Fuel for Soldiers

[slikdzigns]

Hey everyone, Merry Christmas!

I represent a group of Soldiers with Nitro Trucks and Truggies that are clean and shiny! Disgusting, I know!

Anyway, we bought our trucks thinking that fuel wasn't going to be an issue, but apparently people treat is as if it were Gasoline. We've tried everything to get fuel out to us here in Iraq, but no one will help us out. I've emailed Distributors, Hobby shops all over the place and even emailed the people at Traxxas only to get "We can't help you." Thanks Traxxas, you're awesome!

We've had talk with DHL and they want $800 in HAZ fees. 800 bucks is a lot of money! We are willing to pay Haz fees, don't get us wrong but $800 is pretty hefty. Before we resort to having to go with Electric, we figured we'd keep trying a little longer.

I've been in talks with Hobby Shops in Kuwait and Dubai, but we still don't have a shipper. If anyone can help us resolve this fuel issue, we would be very greatful. At this point, we're willing to sneak it into the postal system in fabric softener bottles. If anyone knows of any distributors or shipping companies that can help us get fuel from Kuwait or anywhere else in the WORLD to us, please email me at [email protected], our cars just keep getting cleaner!

- Merry Christmas!

 

[Rolex]

Merry Christmas to you and all your buddies over there. We'll do whatever we can to help you out.
Check out this thread:

https://www.rcnitrotalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65016&highlight=Operation:+Iraqi+Nitro+Fuel

 

[revo_rob_1984]

I am more than willing to help and if need be i will personally send the stuff to you

 

[Scrogg]

Me too, you won't get any Traxxas fuel from me though. I'll buy a couple gallons of good race fuel. I will stick it in a fabric softener bottle if you think the dogs won't hit on it. I'm assuming they use dogs....
I did a measly 3 months in Iraq in the USAF. I know we had it great compared to the other branches, but it was still a very trying time for all of us candy asses! I'm more than glad to help out. If their is a forum group effort, I'll pitch in.
i suggest we send some Trinity MHP 25% and a variety of medium hot plugs such the O.D. purples and reds, also some short O.S. plugs. That should run fine in all r/c's with no problems. Hope nobody needs Turbo plugs!

 

[revo_rob_1984]

Me too, you won't get any Traxxas fuel from me though. I'll buy a couple gallons of good race fuel. I will stick it in a fabric softener bottle if you think the dogs won't hit on it. I'm assuming they use dogs....
I did a measly 3 months in Iraq in the USAF. I know we had it great compared to the other branches, but it was still a very trying time for all of us candy asses! I'm more than glad to help out. If their is a forum group effort, I'll pitch in.
i suggest we send some Trinity MHP 25% and a variety of medium hot plugs such the O.D. purples and reds, also some short O.S. plugs. That should run fine in all r/c's with no problems. Hope nobody needs Turbo plugs!

Like i said i'm in

 

[tpc]

I'm in if i can help. If you guys put something together, I would love to contribute. I will check with someone tomorrow that i do alot of work for the troops, he might have a idea how to ship to them cheeper. We are always sending things over, smaller things but he has alot of contacts. We have actualy sent 300 cell phones over this year.

 

[moe7404]

can you convert to diesel? if i remember right the military has some diesel around.

 

[Scrogg]

can you convert to diesel? if i remember right the military has some diesel around.

Blasphemy!!!

 

[slikdzigns]

Everyone

After reading Rolex's post, I'm excited about getting some fuel out here. I'm going to try to coordinate with the PX to see if they can bring some in, and If anyone is willing to give it a shot, I'll accept CPT vKrk's idea about repackaging the fuel.

According to him, the Post Office says that anything labeled NITRO will NOT be shipped, but if you label the fuel as "Castor oil" or "Hobby Supplies" than it pushes right through the system. If anyone is willing to give thios a shot just let me know and I'll shoot you our address. And we will reimburse you guys 100%. I have paypal so its not an issue. Thanks a lot for the feedback everyone and I look forward to tearin up some dirt as I start out on this Hobby!

 

[moe7404]

diesel

tell me scrogg if you have been using diesel for a long time, and someone suggested using nitro would that be blasphemy? but i do agree a little, its called a nitro truck for a reason. you wouldn't be leave how many people think that just cause its nitro it has to be dangerous. i had to remind my mom that if it stays in the bottle nothing can happen. not unlike a gun, if no one touches the gun nothing can happen. when you get all the shipping info tell me how to do it, ill send some.

 

[tpc]

If you want send me your address and the info i can give it a try next week.

My friend just aclled he got in touch with someone who might be able to help, And the veterans group that i work with would possibly be willing to help also. One of the bases that does alot of shipping is right near my house. So you never know if they could arrange something. I will keep everyone informed on what he gets back.

