First post, by pixelatedscraps
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Relocating to a new country - how do you transport your gear?
To those of you who’ve done it or considering it, what was the best option for you?
I’m based in Hong Kong and looking to get outta Dodge by moving the family to where my wife is from (Germany). But I feel my question would apply to anyone relocating countries.
Just how do you do it? What’s the safest option when transporting old hardware in bulk across several continents and the odd ocean or two?
OPTION 1:
Sea freight alongside home contents and furniture in a container
OPTION 2:
Sea freight by postal service
OPTION 3:
Air freight by postal service or courier (FedEx / DHL)
OPTION 4:
Some combination of 1-2-3 but with the most valuable items being taken onboard our one way flight to the Vaterland as excess baggage
OPTION 5:
Sell as much as possible, especially the bulkier items - my four 5970s, the six PowerBook / MacBooks, the 8 or so mid-90s, early 2000s laptops under my bed - the InWin A500 that’s part of my Ultimate 440LX Voodoo2 SLI rig - how is this fair?! I’m stopping this here---.
Assuming packing involves the following:
- antistatic ziplock-type bags
- silica gel
- bubble wrap
- potentially each item wrapped in a second, larger ziplock bag (only applicable to items going by sea freight?)
- large hard plastic shell IKEA boxes containing hitherto individual wrapped, dehumidified and sealed PCBs sealed with more silica gels and masking tape
Things to note in 2022
- International container freight charges are 600%+ more expensive than they were pre-Covid. Cost reasons imply I should pare down and get rid of as many non-essential items as possible. However, I’ve spent a good number of years and hard-earned cash building up this collection.
- Requires extremely careful packing, waterproofing and sealing
- Danger of long term exposure to humidity via sea freight
- Air freight charges are extremely high right now - at last estimate and based on DHL / FedEx fees from 2019, they're up about 200-300%.
- There is a security concern with all freight despite insurance policies, even with couriers such as DHL/FedEx
- I'm probably missing a bunch of other stuff right now but to be honest, my head is still taking everything in - the move, the future, family - the unceasing political nightmare that continues on its own absurd march here...
THE PACKING LIST
- Most items are without their original packaging
- Some items are very fragile (Yamaha amp, Technics SL1210, Yuel Beast Monument build)
- It's not a huge amount but it is quite sizeable once bubble wrapped and packed - my wife is going to ask some serious questions when she sees it all boxed up
PCs = 6
- InWin A500
- Sliger SV540
- Yuel Beast Monument
- G4 Cube x2
- Mac Pro 5,1 (optional, can be let go if necessary. They're 20kg+ beasts)
- Mac Pro 6,1
Audio
- Yamaha CA-2000 amplifier (1978?)
- Technics SL1210 MK2 gold
- JBL 4307 studio monitors x2
- KEF LSX
- Roland MA-12C
Laptops = 10
Motherboards = 8
Monitors = 2 (optional)
VGA / GPUs = 15
Soundcards = 5
HDD = 7
Big box games / OS = 12