you can mail order small amounts, but I don't know what kind of hassle you have to go through. I was actually thinking how dangerous that the local hardware store was with their carbide, it was in an open bag next to the nails. It is used in manufacturing acetylene, there was a period where acetylene was in short supply because the plant that makes it had an explosion. I think someone was driving around in the rain with a container that wasn't water tight. Acetylene explosions are no joke, we had one when I was at Trek that shook the building. Turned out someone had made a mistake that filled a 8 oz. container with acetylene.