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Dazzy001
01-02-2008, 18:29
Newbe to hiking here; :eek: I am thinking of purchasing a Vargo Titanium Decagon Alcohol Stove. What type alcohol fuel do i need to get for this.....

Thanks in advance.

Darren.

Skidsteer
01-02-2008, 18:33
Newbe to hiking here; :eek: I am thinking of purchasing a Vargo Titanium Decagon Alcohol Stove. What type alcohol fuel do i need to get for this.....

Thanks in advance.

Darren.

Denatured alcohol in the paint section of hardware stores or Heet in the yellow bottles from auto parts stores.

Bob S
01-02-2008, 18:48
Denatured alcohol works best for me. I use to buy it by the gallon, but I found that it seemed to start burning yellow and with more soot as time went on. I think it absorbs moisture out of the air (despite being sealed up in the container) so I switched to buying it by the quart and have not had the problem since.

If you repackage the alcohol in a new unmarked container (as I do, I put it in an empty plastic Canadian Club bottle) you can put a few drops of food coloring in it to make look different then any other liquid (water.)

Flotsam
01-02-2008, 18:48
Denatured alcohol in the paint section of hardware stores or Heet in the yellow bottles from auto parts stores.
I did a price comparison awhile back. If I recall correctly, the yellow Heet is the best deal per ounce. The heavy metal cans of denatured alc from the paint section was the most expensive source.

Last time I checked, Wal-mart had the yellow HEET for 88 cents a bottle. Lasts me about week on the Trail, making coffee, oatmeal in the morning, a cold lunch and and a hot dinner plus a few cups of tea at night. YMMV.

Kirby
01-02-2008, 18:49
Denatured alcohol in the paint section of hardware stores or Heet in the yellow bottles from auto parts stores.

I second Heet, in the yellow bottle. You can find it at a lot of hardware stores, and I think businesses carry it along the trail. I know the Abol store does, along with Monson general store.

Kirby

Pony
01-02-2008, 19:04
Make sure you're old enough. I got carded trying to buy some heet about a month ago.

Dazzy001
01-02-2008, 19:09
Thank you for your input, Heet it is, Any suggestion major do and donts on this type of stove.

thanks again. Darren

Skidsteer
01-02-2008, 19:13
Thank you for your input, Heet it is, Any suggestion major do and donts on this type of stove.

thanks again. Darren

Don't refill it until you're sure it's out of fuel.

Flotsam
01-02-2008, 19:18
Thank you for your input, Heet it is, Any suggestion major do and donts on this type of stove.

Hey Darren, welcome to hiking. Dude, it's much more fun (and way cheaper) to make your own stove. All you need are a couple of empty beverage cans and a few common household tools like scissors and thumbtacks.

A well-constructed homemade stove will also be just as efficient as an expensive storebought one, and will be lighter too. Here is a great link to a website with excellent construction tips:

http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm

Good luck!

Two Speed
01-02-2008, 19:30
I've always used the S-L-X brand in the one gallon can, but based on what I've seen in rural Alabama and Georgia, where Heet is pretty much available at every convenience store and gas station I'm considering making a change. I'm beginning to think I've been making resupply more difficult than it has to be.

Dazzy001
01-02-2008, 19:32
Thank you, i had no idea there was a whole community if DIY hikers out there, Thats awsome, I might just have a go at making a stove, Thanks for the info eveyone....

Darren.

oops56
01-02-2008, 19:33
I got of them Virgo i made two types of prime wicks to start up faster one just sits on the side the other slides under it.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%202/th_vargotriad.jpg (http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%202/vargotriad.jpg)

Dazzy001
01-02-2008, 20:40
Is there a sequance to lighting these stoves,,,,, i thought you just lit it...

Flotsam
01-02-2008, 21:05
Is there a sequance to lighting these stoves,,,,, i thought you just lit it...Here is my sequence for a typical meal, in this case, Zatarain's jambalaya w/added meat:

1) Get all stuff for meal out and ready.

2) Fill pot with water, add contents of jambalaya package to cold water and put the lid on. Let meal sit and rehydrate while I set up tent, fluff sleeping bag, etc etc.

3) Set up stove, windscreen, etc and be sure to have potgrab and everything else at hand.

4) Fill stove w/2 or 3 capfuls of HEET and light. Place pot w/ (by now soft) cold dinner mix on stove, lidded tightly. Stir once or twice while it's cooking. Just keep it cooking until I run out of fuel and stove goes out. Add a handful of sliced summer sausage to pan. Cover pot with fleece vest or cozy or whatever and finish rest of nightly chores.

5) Eat

6) Got to bed.

:o)