To be honest I would love it but shipping that thing over here would have me a nervous wreck and I am trying to save money at the moment... just dumped a ton of money this month on laser related purchases. I'm sure loads of people are in the same boat as me.
Yeah I'm not so sure about shipping a hollow glass tube overseas... but I do have enough bubble wrap and a fitting box for it if you wanted to buy it
The tube is roughly 13.5" of clear glass, 4" of cathode metal so 17.5" total (roughly). The bore inside is frosted glass so it's not a clear view of the plasma but the entire bore glows. See my avatar to the left, the cathode is on the far side of the tube in the shot :beer:
It's frosted because it's a wide bore to help make it easier on the eyes to look at. And it's measured mirror to mirror. So yeah around 18" sounds right. Mine is 20"... And honestly if they're packed properly, they're pretty tough, especially if the tube is in a head.
USPS actually has a box that is perfect for sending this particular tube. It's a triangular prism shaped box which I believe was designed to send schematic tubes. I got my hene green tube sent in one and with the proper wrap( that paper like foam around the tube and bubble wrap everywhere you can fit it) around it, it survived with zero issues.