Safest Fuel for Alcohol Stove??

Everclear.

2nd choice: Kleenstrip Green (not the regular)

Isopropyl is the worst.

Lot of threads on this if you want details, but the consensus seems to be (IIRC): highest percentage of ethyl:methyl you can find is best (HEET is 100% methyl); isopropyl sucks as a stove fuel; weird, undisclosed stuff is used to "denature" ethyl alcohol in the US; if you want 100% safety (and live in a state that sells it), go with Everclear (which is multi-use).

I've been using "Ace" branded denatured alcohol, labeled for shellac thinner and stove fuel. I checked the MSDS once–seems like it was 90% ethyl, but I could be mis-remembering. 50-50 ethyl:methyl seems more common.

Just don't huff it if you're worried–same advice that applies to white gas.

Edit: Just re-checked the MSDS on Ace alcohol–I was wrong, it is the 50-50 stuff. So I think I'll be buying Klean Strip Green next time.

Daniel,

I use Everclear when I can despite the cost.

I recently came across another option. The ISO-Clean Stove – for use with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. It sells for $24.95 and is made of stainless steel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi687Kw-FOA&feature=youtu.be

Here is the link to their website.

http://flatcatgear.com/page2.php

Scroll down three quarters of the way down the page.

This stove has my curiosity piqued. I can still see myself using an alcohol stove with a much less toxic and / or expensive fuel.

The video mentions that you'll have to fab your own pot stand but that shouldn't be such a difficult thing to do. I'm thinking some stainless steel hardware cloth formed into a circle, cut to the right height and inserted into the stove itself.

Check it out as a possible option for a less toxic alcohol fueled stove.

BTW I have no vested interest in Flat Cat Gear other than I may soon become a customer of theirs. ;-)

Party On,

Newton

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/alcohol_fuels_part_one.html

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/alcohol_fuels_part_two

Heh, I check Daniel's location to see if he can find the everclear … Kentucky! Home free. (I have a stash of pure ethanol, but being in California, I have to shepherd it until I can get out to Arizona for the everclear.)

Everclear 190 is not available in California: Everclear 151 is readily available and works fine. It does cost ~$18 a bottle. Best regards –Jon

Good excuse for a trip to Montana (they have the 190 proof). Goes great a little powdered sports drink. I prefer a nice Scotch whiskey, but I'm NOT putting that in a stove :) It is spendy as fuel, but gets points for multiple purpose, right?

We have the good everclear in Kentucky. We Kentuckians never saw a hard liquor we didn't like, but you can't buy it on Sunday. Just be careful; it's more potent than moonshine.

Imagine my surprise when they shipped 2 bottles to my front door.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=21091&skip_to_post=441262#441262

I recently was testing my new Backcountry Boiler II with the Kleenstrip SLX alcohol. I noticed I had a headache the rest of the day. I am sure that was mostly due to my being too close while it was burning and not being in a well vented area (was testing indoors in my kitchen).

Fortunately my local retailer carries 190 proof Everclear. Going to pick up a liter of that will plan to use that going forward.

Extra cost is well worth the preference to be safe from more toxic fumes.

dihydrogen monoxide is by far the safest thing to pour into your stove.

I use 91% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol (the highest percentage I could find in a drugstore) in my plain old 50 cent Fancy Feast cat can stove. It gets the water boiling, and creates some soot, but not more than a wood fire. It's multi-purpose with first aid properties. I started using it because it was cheap, easily available, and seemed (from my highly unscientific perspective) to be less toxic than something like HEET. I don't know if it is, but it works for me.

Are there downsides to rubbing alcohol that I'm not mentioning?

Is it really "cleaner" than other alternatives except for Everclear?

Newton, I was intrigued by your post of the stainless steel isopropyl stove because I haven't had a problem with rubbing alcohol in my cat can. EDIT: I looked at their website–their stove burns rubbing alcohol without any soot.

Am I missing something? (probably!)

Note that I am a relatively recent convert to alcohol stoves and have only used it about a half dozen times in the field.

Anyone know if you can buy it in the following locations:

Spain, France, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand?

Greg, check out the links that Anna provided above…

Thanks Gary and Anna. Eye opening (from the first article):
"IPA is a nasty unhealthy fuel, either in the pure state or as a blend. You should avoid it completely."
I guess I hadn't noticed the fumes because I've been using the stove in very ventilated areas. But I'm sure I'm still breathing the stuff.

Just curious- how many of you wear respirators and rubber gloves while putting gas in your tanks? Do any of you work on your own cars? Come into contact with used motor oil? How about household cleaners? Drive down the freeway or just live in urban areas? I probably inhaled a years worth of sniffing burning stoves in the 2 or 3 miles I drove down the highway following a few cars behind this 1972 Chevy 4wd gross polluting pickup. I even had my windows up and the a/c on recirculate. The smell of raw gasoline inside my car was overwhelming.

I mean, with the amounts of chronic exposures to harmful chemicals we deal with in our day to day lives, it really seems to me that occasional contact with some form of stove fuel or another is a rather trivial matter. Just don't stiff the bottle or run the stove without adequate ventilation and quit worrying.

