Farrier supply store here sells it. As well as various yards that will sell lump coal.
However they are getting harder to find.
What kind of stove did you get?
Any wood stove will work with coal, but a grate of some kind will keep the coal from getting buried in the ashes. A very even heat can be had with a grate and a very controllable (air tight) stove.
Those plastic sacks are a good coal carrier. Those sacks are tougher then needed, and conforms to the irregular shapes. Or a box, pails or what have you.
A good lump of coal is nice with a brisk night when your short on sleep. But I wouldn't use it if I believed I were up-wind the elk I wanted to hunt.
No proof of why, but coal fires are not real common. Not like wood smoke smell.
Coal gives off a real pungent odor before it cokes and burns well. Again, no proof, but I would not risk moving a drifting herd through the nite.
Good wood is a must, gold standing dead or dead leaners will make any stove sing.
Good standing dead Douglas fir is about as good as it gets in the Colorado mountains. Is there a chance your friend chose coal over marginal wood?
