View Full Version : Storing fuel/stoves in cook pots (Toxic?)
It seems the best way to use up dead space in your pot, be it a Heineken can or anything else, it to put your stoves, windscreen, lighter, fuel bottles, etc in there.
Most fuels used for backpacking (including denatured alcohol) are listed as toxic and should not be near food or ingested. Wick stoves and residual fuel inside regular stoves have to come in contact with these pots at some point or another.
Is this a concern for anyone? Is there a fuel that is not toxic (other than Everclear)?
I've been using an MSR Pocket Rocket but want to make the switch to an alcohol stove and Heineken pot. This just popped into my head while watching some videos.
budforester
04-22-2008, 23:12
I think about it, too. Rinsing and/ or heating may be enough to drive off the toxics, but I avoid the issue and stuff that pot- space with other things, like coffee bags, lighter, food, soap, spices, etc.
Feral Bill
04-22-2008, 23:16
I once got a tiny amout of white gas in my glop this way. Ecch! Never carried a stove in a pot since.
How viable is Everclear as a fuel? I plan to use one of Minibulldesign's "coolfly" wick stoves.
It may come in handy on a sleepless night too...
When I take an alchy stove it is carried in a Ziploc plastic tub to protect the stove, keeping everything else clean (the stoves can get dirty over time). Do I really worry? No. I don't carry my fuel in my kit - it is on the outside of my pack if I am carrying denatured alcohol.
Canisters? I leave my canister attached to my stove, it goes into a small silnylon stuff sack.
Do I worry? No.
Just keep your fuel separate if it is liquid. Canisters are sealed.
~
Most fuels used for backpacking (including denatured alcohol) are listed as toxic and should not be near food or ingested. Wick stoves and residual fuel inside regular stoves have to come in contact with these pots at some point or another.
Is this a concern for anyone? Is there a fuel that is not toxic (other than Everclear)?
~
For weekend hikes, you may get by with a fuel bottle small enough to fit in your pot. But for a thru-hike, you would likely want a larger bottle (12-16 ounces), and storing it in your pot would not be an option. Store the fuel bottle in an outside pocket, and be free of worry.
I don't share your concern about storing my alcohol burner in my pot. Before long, you will get very good at judging how much alcohol is needed to make your meals, and you will run the stove dry. My stove doesn't use a wick, however, so I don't worry about it leaking in my pot. Alcohol evaporates so quickly, that I wonder if this is a real concern, even with a wick stove.
How viable is Everclear as a fuel? I plan to use one of Minibulldesign's "coolfly" wick stoves.
~
As a fuel, ethanol contains more BTUs than methanol, so Everclear would work fine. However, cost and availability are concerns. Some states don't allow the sale of 190 proof alcohol, including several through which the AT passes. So, for a thru-hike, Everclear would be difficult to obtain.
Gee, I usually fill the dead spot inside my cook pot with stove, spoon, cup, clean-up gear, etc. But the fuel bottle, with windscreen wrapped around it, goes in an exterior pocket on my pack. The stove is cooled and aired out before storing. Seems to work for me.
budforester
04-23-2008, 07:36
Oh... I boiled coffee- water in the pot/ cup/ cover- thingy that came on my SVEA 123. It ain't got me yet, and I never noticed gasoline flavor in my coffee or food.
Good info guys, thanks. I am nowhere near a thru-hiker yet, just doing weekend trips where 4-8 oz will last me. I like to use a small pack and I can fit my entire cook kit in a medium ziplock locking cup. Maybe I'll just wrap the stove in another baggie or something similar.
I believe I can be in possession of Everclear in my state, but I don't think they can sell it. Bringing it back from surrounding states would not be too hard. I could probably stock up with a half dozen bottles and be set for 12 months of hiking. I'll have to look into that.
Thanks again.