I grew up in a blue collar work environment. I was a mechanic for a while (both automotive and over the road trucks), eventually moving on to welding and fabricating. I've spent hours with my hand immersed in gasoline or diesel fuel as a teen (using it as a solvent to clean car parts, using gas was a bit stupid, I'll admit that, diesel is a lot safer) and breathed welding fumes for 10hrs a day for many years. For about the first 10yrs of my adult life my hands were permanently stained black from grease and grime. Only when I was on vacation for at least a week were my hands finally clean. This exposure to harmful chemicals is commonplace to anyone working in many blue collar trades. I've had a handful of jobs and no company I worked for did any more than the absolute minimum required by law to protect their workers. I'm now doing white collar work most of the time, and my exposure to chemicals is way reduced, but I still have to get my hands dirty when testing / building prototypes.

I like alcohol for these main reasons- #1) it's water soluble. If you have an accidental fire, it's easily doused with water, unlike white gas. #2) it evaporates clean w/o damaging gear or clothing if spilled in your pack, unlike white gas. #3) it's cheap. If you've got grade school arts and craft skills, in a couple of hours you can have a light, efficient, complete cooking kit for under $20 (assuming you have the tools on hand- push pin, hole punch, scissors, etc.) using a kmart or walmart grease pot, or an imusa mug. I don't have any experience with canister stoves. They just seem to expensive to justify the minor increase in convenience and safety. I admit knocking over a lit alky stove is a far more likely scenario than blowing up a fuel canister, which is one reason I stay away from unstable stoves in the first place. IMO, any setup where you balance your pot on top of a narrow stove is an accident waiting to happen.

Sorry for the rant- and the run on sentence in the first paragraph…

BM

But how are you going to light it? Esp. with UL equipment!

When I’ve burned alcohol out doors (typically regular SLX or HEET), I have felt no ill effects. Seems pretty clean burning and fairly safe.

When I’ve done repeated tests indoors with SLX, I have gotten a headache. Not such a good idea to repeatedly expose oneself to that. Outdoors though? I think you’d be fine with SLX or HEET.

HJ
Adventures In Stoving

SLX will cause headaches only when the stove has insufficient oxygen. That could happen with a variety of stoves that claim the ability to simmer. Depends on the original design also. It could come from the manufacturer improperly designed.

Many alcohol stoves produce relatively high levels of carbon monoxide. Using one indoors is not a good idea.
CO will give you headaches. If you're getting headaches testing stoves with limited ventilation, STOP and go outside.

"Just curious- how many of you wear respirators and rubber gloves while putting gas in your tanks? Do any of you work on your own cars? Come into contact with used motor oil? How about household cleaners? Drive down the freeway or just live in urban areas? I probably inhaled a years worth of sniffing burning stoves in the 2 or 3 miles I drove down the highway following a few cars behind this 1972 Chevy 4wd gross polluting pickup. I even had my windows up and the a/c on recirculate. The smell of raw gasoline inside my car was overwhelming.

I mean, with the amounts of chronic exposures to harmful chemicals we deal with in our day to day lives, it really seems to me that occasional contact with some form of stove fuel or another is a rather trivial matter. Just don't stiff the bottle or run the stove without adequate ventilation and quit worrying."

I try and avoid those harmful chemicals as much as possible and take precautions when I can't. Everyone can and will do what they want, of course, so I'm not going to change anyone's mind, I'm sure. That doesn't mean what they're doing isn't harmful or at least potentially so. Me, I take precautions whenever possible. When I'm working on my cars and truck, I wear Nitrile gloves. I'm surprised when people don't. I just came in from trying to chase down a fuel leak on my truck. Slipped the gloves off and not only are my hands clean, they don't stink like diesel. Those days of working on a vehicle and scrubbing my hands for 30 minutes are long gone for me. No chemical contact either.

Methanol is seriously nasty stuff. WAY worse than gas or diesel. If you breathe it at all, you will get a headache. I wondered if the pain is your brain cells dying (I'm just guessing, I'm not a doctor). I worked with large amounts a lot for years making bio-diesel. The system was in a 3 sided pole barn so open on one side and exposed to the prevailing winds. Not only did I still take it outside to work with it, I held my breath whenever I was exposed to it. You need a high end respirator to deal with it. Masks and cheap respirators don't provide protection for it. If you don't mind being exposed to it, knock yourself out. Not me. I can make more money. I can't make new brain cells. I'll spring for Everclear. If you can't get it, the ESX Green seems like it might be the best alternative. I believe it is 90% ethanol.

For those who test stoves inside, a word of caution. A guy on the bio-diesel forums had his system installed in a second home on his property. Not a guest house, a full size house. A fire started when he was testing waste vegetable oil for water content. The house was destroyed and the insurance company refused to pay. I have no idea if that would apply when testing an alky stove inside, but why take a chance? Insurance companies look for any reason not to pay. Why give them one?

Daniel, get a subscription and read the articles Anna posted- those articles alone are worth a years subscription. They answer your questions about all the fuels you listed and clear up some of the "opinions" on this thread.

Good post, Randy! I'll also add this: Toxins are ubiquitous. No way to eliminate our exposure….but there are 100's of ways to minimize them.

I didn't think this would attract so many responses. Thanks for all of your input. I read Anna's post as well as all of yours. I will definitely not be using my Denatured Alcohol anymore and it looks like I'm going to have to pick up some good ol' Kentucky Everclear.

Everclear seemed like the best option for me because I can pack extra and drink what I don't burn! :)