Originally Posted by
markf
Wal-Mart carries a pretty good selection of canisters, including small Coleman canisters that will fit a Snow Peak or MSR stove.
Don't count on this. WalMart does not stock the same items in all regions. We found that WalMart did not carry canisters in the middle of the US. We didn't see a source for isobutane canisters from Pueblo all the way to Virginia. We looked in WalMarts, sporting goods stores, general stores, minimarts, and so on. We think we passed a store in Carbondale IL that had them, but they were closed when we passed through. This was in 2007, but I doubt that the situation has changed.
The canisters were readily available in the West.
You can ship isobutane fuel to yourself or have someone at home do it for you via ground mail (domestic mail only). The package must have the following label attached on the address side of the package:
"Surface Mail Only
Consumer commodity
ORM-D"
In any case getting stuff at post offices via general delivery is a great tool if you have someone at home to ship for you or you can ship to yourself. Just remember they will hold for 30 days, but you can stop at any post office and ask them to forward it to a different post office, buying you another 30 days.