How Much Alcohol To Carry?

[Monkeywrench]

No. No. No. For the stove!

I am trying to figure out how much alcohol fuel for my stove I should need to carry to get me through the expected longest section with a bit to spare. 8 oz seems like it should be enough most of the time, but might not quite be enough for some of the sections. 16 oz seems like it might be overkill.

[gaga]

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[Marta]

This is something you've got to work out for yourself. The two big factors are:

1) How much does it take for your stove/windscreen/pot setup to boil two cups of water?

2) How many cups of water do you plan to boil in a day? Do you cook one, two, or three meals a day? Do you make coffee or tea?

Once you've worked that out, it's simple to figure out how much you'll need.

[Tinker]

I used 12 oz. on my Sept. Hundred Mile Wilderness hike. Used a fuel-efficient Supercat stove with a 1.3 liter Evernew ti pot. Was out for 8 days and ate Lipton dinners for supper and 2 packets of instant oatmeal for breakfast. I also had some hot chocolate and coffee. I used a home made pot cozy to finish rehydrating the dinners after boiling them for about 2 min.

[BarleyRain]

Definitely an individual choice. We had a homemade penny stove and the two of us usually carried 16-20 oz which would last us 7-10 days if we cooked once a day, or 5ish days if we cooked multiple meals or also made hot drinks.

Another factor is what kind of alcohol you use for fuel. Denatured alcohol and methanol (Heet) have the most energy per volume, much better than isopropyl, and burn cleaner. If all you can find is isopropyl, carry more than you're used to.

[Sly]

I figure 2 oz a day for dinner and morning coffee.

[Slo-go'en]

It also depends on how often you might be able to replenish the fuel supply. Always a good idea to have more then you need, just in case.

I like to use HEET when ever possible, but it can be hard to find down south. Up here in NH, every convience store stocks it, but not down south! I've learned about the only place you can get HEET is at an auto parts store, usually a NAPA. Get some funny looks by the counter guy when asking for it. Usually, they say "What you need that for, got water in your tank?" I say no, I'm hiking and I cook with it. That gets me a real puzzled look.

[Whistler]

I usually carry a 16oz Platypus Sport or 12 oz Platypus Lil' Nipper bottle for long hikes. I use about 1-1.5oz a day. The advantage of a slightly larger size is that you can buy a whole bottle of HEET and not waste much, if any. Not all resupplies have by-the-ounce fill-ups available...

-Mark

[BarleyRain]

We never had trouble replenishing; at worst, just about every convenience store and supermarket sells isopropyl. You should certainly never need to go more than a week at a time.

[garlic08]

I think you're right on. 8 oz is good, 16 is bad. I heard somewhere (and believe it) if you carry more than 10 oz of alcohol, the weight savings of an alcohol stove are pretty much negated. If you habitually need that much fuel for your camping needs, you may be better off with white gas or canisters.

I started using the alcohol stove for UL hiking, with just one meal per day and less than one ounce of fuel per day. If you're doing three meals and melting snow, for instance, you'll need so much fuel it won't be worth it. So it's a matter of choosing the right stove and fuel for your hiking style. Or maybe adapting your style to the lighter weight equipment.

[Captn]

a Liter should do it ..... just make sure it's everclear.

That way .... who cares about the stove?

[verber]

As others have said... figure out given your stove and pot how much alcohol you need to cook for a day. This is highly variable because people cook different amounts and stoves/pot systems vary in their efficiency. Then multiply that by the number of days you want to go without resupply.

I am likely on the low end... my Ion stove + evernew .9l pot often boils 16oz of water with .3oz in ideal conditions, reliability in three seasons conditions using .5oz, and has worked below freezing with .75oz of fuel. I only cook for dinner. So for a three season trip for 8 days I would bring 8 *.5 = 4oz ... plus I bring a an extra .75oz for emergency fire starting, etc for a total of 4.75oz.

--Mark

[Bare Bear]

Go for a three night hike over the holidays and see what you use. I always carry a few extra oz if there is any possibility for freezing weather. I do not 'cook' breakfast anymore so that saves me a lot of time/fuel too.