How to Pack Kettlebells

A Weighty Proposition

Down in the basement, a pile of big and small weight-lifting plates. In the garage, a collection of nails and screws, and wrenches and assorted tools we barely even recognize. Out back, stacks of patio bricks left over from last year’s home-improvement project.

Dense, heavy stuff. And it all has to go.

No problem. You know exactly what to do.

The heaviest stuff – books and magazines and papers – go in book boxes. But this stuff is heavier than the heaviest stuff. So they go…in book boxes.

True, filling up a book box with bricks is a bad idea for two reasons. One, that’s going to be one heavy carton. And two, sturdy as that cardboard might be, it can only stand up to so much weight before it starts crumpling and splitting at the seams.

But a half-full carton isn’t our best bet either. That wasted empty space allows for things to move and bounce and shift.

We could fill out our half box of bricks with lighter items – if there are any lying around. Or we can simply fill up our carton by cutting it down to size.

Slicing the vertical edges of our book carton allows us to easily fold down the sides, overlapping them to create a smaller carton that is manageable and dense (meaning the contents – those bricks or hand tools or weight plates – won’t be shifting around in transit).

Plus, since we’ll want to keep this carton on the floor, the fact that it is smaller now gives us more options for packing it safely underneath that short-legged desk or that shorter-legged armoire or that big upholstered easy chair.

An extra advantage to cutting your carton down like this is that it gives your box a multi-layered top, which, along with proper taping, can bear a lot more weight than a typical flaps-folded-and-taped carton. Just turn your cut-down carton upside-down – as long as the bricks, tools or weights are packed well, your dense, heavy box should be more than ready for the trip.

___
Kettlebell photo credit: Andrew Malone