White Gas vs. Plastic…. who will win?

[R K]

Does any one know if white gas will eat thru a plastic container such as a coke or gatorade bottle? If not it seems to make sense that you could carry extra fuel for a stove for much less weight than in an aluminum fuel bottle and just take one small aluminum fuel bottle for the stove and refill it as you go.

Thank you,
Roy

[Rick Dreher]

I can’t find any examples of PET plastic containers being used for packaging petroleum products, so I’d guess they’re not compatible. Portable gasoline cans seem to be made of HDPE, maybe look for an appropriate container made of that material? Whatever you choose, make sure it has a sturdy leaktight cap. White gas has a fairly high vapor pressure.

[R K]

Rick,

I think you are right Rick. After I left my last post i set up an unofficial experiment with a coke bottle and some white gas. I have left it outside and shake it around a few timew a day to simulate it sloshing around in a pack. It has only been two days and i can see a sorta of thick liquid forming at the bottom (assuming it is eaten plastic). It is strange because after i shake the bottle the gas looks very cloudy but when left to settle the gas separates from the liquid at the bottom sorta like the way oil separates from water. I wonder how long until the bottle fails. I suppose only time will tell.

[Al Shaver]

2oz. automobile engine oil bottles (rinsed thouroughly with white gas)will hold 1 quart of white gas, will go from sea level to 10,000′ without leaking and many have a transparent strip graduated by ml. so that you can easily see how much fuel you have left. Using these for fuel storage you only need to take one small, 3oz.(if you use the pump as your bottle cap) aluminum 11fl.oz. fuel bottle to pressurize for cooking and just refill it as needed from your lightweight storage bottle(s).

[STEVEN DURGO]

Fernando Grajales runs a guide service on Aconcagua in Argentina. He routinely uses 2 and 3 litre soda bottles to ferry white gas to ABC and above. I have personally had no problems using a 16/20/24 oz bottle as the “reserve”container” fro my MSR Dragonfly

[Roger Caffin]

I don’t trust petrol for stoves any more – too many near accidents over the years. I have used kero a lot in the more recent past, lowlands and alpine.
I have left kero in PET soda bottles for months at a time in food drops on long distance hikes. No problems at all.
PET is rather inert.

These days I use propane/butane gas – infinitely easier and lighter and more effective.

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