Protection - Where's the foam?

The most common questions asked by all who see a Tuffpak® for the first time are "Where's the foam? How are my firearms going to be protected? What keeps them from rattling around inside?" The Tuffpak® does not come with any foam or dividers inside the case. Padding and protection are provided for each firearm individually by its own soft case. Dividers would restrict your packing options. Everyone is taking a soft case on their trip. The outfitter or guide will usually ask that you have one available for each firearm so the hard cases can be left at the base camp or similar location. Until now we've been folding the soft cases up and trying to find a place for them in another piece of luggage. What a waste of space! The clothes sure don't need the padding. With the Tuffpak®, you use the padding and protection that the soft cases afford in the initial shipment. Think about it. Instead of gluing the foam to the inside of a hard case, you wrap the foam around your firearm in the form of a soft bag. A soft bag you were going to take anyway!

We recommend that you use a regular soft case with standard 1" thick (or greater) foam sides and that you do not leave more than 2" of side to side free space in the case. That's all there is to it.

Most people have the misconception that you need to pack the Tuffpak® so tight that nothing will budge inside. This misguided procedure will actually reduce the margin of safety for your firearms. To increase margin of safety for your firearms it would be beneficial to look at why firearms get damaged in cases and avoid these conditions whenever possible.

The forces that damage a firearm during shipping come from impacts and shock. A good firearms transportation case should minimize the amount of impact or shock that your firearm experiences during the trip.

In an attempt to give the traveling sportsman a sense of security, some metal case manufacturers have included straps inside to lash down your firearm. The problem with this is that it prevents the firearm from moving in relationship to the outside of the case. The amount of G-force a case experiences is directly related to a calculation of acceleration divided by time. The firearm and the case, if accelerated (or decelerated) the same amount over the same period of time, will experience the exact same G-force or shock! Worse yet is the fact that all of that energy is focused at the point where the firearm is lashed down. Several people who have used that type of case tell us they've wound up with broken stocks even though there was very little damage noticed on the outside of the case.

The foam in a case protects the contents by extending the time over which the contents are accelerated. This happens as the foam compresses. Ideally the weight of the contents is distributed evenly across the surface area of the foam. This is exactly what will happen when you have a foam-lined soft bag completely surrounding your firearm. If, however, the Tuffpak® is packed so tightly that the contents will not budge, you've actually "pre-compressed" the foam in the soft bags and reduced the foams ability to absorb the energy of an impact. A little free play inside (1"-2") between the cases is just fine.

There are also real world testimonials as to the effectiveness of the Tuffpak® for safely transporting firearms. Dieter Krieghoff, founder and chairman of Krieghoff International, recently told us that he's been using two Tuffpaks® for a year now. He puts five of his custom rifles and shot guns (in their soft cases) in each case and can safely transport 10 firearms, worth over $200,000, in two Tuffpaks®. He told us he even ships them UPS this way and has never had a problem. He likes them so much he just ordered three more. Joe Coogan, editor and writer for Petersen's Hunting Magazine, recently completed an Alaskan Dall Sheep hunt and wrote us when he got back. "As always, the Tuffpak® protected all of my scoped rifles against the rigors of wilderness travel and the roughest treatment of all - airline baggage handlers."

Tuffpak® = Protection = Alternative To Packing That "Extra" Foam