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?

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

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.

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.

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 . :eek:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 :thumbup1:

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.


http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...eet_yellow.jpg

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

That sounds like it :thumbup1:

That's good to know about the de-icer.

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

Petrol stinks , will block up the stove after a while and has a highly toxic mixture of additives . Ok in a pinch I suppose , but I prefer the relatively clean burning and odourless methyl hydrate . Carrying a litre bottle of this in a pannier is not really a hardship .

My coleman has been in CONSTANT use for about 7 years all over the world and still works perfectly. With some REALLY nasty fuel. You just burn a couple of caps of FI cleaner after your trip and it clears out the soot.

Admittedly, you ain't going cook toast on a petrol stove but I wouldn't on any oil based fuel. Meths is full of nasty stuff too.

Preferences aside, fuel for Trangia's IS hard to come by. I travelled all the way through Africa with Trangia owners. They found it VERY difficult to get anything which burnt well and just gave up used mine. The same in South America outside too, out of the large towns/cities.

And who want's to carry fuel bottles when it's potentially in your tank ???

Petrol is EVERYWHERE...

Ted is right, it makes alot of sense to use the same fuel as is in your bike. It could also provide you with a few miles of extra reserve in an emergency ( read miscalculation) any way it might save so heavy walking.
Having said that I have yet to find a petrol stove that will really simmer and be simple to set up. The I did see a coleman in use at one campsite and It would like to try one (before I buy) as I was bitterly disappointed with my Omnifuel and have reverted to using my little £10 gaz burner which is better (for cooking).

Fuel...
 

Whew, some strong views (as usual:smartass:) on this thread.

I've tried both having crossed the world with a trangia and also with a petrol stove. Crossing Asia and Africa as well as the easier places such as Europe, the Americas and Australia. I've always done a lot of backpacking and been a big fan of trangias, they're silent, simple and they work well.

However, the first RTW with the trangia did bring its own problems with trying to get fuel for it, we did manage to track some down in every country, but it often took a lot of time and effort.

As you've mentioned the biggest problem is knowing what to ask for and the local name. Thanks to Plainshorse for the helpful link to the info on different countries, yep that's a pretty good list but it's definitely not comprehensive... what about India, Iran, Sudan, Ethiopia in fact most of Africa and the 'Stans.
A couple of examples
In Iran it was pretty comical, as after much discussion and debate with locals it was decided that what we needed was alcohol - and yes, that's right, it's a dry country. However we eventually managed to track down something called alcohol after a prolonged search.
In a small town in India, the local shopkeeper upon noting our disbelief at the sight and smell of the product he was selling us gave a vivid demonstration of its burning qualities by pouring a small quantity onto the floor of the shop and throwing a match on it! It (the fuel not the shop!) went up in flames and we just had to buy it for his showmanship if nothing else:clap:

For various reasons I prefer to use my trangia to my petrol stove, but off the beaten track it's just too hard at times to find the fuel. And this is coming from someone who has plenty of time meandering along when travelling and enjoys all these interactiosn with locals. We all make our own choices with bike travel, but it is good to hear eveyone's differing views and experiences.

Good luck with your decision making and your journey.

Get the trangia x2 multifuel insert. And your problem is solved, works great...

This is off topic , but I think that it's important to differentiate between meths [methylated spirit] and methanol [ methyl hydrate ].

Meths is ethanol [ good old drinking alcohol ] with about 10% methanol added and a touch of pyridine and a splodge of dye . This makes it undrinkable [to most people ] and identifiable .
It usually burns a bit sooty if you don't add a bit of water.
But the products of combustion are carbon dioxide and water .

Methanol is a simpler form of alcohol and is widely available in N America and certainly in Canada .
This burns cleanly to form carbon dioxide and water .

Both kinds of alcohol fuels are toxic if you drink them . jeiger:helpsmilie:

But they are a relatively pure kinds of fuel ,unlike gasoline ,the formulation of which varies enormously, contains many toxins and burns to produce many more toxic substances .


Some good info on fuels ;
Zen Backpacking Stoves - Backpacking Stove Fuels

Ted has found a very reliable gasoline stove in the Coleman , more power to him , but there are many that do not perform as well and cost a lot of money .


My advice [ if it's worth anything at all ] is to write down the chemical formula for methanol and take it to a likely looking place [ in whatever country you find yourself] and give it to a likely looking person in a white coat . Then ,when they hand you a bottle , you'll know what to ask for the next time you run out of the stuff .

We have a petrol burner for our Trangia and carry a small amount of meths as a back up or to use if tent bound.

A trangia with a petrol burner is fantastic - the jet needs cleaning every week but it's easy. As soon as you master the pressure ie how many pumps of the plunger the thing works a treat.