 

[cptvkirk]

If you are shipping fuel to our soldiers overseas. 1st, retighten the caps and them tape them. You will have to use shady tactics and know your post office. You could label them hobby supplies and be technically correct but you will have to lie when asked if there is anything flamable or explosive in your box..assuming they don't check. If they do check and you don't have an inside guy at the counter..then forget it. My wife sent me on gal out of a 4 gal case i ordered...then I sent the other three to myself with some other odds and ends of stuff in the same container I recieved it in but put some brown paper over the box. I did not check caps though and had a little seepage when it arrived. Another successful strategy is to repack it completely in another well sealed differently labeled container. Shippers will still have to lie when asked if its flamable but if the post office inspects the package before shipping, they will have less a problem with say, ... sno cone flavor concentrate than they would nitro fuel.

Please please please take the time to read through the operation iraqi nitro fuel thread. I took the time cover in great detail my efforts on fuel while there in hopes that no one would have to repeat the process.

can you convert to diesel? if i remember right the military has some diesel around.

If someone had an engine that size at a fair price that burned deisel instead of requiring nitro.......there would be one hell of a lot of diesel burning desert jockeys zipping around Iraq. I can get fuel now that I'm home again but I'd still make the deisel conversion just to be ready for next tour when I'm sure deisel or jp8 would never be in short supply.

 

[tpc]

My friend got back to me today. They might be able to arrange to ship the fuel out of the base. The info the base needs to take it to the next step would be, what base will it be shipped to? and they asked for pictures of the track, and any info about it. I guess what they can do is take it to the public relations dept of the base and with this info they could get clearence and the ok to ship the fuel for free to the soldiers. And the local VFW group expressed interest in maybe setting up a way that anyone could donate money to purchase the fuel, and they would handle it all. And i could check with the local shop if we could get the fuel at a good discount. I hope this helps.

 

[slikdzigns]

TPC,

We're currently at Joint Base Balad. I'm going to try and work with the PX to stock fuel. there is a track on the Air Force side, run by the USO. I'll post some pictures soon as I get a chance. My unit is looking to move to Mosul (FOB Diamondback) in a couple of months too. I don't think they have a track there, but once we get there we will be putting one up for sure. If your base can arrange a shipment let me know and I'll get you money to help you get some fuel just let me know. Thanks to you and the VFW for supporting us.

 

[moe7404]

diesel convert

to:cptvkirk there is a cat that converts nitro engines to diesel. i think its davis diesel. i dont know what the changes are. it would be fun to do one yourself.

 

[slikdzigns]

Well friends it looks like all is lost on this battle. Aside from mailing fuel with the USPS under the guise of "hobby supplies", shipping fuel from Kuwait and other places is pretty much lost. The PX tells me that stocking the stuff is no longer possible due to the troop drawdown/withdrawal, and the hobby shops I have talked to in Kuwait tell me that I would have to order 15-20 CASES of the stuff in order to offset the shipping costs. Too bad I'm not a C-17 pilot or I'd fly to kuwait myself. I've had my brother ship me two boxes each with 2 quarts of fuel. We'll see if they make it here. If that doesn't work, I might try the diesel conversion. I'll keep you guys updated. Happy New Year!

 

[pyro29123]

thanks for your willingness to stand up and fight for our country! i hope yall get everything worked out and can get your rigs dirty!!!

 

[tpc]

I have been real busy since xmas but next week will be calmer. And i can get in touch with the person at the base i am supposed to speak with. Sorry i did not get to it quicker. So keep your fingers crossed for some goos news next week. Have a safe and great new years.

 

[tpc]

Wow is it hard to talk to anyone that can help. No matter where we call i can't get an answer on how we can ship some fuel over. But i will keep trying.

 

[slikdzigns]

Wow is it hard to talk to anyone that can help. No matter where we call i can't get an answer on how we can ship some fuel over. But i will keep trying.

Update:

Looks like the only surefire way to get fuel out here is to do it through the post office, and discretely labeling the shipment as "Hobby Supplies". You wouldn't necessarily be lying, but you still take a chance of having it confiscated. I had my brother send me 2 boxes each with 2 quarts of 20% and they all made it here no problems. Some of my guys have had theirs returned, but I think it's because they had 4 quarts. The magic number for shipping seems to be 2 quarts per package. If there are any soldiers looking for answers and read this post, then I hope you have better luck than I did.

Thanks again to all the suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers that contacted tried to help us. If I ever need a 20 case order of fuel, I know exactly where to go. For our small scale needs, I think we'll just continue to abuse the Post Office. Thanks also to all the members who support what we do, and tried to help us out! I'll post some pics of my dirty truggy soon!