The USPS and Esbit [Archive]

BookBurner

06-20-2005, 08:48

Has anyone had any experience successfully mailing solid stove fuel to "General Delivery c/o (Hiker)" after designating the box with the requisite "Consumer Commodity ORM-D" label? My specific concern is that the USPS won't deliver "Flammable Solids" to General Delivery. I'll find myself in quite a pickle if all my maildrops get intercepted by Big Brother at USPS HQ!

-- BookBurner
www.enlightenedthruhiker.com

Jaybird

06-20-2005, 09:12

BookBurner

06-20-2005, 09:46

Frosty

06-20-2005, 14:43

I'm looking to ship Esbit tablets which are classified as a Division 4.1 Flammable Solid. They can be shipped via surface transportation as long as the packaging complies with USPS Packaging Instructions 4A. My specific concern is the general delivery address. In today's day and age, will the USPS allow hazardous material to be shipped to a non-specific delivery address?

-- BookBurner
www.enlightenedthruhiker.comNot sure what Jaybird is talking about, but Esbit tabs can be shipped via USPS. Unfortunately, I don't know about the General Delivery Question. Common sense says that if you can ship to a PO Box, you ought to be able to ship Gen Del. But common sense doesn't always apply.

Best bet is to check with the specific Post Office, to make sure that your local one will send them and the destination PO will accept them. A couple phone calls should do it.

Footslogger

06-20-2005, 14:45

YOU CANNOT SHIP FUEL CANNISTERS THRU THE MAIL!:D=========================================== ===
Not true. Can't speak for Esbit, since I've never inquired to tried to mail it anywhere. Howerver, if properly marked the USPS will accept and ship boxes containing propane/butane cannisters. I have personal experience with this.

'Slogger
AT 2003

tlbj6142

06-20-2005, 15:15

YOU CANNOT SHIP FUEL CANNISTERS THRU THE MAIL!Not ture. Check out our Canister Fuel FAQ for details. I would be willing to bet the same pubs52 applies to solid fuel as well.

pvtmorriscsa

06-22-2005, 14:16

Actually I took a box of esbits to the post office, and asked the fella at the counter. He looked at the box, read all the warnings on it, and told me that it would be no problem.

I got two maildrops, including esbits before my knees went out, and I had to throw in the towel for the season.

BookBurner

06-22-2005, 15:51

I just dropped the Esbit tablets off at the post office and the clerk took them after asking surprisingly few questions. So as long as no one flags them during the distribution chain between Atlanta and Denver, I should be all right. The paranoid lawyer in me though, still thinks something is bound to go awry. If it does, I guess I'll earn my trailname all over again!

-- BookBurner
www.enlightenedthruhiker.com

sliderule

06-22-2005, 16:39

this topic has been discussed recently....

BUT, never-the-less...you can try to get around the system...(w/ the USPS)...but the "BLACK & WHITE" facts are:....

YOU CANNOT SHIP FUEL CANNISTERS THRU THE MAIL!

NUFF SAID! :DExcerpt from USPS Pub 52:

"The following are examples of mailable gases:
a. Butane. Butane (UN1011) and Receptacles, small (UN2037) with butane or butane mixtures are Division 2.1 flammable gases. Butane gases that can qualify as ORM-D materials are acceptable only in domestic mail via surface transportation when properly prepared under 342.3 and Packaging Instruction 2A in Appendix C."

tlbj6142

06-22-2005, 17:10

So as long as no one flags them during the distribution chain between Atlanta and Denver, I should be all right.Be aware that not all PO accept General Delivery packages unless the recipient has a "General Delivery Account" setup with that particular PO. I was told by my local PM that they do not accept General Delivery packages unless an account is setup prior to the package's arrival.

Obviously, the PO along the AT don't have this policy, otherwise we'd have some very angry hikers.

BookBurner

06-22-2005, 18:34

Well, I learn something new every day! Thanks for the tip. According to the USPS, not all post offices are set up for general delivery. But you can call them and they will tell you what P.O.'s in the area you are visiting are. If a P.O. is set up for general delivery, you do not have to set up an account but only provide a photo I.D. in order to recover your maildrop.

Man, venture off the AT and it feels like you're reinventing the wheel all over again!

-- BookBurner
www.enlightenedthruhiker.com

neo

06-22-2005, 19:27

a 3.5oz canister will last me 10 days cooking 2 times a day in my jet boil
so i will pick up a new one when needed at local outfitters along trail
so if i carry a 7 oz canister i am good for a 2 and a half week section hike no problem,i tried esbit and alcohol,not my cup of tea,but they do have a cult following:cool: neo

Sierra Echo

02-17-2011, 22:39

People ship their pee and poo through the mail, so why not fuel?

beartripper

02-17-2011, 23:40

A large city Post Office with multiple facilities, stations, is when it is normallly available at only one facility. The POM 843.1 states, "Place mail endorsed with "Transient, To be called for General Delivery,' or similar words in the general delivery case for delivery to the addressee on presentation of identification. Inbound foreign-originated articles can be endorsed "poste Restante" (French for "General Delivery")

mweinstone

02-18-2011, 09:48

esbit may have been laughed at alot in its life. but we all know its one of the strings that connects us to the old days. waiting for water to warm slower than sterno has its benefitts. it allows us to reflect on our youth and its accosiated non impatience.

swjohnsey

02-18-2011, 17:52

No one will check what is in your box. Unless it blows up in route you are O.K., regardless.

Sierra Echo

02-18-2011, 17:57

No one will check what is in your box. Unless it blows up in route you are O.K., regardless.

Now I have to disagree there. Its all in how you ship it. If you ship a big box "media mail" the post office has the right to open it up and inspect it. It would however take a postal inspector to open a priority, and then they would have to have good cause.
Bah hahahhahahaaa, we got a package in that was shaking and humming, so our station manager called the OIG and an inspector came out and opened it. There was a girly device of solitary pleasure in there that somehow switched on. They called that woman and made her come get it! :D

Sierra Echo

02-18-2011, 17:58

Now I have to disagree there. Its all in how you ship it. If you ship a big box "media mail" the post office has the right to open it up and inspect it. It would however take a postal inspector to open a priority, and then they would have to have good cause.
Bah hahahhahahaaa, we got a package in that was shaking and humming, so our station manager called the OIG and an inspector came out and opened it. There was a girly device of solitary pleasure in there that somehow switched on. They called that woman and made her come get it! :D

I said that wrong. The post office has the right to open all media mail, but if its a large box they are more apt to open it because people try to sneak things through.

WalkinHome

02-20-2011, 10:57

I did it throughout my hike in 2000, 8 mail drops and multiple bump boxes. No problem as long as it is marked correctly as posted in the first post. The key difference between Esbit and canisters et al is that the USPS does not consider them "explosive". Flammable yes, (many things are) explosive no. I think when I read up on this it also classified alcohol the same way. I am pretty sure that Esbit is way more available around the trail than it was in 2000. Buying a batch from Campmor kept the price reasonable though but then you factor in postage and hassle....who knows but I had my fuel LOL. Have a safe hike.