[pct-l] Mailing Fuel Canisters

[Bill Burge]

The 8oz ones can be shipped the same way.

The 4oz limit is on non-metal containers.  If the canister is metal,  
then up to 1 liter.


They make the document hard to find, so here's the link:
http://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm300/601.htm#wp1064962

Pertinent sections:

Exhibit 10.4 Class 2:

Which will refer you to:

10.12.2 Mailability
Gases are prohibited in international mail. Toxic gases in Division  
2.3 are prohibited in domestic mail. Flammable gases in Division 2.1  
are prohibited in domestic mail via air transportation, but are  
permitted via surface transportation if the material can qualify as an  
ORM-D material and meet the standards in10.12.3 and 10.12.4.  
Nonflammable gases in Division 2.2 are generally permitted in the  
domestic mail via air or surface transportation if the material can  
qualify as an ORM-D material and meet the standards in 10.12.3  
and10.12.4.

Which will refer you to:

10.12.3 Container
An other-than-metal primary receptacle containing a mailable gas may  
be acceptable if the water capacity of the primary receptacle is 4  
fluid ounces (7.22 cubic inches) or less per mailpiece and the primary  
receptacle meets 49 CFR requirements. Mailable nonflammable and  
flammable compressed gases are acceptable in metal primary receptacles  
that have a water capacity up to 33.8 fluid ounces (1 liter or 61.0  
cubic inches), depending on their internal pressure.

And viola!  You can ship either (or both) sizes of containers, as long  
as the total capacity, per shipment, does not exceed - 1 liter.  So, 8  
little ones OR 4 bigger ones OR 4 little and 2 big OR ...

BillB



On Apr 13, 2010, at 9:11 AM, tom aterno wrote:

> 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
>
>
>
>
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