Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

My question is pretty straight-forward and is the subject. After a long wait my Einsteins (and a boatload of accessories) finally shipped, except for 86" PLMs. I am trying to figure out cases for my storage and transport, so both the weight and dimensions are important. Thanks in advance for anyone who takes the time to find this out for me.

The 86" PLM comes in a large poster-type cardboard tube with plastic friction-fit endcaps. Because the umbrella struts do not seem extremely sturdy and resistant to possible damage if put in a crush of steel stands and tripods, I would recommend keeping them in the tubes for storage and transport, unless you have something better. I will put the cardboard tubes into a large hard plastic tubular stand case for serious transport. The tubes are 4" in diameter and 45" long. They weigh 5lbs. each, with the PLM's inside, excluding the speedring "cage" gizmos which are packaged separately.

Hope that answers your question.

It's very helpful, thanks!

I tend to travel using Pelican hard cases, so at most the crush weight would be the 20-30lbs of other stuff in the case. To Paul C. Buff employees: Is there a chance the struts were tested for any type of stress that could give me a rough idea of what they could tolerate?

They are much stronger than standard umbrella parts. What sort of stress do you expect to put on them? If you drive a truck over them you'll probably have a problem :D

Let's say packed loose along with most likely 30lbs of other light modifiers/stands in a hard case. By loose I mean without a protective tubes (adds weight!), but packed so there wouldn't be too much shifting during transport.

Worst case scenario packed with up to 80lbs of the same. I am trying to travel Southwest more now that other airlines baggage policies have gone ridiculous and their overweight fee is identical to their extra bag fee ($50). So, it's $50 for up to 50lbs either way, and one less bag is generally easier to deal with.

Continuing on this tangent, Delta is now $125 for the third bag, and $175 for bags weighing 71-100lbs! I spent less than that combined $300 to ship everything I ordered from Paul C. Buff.

P.S. Paul I want to point out your customer service is the #1 reason I waited over 3 months for my order versus purchasing from a competitor. A special mention goes to Vicki for the always straight answers to my emails when I was continuously asking for updates on when my order might ship and making sure other details were correct. Give that woman a raise, or at least a heartfelt thank you!

If you take the same care as any other umbrella, you will not have any problems. The ribs and struts are fiberglass, and I have not seen any broken ones, unlike standard umbrellas that are prone to bending and breaking. With enough force, anything will break. For flying, i would recommend a rigid case, as Wylie Coyote could be on the same flight and the luggage handlers will drop his anvil on your soft cased PLM's.