Denatured Alcohol Banned in California

I should also just add that the fact that yellow HEET bottles come in 12oz bottles (versus the typical 32oz cans of denatured alcohol), means that they are much more practical for a typical 5-7 day resupply as is found on most long distance hikes.

During my wife and I’s thru hike of the PCT several years ago, I frequently found myself buying yellow HEET in town even when I could source denatured alcohol.

Why?

Well, I could pay $4 for the HEET and use the entire bottle of it during the next stretch of trail, or I could pay $8-$10 for the denatured alcohol and have 2/3rds of the can left to dispose of or, if I was lucky enough to find a hiker box, I could leave it in there.

Add to this the fact that I could typically find yellow HEET in the same grocery store that I was using for my food resupply, so one less stop to make and therefore less time/energy spent hitching/walking around town, and you have a clear winner.

It usually ended up being more hassle than it was worth to get the can of denatured alcohol over the yellow HEET bottle.

Obviously these same factors don’t apply as much to someone staging for their hike at home, but still I would wager that a decent proportion of those using alcohol stoves are using them for longer distance hikes, so I don’t think the resupply factor is irrelevant to the conversation.

Of course in an ideal world we would have the option to choose.  (Sigh)

You can’t buy any kind of ammo in CA if you are not a resident. And residents have to have REAL ID and pay extra to get a permit first. Last time I heard the DOJ web site was down so even residents are not able to purchase.

Learn to reload while you can. (and perhaps how to distill for your backpacking stoves).

I have to give CA65 warnings for fabric gear I make when I add a 2″ square of vinyl as a reinforcement piece.

https://www.turners.com/info/buying-ammo-in-california

“A beautiful state does not mean it’s government is always making good choices. Or do you all really not see the difference..”

Nice left jab! But the calculus on this one is pretty simple…I’d rather surf in CA than shoot lead bullets and burn denatured alcohol in NV.  California still lets people leave, right?  If it ever gets too unbearable, I’ll take my politics someplace welcome like MT ; )

California still lets people leave, right?

 

+1

All are free to leave….or not come at all!

And California contributes far more to the federal coffers than many states put together – something to be considered especially now when many states, counties, cities are under tremendous fiscal pressure.

We are all in this together! Best to act as such.

Oh sure, now that you Californiacs have done your best to ruin Oregon and Washington, you don’t want anyone coming to your state. Figures….

Doug,

You know you can come visit us, for as long as you like, when you want.

75% of Californians came to California to make their money then leave.  Nothing wrong with that .  Some stay.  Some leave.  Nothing wrong with that.

“You know you can come visit us, for as long as you like, when you want.”

Can’t wait til it’s permissible Nick, we need to get Peter and do a trip.

75% of Californians came to California to make their money then leave. Nothing wrong with that . Some stay. Some leave.

True dat!

However, 100% of all that come in to this world *will* end up leaving – make money or not! :)

*No one* has the option to stay on for ever……

Something about death…..and taxes…..

True dat right back atcha.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we have plenty of Heet.  Good to go for long time.  Yinz need some, come over

My Walmart has Heet for $1.46 and I think I’ve seen it for sale in store even cheeper.  Home Depot has it down the street for $1.98.

I haven’t thru-hiked the PCT, but echo @dmusashe about the 12 oz size.  I have a flip top lid that fits it perfectly and makes it easy to fill a 4 oz or 8  oz bottle for shorter trips.

Heet’s easy availability saved me when I left said 8 oz bottle in the garage.  Why do they sell gaseline anti-freeze at SoCal gas stations?  I can only assume it’s for backpackers like me who realize they forgot their denatured alcohol at home.

Record low temperatures for January, February, and March at selected locations in Southern California.

Simi Valley: 20 F, 23 F, 25 F

Redlands: 18 F, 25 F, 28 F

Mojave: 10 F, 16 F, 17 F

Victorville: 9 F, 16 F, 18 F

Idyllwild: 1 F, 4 F, 3 F

Big Bear Lake: -25 F, -10 F, -8 F

Even if you don’t live in those places year-round, you might visit and need HEET.

— Rex

Personally I would never use Heet because it is methanol and highly toxic to touch, breathe and consume.

I’ve been bingeing on Jon Fong’s YouTube videos about clean-burning propanol stoves and will be working on some designs in the hope of switching over.

Bonus: more heat energy per gram than ethanol or methanol (approx. megajoules/liter: propanol = 24, ethanol = 20, methanol = 16)

Weird how sometimes I can edit a post and sometimes not, like that last one.

Should have said “yellow Heet because it is methanol”

From my understanding, you have a 5-minute window in which to edit posts. After 5 minutes you can no longer edit.

My , what seems to now be limited info, is that yellow Heet is ok.  The red Heet is not to be used due to toxicity.

HEET Yellow bottle – basically methanol with some additives

HEET Red bottle – basically isopropyl alcohol (98.5%)

https://www.imperialsupplies.com/sds-pdf/_s/ds/0055120_SDS.pdf

@regis101: I think that’s backwards. I just checked online, and the yellow Heet bottle says “contains methyl alcohol” but the red Heet bottle says “iso-Heet” and “contains isopropyl alcohol.”

@jonfong: +1 – your post came in while I was typing mine to regis101

Copy. Noted.

Back to the drawing board it seems.  I keep thinking the red bottle is for FI fuel systems .  It has additives that make it more toxic than the yellow bottle.  I’m cornfuzed now

99boulders has a nice write up.

I’m going to step away from this thread due to not having the proper education to contribute effectively.  I will however be attentive to additional info.   Thanks

Using lead ammo at ranges presents a serious problem of lead poisoning for people who work at the ranges and are exposed to a lot morethan the casual shooter over time.  They had to close and decontaminate a shooting range up here after a couple of employees developed lead poisoning.  Just sayin’…..

Tom, was that at an indoor or outdoor range? FWIW, that is one of the reasons I only go to outdoor ranges.

I was once an EPA-approved lead exposure risk assessor.

Yeah, indoor ranges are worse than outdoor ranges but there’s fine particulate lead being generated at both, especially unjacketed lead bullets.  Some indoor ranges, for quite a while, haven’t allowed unjacketed bullets.

An outdoor range would be less exposure on days you’re shooting with the wind instead of into it.

When I’ve been inspecting military bases, their indoor ranges have significant air-handling equipment and outdoor filtration of the exhausted air.

My brother once worked at the Chabot Rifle Range above Lake Chabot in the East Bay.  His job was to manually place the clay pigeon in the self-cocking but not self-loading trap thrower.  He applied for a credit card at that time and in the occupation box, put “Guided Missile Technician”.

In some of Los Angeles’ more crowded outdoor ranges, I wouldn’t be surprised if close to half a ton of lead was getting put into the mountainside on a busy day, with who knows how much of it becoming particulate matter.

Both ranges I’m thinking of are in the hills of major watersheds.

And then the rains come…

It’s a good thing we got rid of lead bullets here. Besides, they’re not ultralight!