Thanks for the video, very informative. Yup, already know about Trangia, but nice to see all its uses explained and that too with a good Scottish accent

So only question is, how easy is it to find fuel for these alcohol stoves in developing countries? Is it available in hardware stores? auto stores?

And is it possible to burn petrol in these stoves or will it not ignite the same way as alcohol?

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J A Y | Riding a 98 Suzuki DR650
Current ride thru Latin Am and Africa > Jammin thru the Global South

doesnt have to be meths ive run mine on vodka, schnapps and brandy before in emergencies. an american mate uses a panel wipe liquid found in auto stores but i dont know what it is. you can use petrol, the stove burns it ok if a bit sooty, but it can give the food a bad taste sometimes and ventilation from the fumes must be very good, so the health issues need serious thought IMO its not worth it.

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dave

a 'light weight' traveller cooks ?!?!!? what kind of light weight are you?

so, we need a new pigeon-hole.. 'super light weight'.... no cooking paraphernalia.

i asked my yankee mate about that stuff and its called HEET, some sort of methyl alcohol or something used as fuel line water remover or antifreeze or something, available for pennies in 99% of US gas stations

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dave

It's methyl hydrate ,also known as methanol,wood alcohol,carbinol ,colonial spirit etc .

It will dissolve water in fuel and is very useful therefore to clean out carb float bowls and petrol tanks of water contamination .I give my bikes a shot of it on a regular basis .

Don't be tempted to drink it ,it's the kind of alcohol that causes blindness.

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Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

Sorry mate I was on about the can stoves not your bush ! in fact I like the look of your bush buddy and am very interested in one too

I used an alcohol burner on a trip around Arizona and California last year and strangely I couldn't find any HEET in the dry states. I don't think there's much call for fuel line de-icer! However it ran on de-natured alcohol from hardware stores, found in the paint section. It was almost useless at altitude but I got by. You need to make sure that your windbreak is close fitting to the pan. I made one from some disposable foil trays from Walmart, they cost next to nothing.

I used one of these, nicely made but not cheap...



I imagine that you could find de-natured alcohol in SA but petrol has to be the way to go.

I use a Storm Kettle or Kelly Kettle.

Lightweight aluminium, and everything packs within the main chamber.

Boils 2 pints of water within 3 minutes.

Fueled by anything that can be burnt....twigs/grass/paper/coal/pine cones/animal dung....just scavenge stuff where you camp.

Lakeland Bushcraft Trading Limited Kelly Kettles

Attached Images

 

I think I've tried most of these:

Hexamine: Stove in a matchbox, but once you had your go that's it until you find a camping store. Needs warming to work in the cold but easy enough to put in an inside pocket for ten minutes. Back up only for me.

Coke can: Small & cheap but slow, doesn't work with cold fuel and doesn't use bike fuel. Useful if I don't intend to camp but might if the pub is good enough to make a bivvy bag look attractive.

Swedish army Triangia: More expensive but faster and very well designed. Still won't work in the cold (bet the Swedish squadies loved that!) but the best use of space for solo summer trips.

Kelly kettle: Quick enough, works anywhere you can get dry wood (or use hexamine), nice to sit round, but a bit bulky, messy and illegal if forrest ranger type chaps aren't getting any at home. A first class winter back up.

MSR: Totally overpriced but othewise the dogs doo-dahs.

Optimus: Ditto and you just open the lid and cook.

My current use set up is an Optimus Korean army issue (half size Optimus in a box type) with a tommy cooker hexamine thing as back up for winter. In summer (two people) I use the full size optimus with the Kelly kettle as back up/brew up/nice to sit by option.

About the only stove type I don't have is a gas canister type. These seem to combine every single bad feature (they freeze, they can be slow, the fuel can be impossible to find, they leak) for the single advantage that you just turn the tap, light and cook.

Andy

I had an "anorak moment" and tried out my Swedish Army Trangia at -31c .
It managed to boil 500ml of water in 12 minutes .[But the water and alcohol were at about 10c before I put the mess kit outside and lit it .]
They will work in the cold as long as you can keep the alcohol warm [put the burner in your pocket etc].

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Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

My burner has a really typical government issue lid with a thread like a jam jar. I keep it flat in the pannier. Still, probably no more dangerous than draining petrol from the tank while wearing gloves.

Playing to decide which one for the Elefant (I took an MSR before, it worked well), I got just over 1/2 pint (300 ml?, it's enough to fill my mug) to boil in:

Triangia - 9 minutes (I made myself a lid)
Kelly Kettle- 7 minutes burning totally dry, hard wood
Optimus full size - 3 minutes
Optimus half size - 4 minutes
Benghazi bucket (sand and petrol in a paint can, more a desert expedient) - 5 minutes
Hexamine (2 tablets) - 12 minutes, lit using lighter fluid on a day it was above freezing so no need to preheat.

Honestly nothing in it, I just prefer the ease of the petrol stove. I'd guess if you included the time from where you decide to have a cuppa to the point where you actually have it in your hand the petrol stoves will be a lot quicker, or maybe it just seems that way because my fuel tanks etc. are set up to make it that way.

The problem I forgot to mention with petrol stoves is of course that some modern unleadeds soot the jet like crazy. I had a batch of Esso in Wales that wouldn't burn for long enough to boil half a pint, but the bike didn't like it either.

Andy

Agreed ,there's not much in it , alcohol would be my 1st choice because it's cleaner and doesn't smell ,I have been told the civilian Trangia burners are more efficient and I will give one a try sometime .

The Beghazi burner has great kudos .

I tried an Optimus 8R in the same -31c conditions .[It does not have a pump and relies on the heat of the burner to pressurise the tank ].
It didn't generate enough heat to self-pressurise and the flame died .
Obviously if I bought a pump it would be fine ,but as they are about $45 I'm not in a rush to buy one AND I don't intend to go motorcycle camping at -30c !
Enjoy the Elephant Rally [ -10c will be like a summer's day - bloody luxury !]

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Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

If you're into woodburning, you should check out the HUGE long thread on Hammock Forums : Your Number One Hammock Community where there's loads of ideas and you could also try the Everythingnice stove, plans for which you can find HERE.

I've made the latter and it burns very well for something made of old coffee cans.

The great thing is because you're using scrap you can have a few goes, and it's not really costing you anything.

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I just got a Fire Spout collapsible wood-burning stove.

I tried it back to back with my Primus Omnifuel in the reviews section.

In a nutshell, I'm really pleased with it and if you want a woodburner for travelling, it's worth serious consideration. It is very compact: imagine an A5 booklet about 30-40 pages thick and that is how much space it takes once flattened: easy to slip down the back of a pannier or topbox.

That is it's biggest asset IMO. However, this thread is for the lightweight traveller and there it's on it's back foot at 0.8kgs: less than all my Primus bumpf together but then the Primus burns many fuels.

Not as cheap as the DIY options but very nicely made. If you want a woodburner, can live with the weight, and value the space it's a great piece of kit: starting a fire in crappy conditions should be a lot easier.

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Yep, spot on.

We've been using ours for zillion times throughout many years and it's really bomb-proof, indestructible really. Works even in extreme winds. Good up for feeding 3 people.



Costs nothing (especially compared to Trangia trademarked set) to buy it and you can get alcohol anywhere - we've found on this RTW trip that methanol is particulary cheap in third world (in Latin America you can find it in food stores, it is called "alcohol etilico"). In developed world the key words when you go looking for it in a construction/paint department seem to be "denatured alcohol" or "methyl hydrate". Do not try it with rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol (sold in pharmacies), it might explode.

Ride safe, Margus