Safest Fuel for Alcohol Stove??

[Randy Nelson]

Just don't drink it straight! It goes well with some powdered Gatorade, though. :) Travis said that he uses a 190 proof alcohol called Volkov which is cheaper than Everclear. I haven't seen it here in Colorado yet but maybe they have it where you live.

[Hikin’ Jim]

Supposedly, the following brands are cheaper than Everclear: Diesel, Golden Grain, and Clear Spring. I'm sure there are other brands.

Um, not that I'm an expert on cheap liquor you understand.

HJ
Adventures In Stoving

[John Donewar]

Hic!

;-)

Party On,

Newton

[James R]

Everclear 190 – nothing bad added, just pure grain alcohol.

Methylated spirits is good (I’ve used the generic version from the hardware store or from MEC, and also “bioflame” which is same thing under a different brand name up here in Canada – purchased at Canadian Tire). Wash your hands if it gets on your skin.

Two best articles to further your knowledge (that I’ve come across):

http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm

and

https://www.canadianoutdoorequipment.com/videos/fuels-for-trangia-alcohol-stoves.html

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

hand sanitizer – typically 70% ethanol

[David Thomas]

“hand sanitizer – typically 70% ethanol”

My fishing buddy works in a clinic with an abuse-prone population.  They had to take the alcohol hand-sanitizer dispensers down because some clients were treating them as serve-self shot dispensers.  Apparently, it is essentially non-denatured ethanol – not any or not enough IPA to give a sufficiently bitter taste nor other off-putting ingredients.

I always look for the highest concentration for backpacking use so there is more multi-use potential as a stove fuel and as a fire starter.  I’ve found some 73%.  More of it is low 60’s.

Germ-X  63%
Purell  70%

Clorox  Active Ingredient: Ethyl Alcohol 71%, Inactive Ingredients: glycerin, glycerol monolaureate, isopropanol and purified water.

Note that many of those “inactive” ingredients are also flammable with heats of combustion (BTU/pound) that would contribute to stove output.

Methanol: 8,570 BTU/Pound
Ethanol: 12,412 (hence more ethanol is more weight efficient AND far less toxic than methanol).
Isopropanol: 13,092
Glycerin: 7,758

Versus butane and propane at 21,200 and 21,000 BTU/pound.

[Bob Moulder]

I’d use just about anything in a pinch, although denatured alcohol (methylated spirits… marine stove fuel) is my standard.

Funny thing, I’d always heard that isopropanol leaves soot but I tried some red Heet in a Fancee Feest stove (Zelph’s wick version) and had no problems whatsoever, and the BTU boost was quite noticeable. I used it on the trail only… I’m sure someone has tested to quantify this boost.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Bob

Oh, it burns – and usually emits some rather ‘nice’ toxic emissions.
See our 2-part series on alcohol stoves:
https://backpackinglight.com/alcohol_fuels_part_one/
https://backpackinglight.com/alcohol_fuels_part_two/
The stuff gave Tony Beasley a very bad headache.

Cheers

[Bob Moulder]

I used it outside in a pretty good breeze so no worries. Indoors testing with this is out of the question for sure, as well as operating in a tent vestibule or shelter.

I remember reading how it is sometimes cut with water to reduce sootiness, which is why I was surprised how well it did in pure form in the FF.

And I also realize there are isopropyl-specific stoves ‘out there’.

PS to add: That was some damn-fine testing and reporting in those articles! Especially for a graph lover.

 

[Gary Dunckel]

“hand sanitizer – typically 70% ethanol”

Then you can squirt out half of it and fill it back up with Everclear, which bumps up the ethanol percentage to over 80%.  It of course gets less viscous, but not completely liquid. A few drops of this makes a fine “fire starter” to get your Esbit tab lit.

[DAN-Y]

 A few drops of this makes a fine “fire starter” to get your Esbit tab lit.

Oh the benefits of using esbit 

 

[DAN-Y]

Bob, the FF and the Venom Super stove have the ability to burn isopropyl cleanly/efficiently by reducing the height of the pot support by 1/4″  The stoves were designed with emergency use in mind so they could burn kerosene if need be. I dislike the smell of burning iso worse than opening a package of esbit 

[Ben C]

Everclear is definitely a nice multipurpose item.  I have found that it doesn’t burn as cleanly or as efficiently as denatured alcohol.  I think adding a few drops of water in the field helps it burn better.  Afew drops of water also makes it easier to drink.

[Jeff LaMarca]

You can buy “alcohol fuel” sold under brands like Smart Fuel or American Ethanol. The MSDS says it’s over 90% ethanol, 5-9% isopropyl alcohol, and the remainder is some kind of bad flavoring agent used in place of methanol. It costs about $10 per liter.

[JVD]

@Jeff LaMarca. Thanks for the tip. On paper it looks good. Have you tried this in an alcohol stove yet?

[Roger Caffin]

That ‘alcohol fuel’ sounds very much like ordinary Australian ‘metho’, only I think the latter may have some methyl alcohol in it along with something which tastes awful.

Cheers

[JVD]

Anyone have experience using this?

[Author]

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