[pct-l] Cooking with Gas

[plongton at pacbell.net (Paul Longton)]

For anyone who would be interested in having the compressed Isobutane gas (MSR's Pocket Rocket and Snow Peak's GigaPower for example) mailed in a resupply box - it is possible via US Mail. I spoke with Peggy Borne at Snow Peak (503) 697-3330 and she faxed me several pages from the Post Office Publication 52, a compilation of regulations entitled, "Hazardous, Restricted and Perishable Mail". She said she uses the pages (listed below) to mail out fuel at her local PO. She mailed fuel to Ken and Marcia Powers for their thru-hike of the PCT (and perhaps their other thru-hikes of the AT and CDT as well - I don't know). Ken (thank you Ken) had posted a somewhat cryptic identification number that should have allowed the mailing but I couldn't convince my local Postal clerks that the series of numbers and letters permits the mailing of the gas. To find the PO's regulations that permit the mailing of gas go online to the USPO website and do a search for Publication 52. 
 
The pages worth downloading (they are in an Acrobat format) are as follows:
P. 21 - Class 2 - Gases, Division 2.1 Flammable Gases (permitted by surface transportation)
P. 27 - 342 Gases (Hazard Class 2) 342.1 Definition a) - the entire paragraph
P. 28 - 342.22 Mailable Gases, c) Propane - the entire paragraph
P. 30 - 342.3 Packaging, c) Flammable Gases - the entire paragraph
P. 184 -  A page showing the above information in a matrix. The line to highlight is that of "Petroleum Gases, Liquefied or Liquified Petroleum Gases".
 
In a nutshell what is permitted is the mailing of one original manufacturer's container of 1-liter or less. It must be boxed by itself inside a second box. It can only be sent via domestic ground transportation (that means only within the 48 states). Written on the box must the letters ORM-D (Other Regulated Material - Domestic) and "Ground Transportation Only". This must be written in large (1-1/2" tall), bold (black felt tip) letters.
 
When I showed the above pages to my local PO clerks there was agreement that these regulations do indeed allow the mailing of the gas.

 
Peggy, at Snow Peak, said that they (Snow Peak) would mail the fuel if given the addresses, dates and an open credit card. The cost would be the cost of the fuel plus $6 shipping and handling.
 
Hope this helps anyone thinking of "Cooking with Gas". Paul