Most ready available fuel source in Latin America

[Anonymous]

Hi. Me again. I must be famous on this website by now! :-P

So I went through every single one of the discussions I have initiated, but I still have a few questions playing in my mind, so I thought I'd ask them, hoping not to tick anybody off (Cameron aside of course…).
Time is ticking and I need to start making decisions… :-)

I'm going to post them on this forum's category one by one (they are only 4 really).

People who have travelled in most of Latin America, can you please tell me what is the most readily available fuel source there amongst these:

Gas canisters
White gas/naptha
Denatured alcohol
Rubbing alcohol

Cheers,
Alex

P.S. Avoid suggesting multi-fuel stoves. They are just too heavy. Thanks!

[Franco Darioli]

Quick tip.
Rubbing alcohol can be made with 70% (OK) to 90% (very good) ethanol or about the same with isopropanol , not so good…

[William F]

What do you mean by gas canisters? Butane? If you just mean gasoline then yes it is widely available, butane canisters for stoves not so much (only in major cities in my experience and they are expensive and rare). White gas I'm not really sure, never used it and never looked for it. Denatured alcohol is widely available but is usually homemade/distilled (maybe different in Mexico idk) so water content tends to be high and burn efficiency suffers (though it worked in my pepsi can stove, just not very well). Rubbing alcohol as Franco mentions comes in 70% or 90%, I saw a lot of 70% in Colombia but never 90% (maybe I wasn't looking very hard though). I had to find an almost pure alcohol for a shellac finish on a guitar I had made and it was very hard to find; I ended up finding some from a violin maker who also used shellac finishes.

I think all the info you need for a stove choice is already in the other thread you started a few days ago. Go with either an alcohol/wood burning stove like the Ti-Tri from Trail Designs or buy an MSR International; I believe that was the consensus. Don't make this too hard on yourself, you should be spending your time planning out where you want to go (without that plan the idea of choosing gear simply does not make sense). I think you'd be totally fine without a stove myself but you seem set on getting one…

[Anonymous]

For gas canisters I mean pre-pressurized gases' canisters: isobutane and propane.

[Max Dilthey]

Get an MSR Whisperlite International:

http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/simple-cooking/whisperlite-international-2012/product

It runs on gasoline, white gas, and kerosene.

[Dan Yeruski]

At my website there are links to everything :-))))

http://fuel.papo-art.com/

Argentina
writes…. (Nov 1999)
Came across your web information sheet while doing some research for our next long distance bicycle tour. We just completed Argentina to Alaska and can provide you with some fuel information regarding some of the countries you had listed in question. We use a Trangia so are more aware of alcohol availability than other things, but will try to give other fuels where we know.
Argentina, Chile, Boliva, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Belize and Mexico:
Meths is called 'alcohol' (pronounced al-col) or alcohol pura (somtimes alcohol de quemar)
In Argentina and Chile it can be found in Farmacias, but ask for 96% (96 grado) or you will end up with a 70% mixture. In smaller villages you could always find it in the biggest (or only) shop, though often in tiny bottles.
In Bolivia and Peru you can find it in pharmacies no problem. Also, can check in liquor stores, though less common.
In Ecuador you need to go to paint stores with your own container. They keep it in big drums and simply top up your bottle.
In Colombia the pharmacies carry both 70 and 96%, the 70 being much more common. It can be frustrating finding 96%, but if you perservere you will find.
In Belize you can find it in Ace hardware stores as Denatured alcohol.
In Mexico it really varies, depending on the state. On the Yucatan you can buy it in some grocery stores as Alcohol Pura, a drinking alcohol from cane, that is 96%. In Chiapas it is very hard to find. All their alcohols seem to be 70% grade or below. In the other states north of Chiapas you can find it sometimes in pharmacies (though watch out for the grade) and in liquor stores, again alcohol pura, but ask for 96%. They also sometimes have a stand on a street that sells only alcohol pura at 96%. If you ask around, particularly at hardware or paint stores they will usually direct you.
Generally if the pharmacies don't carry the right grade, ask in hardware or paint stores we found that someone there always knew where to find it
writes…. (Jan 2007)
I tried in the past to contact the site owner and couldn't, as Doron, to have an answer. At that time I wanted to add in the column 3 the name for Argentina: solvente or, less common, bencina.
Also I'd like to make some comments:
1. for Argentina the comments on alcohol are right if methanol and ethanol are both included because "alcohol de quemar" is methanol, while alcohol or alcohol puro is normally the name for ethanol.
2. The names are not necessarily the same in the countries described. In all of South American countries the language is spanish but with little differences. As example in Chile de diesel fue is called diesel but in Argentina we call it gas-oil; they call alway bencina the coleman fuel, we call solvente; we call nafta the car fuel and they call it bencina but if you say nafta in Chile they will understand. And so on. The names are fine for Argentina, but not sure for other SA countries
3. Kerosene, or kerosén or querosene or querosén is Ok.
Regards,
Juan
writes…. (Sep 2009)
I have been in Ecuador for over 3 weeks now and have looked all over for white gas. I could not find it, but instead used lighter fluid. This works ok, but is very expensive as cooking fuel:
Komet brand,USD 4.50 / 100 mL, Available from Case de Los Deportes, San Gregorio 115-5 y Avenida 10 de Agosto, Quito Keep up the good work! Neil
(Additional update :) )
The fuel I was talking about (white gas) is fuel number 3. Maybe you could remove ´Ecuador´ from the table , as I tried for a whole month to find it.
I am in Peru and can find bencina (column 3) everywhere!
Cheers, Neil

[Author]

Posts