Shipping radiocarbon samples from the scientist to the laboratories involves packaging and wrapping them with all sorts of bags and materials to make sure the samples arrive safely. Over the years a variety of possible and impossible package materials have arrived at our laboratory, causing problems occasionally but often being the highlight of the day cheering up the people involved. The reality of excavating important, occasionally unexpected, samples during field work sometimes includes taking samples when time is short or package materials could not be prepared. At this point, any kind of package becomes useful. Things like cigarette packets, reused office packets, tissue boxes, or medical packaging can become handy. But sometimes samples are taken, wrapped in aluminum foil, and forgotten in the desks. This article celebrates creativity, giving an overview of the many ways samples can be packed. However, using some of the less-than-ideal choices, drawbacks will be shown and possible problems explained.

Radiocarbon observations (Δ14C) in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of seawater provide useful information about ocean carbon cycling and ocean circulation. To deliver high-quality observations, the Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics (LIP) at ETH-Zurich developed a new simplified method allowing the rapid analysis of radiocarbon in DIC of small seawater samples, which is continually assessed by following internal quality controls. However, a comparison with externally produced 14C measurements to better establish an equivalency between methods was still missing. Here, we make the first intercomparison with the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (NOSAMS) facility based on 14 duplicate seawater samples collected in 2020. We also compare with prior deep-water observations from the 1970s to 1990s. The results show a very good agreement in both comparisons. The mean Δ14C of 12 duplicate samples measured by LIP and NOSAMS were statistically identical within one sigma uncertainty while two other duplicate samples agreed within two sigma. Based on this small number of duplicate samples, LIP values appear to be slightly lower than the NOSAMS values, but more measurements will be needed for confirmation. We also comment on storage and preservation techniques used in this study, including the freezing of samples collected in foil bags.