Risks of Alcohol Stoves

[Sarcasm the elf]

I came across this article and video and thought that it was worth reposting here. Alcohol stoves great pieces of gear, but they carry some risk and this is a good reminder.


Keep in mind that most of the people in the video had already hiked all of the A.T. and most of the PCT when the footage was filmed.



Original article:

http://www.pcta.org/2014/dangers-alc...s-video-17113/

Watch hikers talk about the danger of alcohol stoves

We asked Shane “Jester” O’Donnell for a little background about this video. Here it is.


“Considering Your History” is a short film shot while doing a thru-hike of the PCT in 2008.


To my mind, what is remarkable about the story is that it’s not actually all that remarkable. Almost everyone I know who has used an alcohol stove has a story about a near-disaster that was caused by inattention. Even people who have plenty of experience can still make mistakes – Coyote, the woman telling the story, is a Triple Crowner.

I made this video not to scare people but to highlight the fact that we all need to be vigilant when we’re cooking in the wilderness, regardless of what method we’re using.


Since it seems like fire bans are becoming more frequent in the West, I think it’s incumbent upon all of us to know and follow the regulations and recommendations wherever we’re backpacking, and not to think: “I know what I’m doing. I’m not going to be the person who starts a forest fire.”


Accidents happen all too frequently. Putting yourself in the best position to avoid them might mean changing how you cook as well as paying attention all of the time, regardless of method.


For more of Jester’s videos, check out tbwproductions.com and youtube.com





Author: Jack "Found" Haskel

[rocketsocks]

All good points, thanks Elf.

perhaps cooking in your tent needs to be addressed as well.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w492-EVCHQo

[Wise Old Owl]

Wow not sure where you think this thread should go... look any stove/wood fire can cause a problem - while making stoves, I too have had one blow up and set my shirt on fire... I have had a gasoline Wisperlite start badly - I got control quickly. You still need to clear the ground clear the leaves and do the right thing...

ONE NOTE. Water will stop an alcohol stove - period.

[rocketsocks]

Wow not sure where you think this thread should go... look any stove/wood fire can cause a problem - while making stoves, I too have had one blow up and set my shirt on fire... I have had a gasoline Wisperlite start badly - I got control quickly. You still need to clear the ground clear the leaves and do the right thing...

ONE NOTE. Water will stop an alcohol stove - period.

Wow, how bout just a reminder to be vigilant.

[Wise Old Owl]

At the time I was - I left out the JB Weld at the test. Stuff happens.

[OzJacko]

All stoves are dangerous.
When hiking the Bib I met an old guy from UK who had hiked all over the world including the Triple Crown (although not in single year thruhikes).
He told me how at the start of the PCT (or CDT - Arizona anyway), he had the hose come off on his multifuel stove. He had this hose snaking around blowing fuel everywhere and fire starting all over.
He not only had burnt feet and hands, and lost half his gear, but then spent quite a large part of the night in custody facing fire bug charges (the fire got VERY out of hand), before the Sheriff took pity on him. He slept in the home of the Latino taxi driver who picked him up from the jail.

[Wise Old Owl]

wow that's sad... when he woke up how was his hangover?

[4eyedbuzzard]

Remind me of this thread the next time the, "Why aren't Boy Scouts allowed to use alcohol stoves", question comes up.

[rocketsocks]

Remind me of this thread the next time the, "Why aren't Boy Scouts allowed to use alcohol stoves", question comes up.

Agree 100%, cause a mishap can happen to anyone. Funny you should mention this, just had that conversation with a friend, and I agree with him...Scouts should use wood, all the time. Kicking a bed of coals (while not good) is better than kicking over an alcohol stove.

[OzJacko]

wow that's sad... when he woke up how was his hangover?

Stone cold sober type.
Drank a lot of tea.

Point is - ALL stoves are dangerous if treated carelessly. Especially the one in your kitchen.

[rocketsocks]

Wow, even cookin crawfish on the grill can be dangis.

grilled-lobster.jpg

the point is if you don't respect fire, you can get burned.

[Sierra2015]

What type of stove do you guys recommend for me? I was going to buy a $20 alcohol stove. (I don't want to eat out of a cat food tin.)

[Sarcasm the elf]

WOO, since you asked, I posted this simply as a reminder about the risks. Alcohol stoves are great when used carefully, but they are probably the stove type that are most prone to human error. This is the time of year when a lot of aspiring thru hikers are on this site looking for advice and I thought that the video was a good example of why you need to be careful and pay attention when you are using an alcohol stove, or any other type of stove for that matter.

You are correct that White gas/multifuel stoves can be far more dangerous if they fail, I nearly blew myself up years ago using a Coleman Peak 1. That said in the past few years I have probably seen 10 people carrying alcohol stoves on the A.T. for every one white gas stove, so I feel that this reminder is quite relevant.

[Don H]

Remind me of this thread the next time the, "Why aren't Boy Scouts allowed to use alcohol stoves", question comes up.

I'm guessing you're referring to the thread I started which asked the question "Has anyone had a serious safety issues with these stoves?" not the question you stated. I was looking for honest, unbiased answers to safety issues with these types of stove.

The Boy Scouts would have more sense and be better supervised!

[bfayer]

What type of stove do you guys recommend for me? I was going to buy a $20 alcohol stove. (I don't want to eat out of a cat food tin.)

I know I am going to get beat up for saying this, but if you have limited experience cooking on the trail, then I recommend you get a canister stove not an alcohol stove.

Alcohol stoves work great, but they do have a bit of a learning curve and tend to be a little more work getting them set up and cooking. I know more than a few very experienced hikers that switched to alcohol to save weight, but have since switch back to canisters for the convenience.

[Hot Flash]

The Boy Scouts would have more sense and be better supervised!

Yeah, their leaders have sooo much sense. Enough sense to knock over ancient rock formations for fun.

[garlic08]

...I know more than a few very experienced hikers that switched to alcohol to save weight, but have since switch back to canisters for the convenience.

Agreed. And I know a very few who have switched to no stove at all, to completely eliminate that risk (low among many reasons). I saw a few alky stove accidents (one was scalding from water which would have happened with any stove) on my first thru hike and that affected my decision not to carry one anymore.

I personally narrowly avoided causing a wildland fire in Colorado with alcohol because I knew water would put it out and I had plenty of it. Risk assessment and damage control must go with the decision to use any stove, anywhere, including as noted above in the kitchen. (Do you have a dry chem extinguisher nearby?)

[Don H]

Yeah, their leaders have sooo much sense. Enough sense to knock over ancient rock formations for fun.

And they were immediately removed from the program.

[bfayer]

Yeah, their leaders have sooo much sense. Enough sense to knock over ancient rock formations for fun.

Wow that was a very bigoted response. You do realize there are tens of thousands of boy scout leaders in this country, and they all volunteer their time to help work with kids. In my troop alone we have leaders that are corporate executives, active duty military, and PHDs that work for NASA.

I guess I don't really know how to respond to someone that judges a whole group of people based on the actions a few.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Wow that was a very bigoted response. You do realize there are tens of thousands of boy scout leaders in this country, and they all volunteer their time to help work with kids. In my troop alone we have leaders that are corporate executives, active duty military, and PHDs that work for NASA.

I guess I don't really know how to respond to someone that judges a whole group of people based on the actions a few.

Don't take what she says too seriously, She has a habit of posting troll comments.