Thanks for the tips. I'll fill up the empty space with some goodies.

[Greg-Dawg]

You don't have to spend a dime, if you contact your local sporting goods store for donations. All you have to do is contact their donations dept and the only thing you'll be paying is for the shipping.

[sb_pete]

SMOKELESS TOBACCO MAN! (ie. dip)

Also, CR123 batteries used to be a pita but I hear they are much more available these days.

I have also heard Cholula and Tapatio are hard to come by for us Californians who think tabasco sauce is about as spicy as a watered down bloody mary.

Also, seeing as how laptops are common but internet access is generally restricted, I have heard that memory sticks filled with mpegs from sites their firewalls don't allow access to are quite popular as well

[bigmike82]

My shipping list thus far:

30 soccer balls;
96 needles;
12 air pumps;
2 or 3 big bags of jolly ranchers.

Anything else I should include that you gents can think of?

I was thinking about doing the...ahem...memory stick thing, but my better half absolutely forbade it.

A shame....

[JDay]

SMOKELESS TOBACCO MAN! (ie. dip)

Also, CR123 batteries used to be a pita but I hear they are much more available these days.

You can never have too many CR123's. Too bad they're damn expensive.