How do you get isobutane canisters delivered?

REI stopped shipping fuel for canister stoves.

I'm moving overseas to a location served by a Fleet Post Office. Does anyone know a vendor who can/will ship?

If not, does anyone know a manufacturer who will ship me a case of the the canisters?

I'm ok with the slow boat route rather than shipping by air (I understand why they don't want to put these in the hold of an airliner) but I'd still like to be able to run my stove on the other end.

I understand that federal US regulations prohibit shipping fuel canisters by air--they have to go ground only. AS you know, that might be a problem if you're overseas! In your case, consult with the military who undoubtedly have their own peculiar rules (my experience--eldest son in the Air Force for 28 years).

Check for local suppliers first, once you get there (presumably you won't be backpacking while you're on a ship! ) Since all fuel canisters are made in Asia and have a valve that meets EU specifications, you should be able to find them most places in the world.

If there is no local source, you might want to invest in one of those MSR stoves that work for all fuels. Heavier, but kerosene is available everywhere.

Out of curiosity, if you can reveal it, where are you going? We love trip reports from exotic locations!

Bahrain. I hear the hiking in Oman is awesome.

Go to mgear.com (Mountain Gear) and search "fuel canisters." I didn't try placing them in my cart, but they showed case lots of MSR and Snow Peak canisters for sale, so I assume they will ship.

Awesome, thank you Glenn.

I think the critical factor is what's going to happen once the mail is turned over to the FPO. It may all go by air after that. That's why I suggested contacting the appropriate Navy authorities.

I'll look back at some old reports on Oregonhikers.org. There's one person there who has filed several trip reports from that part of the world. If I can find them, I'll send the URLs! I know at least one was in Yemen, possibly not a great place to go right now.

Oh man, I really hope you post some trip reports with pictures.

Out of curiosity, do you know any Arabic? Don't think I have time or patience for it, but it'd be pretty sweet to learn Arabic, Hebrew, and a few other mid east languages.

I tried on the trip reports, but everything was Kyrgistan (?-sp.), Vietnam, Africa and Yemen. The first three are rather far removed from Bahrein, and the Yemen trip reports are 5 or more years old, before the current unpleasantness there.

I also tried googling shipping of items to FPO/APO addresses. It does appear that, as I suspected, once the US Mail turns over the stuff to the APO/FPO distribution points in the US, everything normally goes by air. You'll have to find out if it's possible to arrange surface shipping. Quite a few US firms, as my son found out during his 4 years in Germany, won't ship to APO/FPO addresses. I also suspect that in Bahrein, unlike Germany, you won't find the canisters on the local economy. I hope I'm wrong!

If the worst comes to worst, as I mentioned, you can order the MSR Whisperlite Universal or International, or other stove that takes kerosene. Perhaps you can find a less expensive kerosene-burning stove on the economy there.

Sorry, this hasn't been a good day for finding something favorable for you!

Having zero experience with overseas travel (OK, I've been to Vancouver once, but I'm not sure that counts), I've got to wonder: what about alcohol stoves? Would that be a fuel that would be readily available on the local economy?

OM - thank you. That's what I feared, but thank you. I'll talk with the exchange and the post office when I get there, and with the other scout leaders.

Glen, Bahrain is more liberal than most of the Gulf states, and alcohol is available. It is also one of the homes of dhow building, which implies the availability of those sorts of supplies - including denatured alcohol. We'll have to see.

I have a MSR dragonfly stove, so I should be able to run that off of petrol after I read the directions and make sure I'm doing it right. However, the isobutane stoves are so much nicer to be around than the dragonfly - it sounds like a jet engine or a still running - and I didn't understand why I couldn't get ground/sea shipping over FPO. Fortunately, OM figured that out (THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THAT).

If I get any hikes worth passing back, I will, but I think that the worthwhile ones will be in different countries. Yemen is off the list, unfortunately, but Oman, Jordan, and Kenya are all possible. We'll see.

Thank you very much for the feedback.