Question on shipping knives to family in the armed services.

nydude

nydude

Joined
Jun 10, 2009
Messages
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Hi All,

My younger cousin is in Afghanistan right now (WestPoint grad and smarter then me), we ship him care packages pretty regularly, and I wanted to send him a blade.

Are there any special considerations for shipping this stuff? I could ask him, but wanted him to be surprised and I know you guys have done this before.

Figured I’d try and grab him one of those sweet tan mil overrun regulators tonight…and if I’m thwarted buy hog treachery or just low email mojo, I’ll grab something from the exchange.

Thanks guys,

M.
 
I have shipped to APO's with no problem or special paperwork.
My understanding is that it is concidered domestic mail, so no customs form needed.
 
Make sure he can actually have it at his assignment. I know it sounds silly, but some units / assignments regulate things like the blades that their soldiers could carry.

While I was in Cuba I was issued an M203 and occasionally an M24, but I was not allowed to carry a belt knife. :confused:



Steelnut is correct that APO is considered domestic, because what it does is goes to a central location in the US and then it sent in a huge mass mailing. So the APO may have it and your soldier may not get it for another week or two, this is normal.
 
Hmm…. good info MD02. I’ll email him and ask if he has any gear restrictions. He gets online every couple weeks, sometimes more sometimes less, and writes some really great descriptive emails about what it’s like over there.
 
Good call. It'd just be sad to ship him a beautiful knife and have him either be unable to use it or have it be confiscated as contraband.
 
steelnut said:
My understanding is that it is concidered domestic mail, so no customs form needed.
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APO mail does require a customs form. I also highly recommend insuring all packages.

http://webapps.usps.com/customsforms/helppickaform.htm

Also handy:

http://www.usps.com/supportingourtroops/mailingrestrictions.htm

Of course when I was in the desert and Afghanistan years ago all I wanted to get in the mail was obscene articles, horror comics, pornographic materials, religious materials contrary to the Islamic faith and pork or pork by-products.
 
Last time I was overseas, insured mail would never make it to us because it required a signature. My folks sent me an insured package with my laptop in it and it never showed, got returned home. YMMV
 
Nuke41 said:
Of course when I was in the desert and Afghanistan years ago all I wanted to get in the mail was obscene articles, horror comics, pornographic materials, religious materials contrary to the Islamic faith and pork or pork by-products.
Click to expand...


Pork and porn…

It sounds like I’ll have to put together a little package that the family doesn’t get to see. I’ll post the items here when it all comes together.

Any other suggestions guys?
 
How large is the blade on the knife you want to send? I'm currently in Afghanistan right now, and they have blade length limits posted limiting us on the knives we can send through the postal service. I've not tried to mail any large fixed blades home, but I seem to remember the limit being like a 6" blade. It's night time right now, but I will try to remember and double check tomorrow while I'm out. Of course, if it's an issue, your local post office will let you know. Just curious, but what base or FOB is he stationed at?

Edited to add: In regards to the special magazines or movies you may want to sneak in the package, just be advised porn is against General Order #1 over here. He could get in trouble if caught with it. If course, just like alcohol, there's plenty of it over here. Just make sure if you put some in his box that he knows not to open in around any of his superiors... ;)
 
Medic1210 said:
just be advised porn is against General Order #1 over here
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Roger that. In Bosnia and Kosovo GO #1 pretty much only covered booze, porn and pork were A-OK. That was about the only plus the Balkans had going for it.
 
It’s just outside Kandahar, but I don’t know the regions very well.
 
Although ARCENT postal regulations don't prohibit mailing or receiving knives with blades over 6 inches in length, that is the way it is interpreted by the clerks. A knife that has a blade over 6 inches in length can and probably will be confiscated. I know this because my budddy ordered a couple of knives and one got confiscated. The BK-2 was still in the box, but the BK-9 had been confiscated. All he got in that box was a photocopy of an xray of the package, a black and white photo of the BK-9 next to a ruler and a letter telling him why it was confiscated and what he could do next (give them an address in the US to ship to). Keep blade length under 6 inches and you shouldn't have a problem. Like Nuke41 said, make sure you fill out a customs form.
 
Yeah, that's the Helmand Province. It's pretty rough down in that area. Tell him to stay safe.
 
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