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Camping Equipment and all Clothing Tents, sleeping bags, stoves etc. Riding clothing, boots, helmets, what to wear when not riding, etc.
Photo by Danielle Murdoch, riding to Uganda - Kenya border

The only impossible journey
is the one
you never begin

Photo by Danielle Murdoch,
riding to Uganda - Kenya border




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  #1  
Old 4 May 2012
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Trangia, how easy is it to get methylated spirit

I have always used a trangia camping cooker. but as this system relies on meths i'm wondering about other peoples experience of finding meths further afield i.e out of europe?
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  #2  
Old 4 May 2012
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In the USA you may need stock up when you can. But there are fuels that will burn in the stove and are easy to find.

"Meths" are also known as methanol, methyl alcohol, wood alcohol or wood spirits ch3oh. So you may need to look under other names. You can try hardware stores in the paint area.

In the USA we have "HEET" (in the yellow bottle) it has methyl alcohol 99% at about $1 to $3 for 12oz. or 355mL. It can be found in the automotive area in shops and at many gas stations.

As that may be hard to find you can use other alcohols In the USA isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) is found in many stores in the first aid area you want the 90% stuff easy to find 70% is a bit poor to use.

There is a Primus gas burner that will fit the trangia stove. Amazon.com: Trangia Gas Burner 2012: Sports & Outdoors
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Old 5 May 2012
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When I was in the States I used de-natured alcohol in my little meths stove. I picked it up in hardware stores in the paint section. I was going to use HEET but you can't find it in the southern states as it's a fuel line antifreeze. Not something that's a big seller in AZ/CA I guess! One problem with meths is it doesn't like altitude. On some of my campsites in the mountains it took ages to boil water.

Invest in a Coleman 533 petrol stove it works everywhere and you always have fuel in the bike.
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Old 9 May 2012
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Hi bud,

We used a trangia and getting meths east of croatia was a mission. As people use it as a cheap substatite to drinking alcohol we could only find it with the help of some of our doctor friends...
Get a petrol cooker, if you use it a lot it'll save you a lot of hassle.
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  #5  
Old 18 May 2012
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Here are some of the international names for camp stove fuel .

International Fuel Names

The list should give you a clue what to ask for .

In Canada a good fuel is methyl hydrate [ methanol ] which is more pleasant to use than methylated spirits . It has no dye and is odourless .
Sold as diesel fuel line antifreeze it's in most gas stations and hardware stores .
The products of combustion are CO2 AND H20 .

Gasoline stoves are not so ''clean'' and will burn to release many toxic chemicals , if you cook a lot over such a stove you may want to consider what is in the air you are breathing and the food you are eating .
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Old 18 May 2012
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At the bottom of this web page there is a pretty good description of many of the options available in the USA. Most of these are available almost everywhere, including at WalMart.
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  #7  
Old 22 Sep 2012
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I have to admit, I have a stove/cooker fetish. I have far too many for my own good, far more than I need, of all different types/fuels.
One of my favourites (for reasons I won't go into right now) is the Swedish Military Trangia. I have two, one Alu and one S/S. This model runs on meths, no problem getting the stuff in UK but when travelling can be real pain in the arse to find. Failed miserably in Lithuania just recently, successful in Sweden.

If you ask me the best option out of all of them for practicality, reliability, availability (of fuel).......Coleman Petrol stove. If the SHTF, that is the one I would pack to ride off to the hills with.
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Old 2 Oct 2012
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I've not had a problem getting meths or similar in the EU when travelling. Just show them the burner and make the hand jestures re cooking and most hardware / garage / chemists come up with the goods. Further afield it is more of a problem, and i carry a Optimus Nova with trangia adapter to burn anything available.
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Old 29 Oct 2012
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using meths

IMHO meths is not worth it:-
>poor in windy conditions (slow)
>poor at altitude (slow)
>poor in the cold (slow)
>can be difficult to find
>burner has low heat output (slow)
>very important - meths has HALF the heat in it compared to kero or
gasoline so you must carry double the qty for the same duration

kero is smelly, available most anywhere, but hot
gasoline is on the bike in unlimited amounts, also smelly, but hot
gas is convenient, clean, and quick, not available everywhere, relatively expensive, but hot

Trangia stoves do have excellent wind protection but I'd only use it with the gas adapter. I'll stick with gasoline or gas depending on the trip.
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Old 3 Nov 2012
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We were told that we would not get meths in southern Africa but found that was not the case. It is readily available in local shops and garages. The locals use it a lot for lighting in bush areas.

Margaret
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  #11  
Old 23 Nov 2012
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We took a meths stove out to Canada with us the first time and really struggled to get fuel for it to start with as no one seemed to know what we were on about. One place sold us some coleman fuel saying that it was definitely the right stuff - 2ft high flames from a trangia was a bit exciting !

We did find one place that pointed us the direction of a hardware store, I can't remember what it was called now (it was over 6 years ago now) other than it wasn't meths, it was clear and it was with the the paintbrush cleaning fluids.
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Old 23 Nov 2012
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I know this is a little off topic but what the hell...

I find it difficult to comprehend why any bike travellers don't use stoves which run on the fuel they will ALWAYS have on tap (literally).

PETROL !!

Colemans
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  #13  
Old 23 Nov 2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris S View Post
We did find one place that pointed us the direction of a hardware store, I can't remember what it was called now (it was over 6 years ago now) other than it wasn't meths, it was clear and it was with the the paintbrush cleaning fluids.
This was probably "denatured alcohol" this is basically meths without the purple dye. It works just fine. This is what I used in my meths stove when I was in the States. You can also use "Heet" fuel line de-icer, it's in a yellow bottle and you can get it at the gas station or Walmart.




Strangely, I couldn't find this in Arizona and California!
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Old 23 Nov 2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyingdoctor View Post
This was probably "denatured alcohol" this is basically meths without the purple dye. It works just fine. This is what I used in my meths stove when I was in the States. You can also use "Heet" fuel line de-icer, it's in a yellow bottle and you can get it at the gas station or Walmart.




Strangely, I couldn't find this in Arizona and California!

That sounds like it

That's good to know about the de-icer.
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  #15  
Old 25 Nov 2012
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List of fuel in different countries

Hi,

Trangia provide on their website a list of names for meths/alcohol fuel used in different countries. Here is the link.


http://www.trangia.se/core/files/nam...uel_120621.pdf
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