Multifuel stove - Clean petrol alternative
 

Hello folks

We are planning a 4x4 overland trip West Africa to Cape Town 2010. We have been dabbling with cooking options and looked at gas, liquid fuels and bbq type systems (The Cobb).

I have had a 2 x person Trangia since the 80s and converted it to gas - VERY efficient system for water boiling. We then bought the multifuel burner for the Trangia and use it with Aspen 4T Alkylate Petrol. This is ultra pure, envio friendly petrol and you can buy it from many regional mower shops in the UK. Click this link here for more info.

This fuel is cheap 5L costs £13 (0.5 L of Coleman fuel costs ~£7) and lasts a long time with this kind of burner! It also stores for years (so they say) Its available in Europe and burns VERY clean - we dont have a mark on our cooking kit!! It will probably work on Coleman stoves too (I think)

Whilst it wont be available in Africa, it will certainly see us through Europe. We are testing how much we will consume over two weeks this summer when we go to Germany for a shake down test.

Worth a look if you have a multifuel burner and dont want to get headaches usings dirty / more toxic fuels. :thumbup1:

Nick
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Langebaan-sunset
Stonehenge to Cape Town 2010

The Cobb cooker is an amazing bit of kit but it does take an hour or two to cook your meal. But what meals! I've even made apple pies in mine. It'll cook a whole chicken or a joint of beef. Being able to cook "real" food in what is effectively a convection oven is great. Charcoal is the fuel used in Africa so you should be able to get it everywhere. For boiling the kettle and other quick jobs you'll need something else. I use a coleman unleaded stove but haven't used it outside Europe. It may be affected by poor quality fuel so maybe another stove would be best. I would think availability of suitable fuel is the main consideration.

Flying Doctor

Yeah - Cobb is a wicked bit of kit - it makes a mean pizza!! We are considering it mainly because we can carry it in a landy. Whilst a tad bulky, the availability of cheap charcoal makes it a great option for Africa and its pretty flexible in terms of what you can do with it.

As for the ultra pure petrol, I think its available in Europe (has various names so check the link I sent). Its suggested by Trangia (if my memory serves me well) as an alternative to White Gas.

I must admit, the range of names for petrol, green petrol, white gas / coleman fuel / naptha across Europe & ROW can be confusing. This link is a good one for some indepth research on fuel types for back packing like stoves. If you are traveling light and want to look at options - this site and some of its links is a good place to start.

Hey Nick and Vicky,

I have researched the same thing with the same plan and came up with this solution:

The Cobb WILL NOT STAY AT HOME!

For boiling water etc. I have an MSR Multi Fuel stove. (Mountain mail order in CT sells them) It is super fast and super efficient. I use Benzine as fuel and when on a trip use about 500ml of fuel per week. This includes the od pasta and many cups of coffee and tea. Benzine is clean, has almost no odor, evaporates so fast that even if you spill a little, it is no issue at all. It is also very cheap and you can get it all over Africa. Metheolated spirits would be my no 2 option and then Unleaded fuel if I need to. But let's face it... At 500ml a week, it's not that hard to carry a month's supply in you Landy...