[pct-l] Mailing Fuel Canisters

[tom aterno]

Anna and I went to the post office yesterday to mail her first resupply package.  Yeah!  Only 25 more to go, most of which I will be handling.
 
While waiting in line at the PO, I asked a clerk if small iso-butane fuel canisters can be mailed - the 4 oz kind.  She said nothing flammable can be mailed.  I said that hikers do it all the time.  She disappeared, I assumed because this was too hard of a problem to solve (there is my pessimism rising it ugly head again).  To my surprise, she came back a second time (the line was very long) and repeated that nothing flammable can be mailed.  I suggested that she should read regulation 601.10 (I felt so knowledgable) and that canisters of the 4 ox size or less can be shipped by ground transportation with an ORM-D sticker on the box.  She huffed off, and she seemed determined to prove me wrong.  She came back a third time (kudos to her for her persistance and I told you the line was very long) and said that a coworker corrected her, showing her the paragraph in 601.10 to which we were referring.  Yes, flammable canisters of size 4 oz or less
 can be mailed using ground transportation.  She also said that clerks in the Bixby Knolls PO have the ORM-D stickers.  Problem solved.
 
Needless to say, Anna and I were relieved to have finally found a PO employee that has her facts straight.  So, it's off to REI tonight to buy enough canisters for a thru hike.  
 
Thanks to all on this list who provided the information we needed.
 
 
The Incredible Bulk