Recently moved to alcohol stove planning a 5 day section in May. Just wondering what others carry their fuel in. Thanks
Recently moved to alcohol stove planning a 5 day section in May. Just wondering what others carry their fuel in. Thanks
I use bottles like this for short trips:
bottles.jpg
For longer trips, I use an old hair color bottle with the same kind of top like this:
fancifull.jpg
These tops are great for squirting alcohol into my catfood can stove and they make a reliable seal. Good luck!
P.S. I put whatever fuel bottle I'm carrying inside a Ziplock bag for extra security.
I plan on using Heet red ( 99% isopropyl ) that way I can also use it as hand sanitizer. I don't want the contamination of denatured alcohol soaking through my skin.
Any 16-oz. soda or water bottle will be perfectly fine--I've never had one leak. I used one bottle for the entire CDT.
Serious question here....WTH is wrong with the plastic bottle that HEET comes in?
You should reconsider your plan. Isopropal alcohol smokes and leaves smoky residue on pots. Not a good fuel. Just don't take a bath in the methanol (Yellow HEET) and you'll be fine. Methanol occurs naturally in very small quantities in many fruits and their juices. You definitely don't want to drink out outright, but a little on you're fingers once in a while isn't going to hurt you.
"That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett
Depends on how long you're going between resupplies. For most trips I use a 4.5 ounce contact solution bottle. Plenty for 5 days or so.
They leak! I had one lose half it's contents before I even took off the foil seal (there must've been a leak + a bunch of evaporation). Another one that I opened leaked all over the place--those lids are pretty small.
Also, with an opaque bottle, you don't know exactly how much you have left. And I'd bet dollars to donuts that the original bottle is heavier than any soda bottle you'd use.
I like using a Sprite or Mtn Drew bottle. It is green and sticks out. Less likely to accidentally drink. Which HAS happened to thru-hikers in the past.
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
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The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau
Gram weenies may object, but mouth wash bottles have large caps that make nice measuring cups.
Red Heet makes for lousy alcohol stove fuel.
Yellow Heet bottles have two kinds of caps, a pry-off and a screw off. I've never had much luck with either being leak-proof once opened.
I use the really small Mt dew bottles like the 12oz ones.
I use an emptied and cleaned camp soap bottle. I marked 1/2 ounce lines on it with a permanent marker, then painted over the lines with clear nail polish. (Permanent isn't necessarily so if you get alcohol on it.)
The lines mean I don't have to pour the alcohol into something to measure it.
-FA
"They leak"
Good enough reason right there.
Are you sure the methanol won't leach through my skin and make my brain all stupid and funny ??