The plotter at work took 36″ rolls of paper. Inside the roll, like inside a roll of a paper towels, was a tube. Instead of being heavy cardboard, it was corrugated plastic. Kind of like those political campaign and “Lose 30 pounds in 30 days” signs, but in a cylinder. It impressed me by how stiff it was for its lightweight.
Lightweight but removable end cap can be obtained by sweet-talking someone at a plumbing or electrical supply. Threaded pipe and conduit come with plastic covers to protect the threads and keep foreign materials out. Sometimes, they are also a good fit for some other tube, if the diameters match.
But, yeah, those things are particularly fragile. Find something in your kit to serve as a padding envelope. The tube I was describing would be great as a UL eyeglasses case.