Fuel Purchase En route

[jessicalynnelizabeth]

I'm trying to figure out what kind of cooking set up I want for my thru hike this year - I have a canister stove and a basic cat-food tin alcohol stove. The determining factor is going to be fuel cost vs. quantity that I can buy along the trail. I suspect the MSR canisters will get pretty pricy; however, I've only ever seen denatured alcohol sold in pretty big quantities, and I don't want to pack more than 10-15 oz at a time. Any advice on getting smaller amounts of denatured alcohol along the trail, or the cost of the butane canisters? Thanks!

[swjohnsey]

You can buy alcohol by the ounce along the trail. Canisters are also available but more expensve. Cheapest is gasoline in Whisperlite. Gasoline is available everywhere and cheaper than water.

[jessicalynnelizabeth]

That is hugely helpful - thanks!!!

[Slo-go'en]

Forget gasoline. It might be cheap and plentiful, but without the right stove it's dangerous.

Alcohol is easy to find and you don't have to buy a quart at a time. It is sold by the ounce at many hostels and all outfitters and by some small stores frequented by thru hikers.

One common source is "Yellow HEET" (it comes in a yellow bottle and is sold as a gas tank antifreeze). Costs about $1.89 for 8 or 10 oz. Find it at Walmart in the auto department or at a NAPA car parts store - there's a NAPA in nearly every town.

Canisters are also easy to come by, many stores along the way will have them.

As for relative cost, I would guess in the long run it's a wash. Your best off choosing one or the other based on their relative merits. Light weight or ease of use? Style and frequency of cooking?

[swjohnsey]

Actually, the use of gasoline for fuel is common. My MSR Simmerlite is the stove I use most often. If you are going to be out more than about 5 days it is the lightest. If it is very cold, it and kerosene/diesel is about the only option.

[Connie]

No. I'll get my MSR Simmerlite out of storage to put it on my gram-weenie weight scale.

I will include the weight of the fuel bottle empty, then, 2/3 full. How's that?

"White gas" is not commonly available, as it was for "camping gas or Coleman fuel.

Keroscene stinks. Diesel? Try it. Then, you can replace the valve.

[Starchild]

One thing to consider with canister fuel is one does not need to concern themselves with finding fuel most of the time for 2 reasons:

1 - they last so darn long, even the small canister can go 2 weeks easy. That could be skipping 3-4 AT resupply stops where you know you don't need fuel.

2 - Many people exchange them early and hiker box the old ones, it's not uncommon to find ones more then 1/2 full. and as stated above you have multiple stop opportunities to find one.

3 - if all else fails it is very easy to construct a basic alcky stove if really needed. But it will not be needed as canisters are everywhere. This was just a backup method I wanted to have just in case for my thru. Never needed or used it. Before my thru and for peace of mind I learned how to make a very usable alchy stove and windscreen from a few of soda cans and my pocket knife (which such stoves can also occasionally be found in hikerboxes). If using a jetboil you can just use a tealight candle metal base for this filled with alchy fuel and the jetboil pot sits right ontop - no cozy removal needed.

IMHO canisters just leads to a more pleasant resupply (and hiking) situation, no worries that they will not have them (because you don't need it), plenty of fuel if you want to cook more then you planned, and you can count on quite a bit of free ones to keep one from buying more.

But with that said you have to be comfortable with the shake test and feel confident on usage to be practical with canisters. If you are carrying around 2 perhaps this is not the method for you or if you chose the larger size. Likewise if you hiker box them early.

[lonehiker]

You can buy alcohol by the ounce along the trail. Canisters are also available but more expensve. Cheapest is gasoline in Whisperlite. Gasoline is available everywhere and cheaper than water.

This is just bad advice and potentially dangerous. I'm quite certain that if you look at the manual that came with your stove it will explicitly state not to use gasoline in your stove. It will indicate to use white gas. Furthermore, white gas isn't as readily available as it used to be. Alcohol is probably the easiest fuel to obtain regardless of what trail you are hiking.

[pickNgrin]

This is just bad advice and potentially dangerous. I'm quite certain that if you look at the manual that came with your stove it will explicitly state not to use gasoline in your stove. It will indicate to use white gas. Furthermore, white gas isn't as readily available as it used to be. Alcohol is probably the easiest fuel to obtain regardless of what trail you are hiking.

Not necessarily. The Whisperlite International is designed to be used with white gas (aka Coleman fuel), kerosene, or unleaded gasoline. The regular Whisperlite is white gas only. If in doubt, use Coleman fuel. But if you have the proper stove, gasoline is ok.

[CarlZ993]

I used an alcohol stove on my thru-hike. I tried several alcohol stoves (they're cheap to buy & easy to make). I ended up using zelph's fancee feast stove. It worked OK on the trail. Idiot-proof (a requirement for me) & easy to find fuel by the ounce. The only downside is that it took longer to boil water than a canister stove and you couldn't 'cook' with most alcohol stoves. You're just boiling water.

If I were to do it again, I'd probably use a canister stove. Snow Peak, Soto, or MSR Pocket Rocket. Probably the Soto (regulated stove). The JetBoil or MSR Reactor/Windboiler are much more fuel efficient & faster. You just have to deal with a greater weight penalty for that savings (sad to say I own all those stoves... it is a sickness).

[lonehiker]

I stand corrected, the MSR WhisperLite International Multi-Fuel Stove is billed as being able to burn unleaded gasoline (isn't technology amazing). Alcohol is still the most readily available fuel along any trail. Gas stations will also carry Heet as well as most grocery stores, hardware stores, many hostels etc.

[Poedog]

Have you considered soaking? No stove, no fuel. I soaked from Delaware Water Gap to Springer on my thru and loved it. Check out unboundroutes.com for more ideas. I just did a post on this exact topic.

[jessicalynnelizabeth]

Thank you, everyone, for all your helpful advice! Poedog, I had not considered soaking - I don't think I'd want to rely on it exclusively, but it may definitely prove useful on occasion

[Cotton Terry]

I have the Whisperlite International. If you use unleaded gas, be prepared for a lot of soot. I'm going to use a canister stove on my thru hike.

[fastfoxengineering]

I'm gonna be that person with a alcohol/wood stove. Alcohol is backup/lazy cooking. Going to carry a 4oz bottle to refill, and try to use wood as much possible. In dire circumstances, I can eat cold mashed potatoes.

I hope I can find firewood en route. We're gonna be in the woods after all right?

Finding alcohol to cook with or drink is not too much of a hassle on the trail from what I've heard.

have fun out there!

and for what it's worth, you need to experiment to find out what you like. I just sold my last canister stove and prefer everything about alcohol/wood over canisters and not just the way your food is cooked. I think it less an environmental impact, imho.

But that's a discussion for another day.

If your patient then alcohol might work for you, if your impatient, go with a canister. But I think a thru-hike might make you a more patient individual.

Regards