View Full Version : Fuel container ideas
le loupe
02-26-2009, 13:15
I just purchased a 700 ml titanium mug.
I would like to put my alcohol stove & fuel inside the mug & stuff sack. Any ideas on an appropriately wide & squat container for fuel?
The only thing i could think of are those tiny Maple syrup bottles, but those might be hard to come across. Obviously, I'm thinking about re-using a common household item as opposed to buying something specifically for this purpose.
Depends on how much you'll need. Purell hand sanitizer bottles work well. Above that, Dr. bronners soap bottles.
optimator
02-26-2009, 13:30
Small contact lens solution bottles work well.
le loupe
02-26-2009, 13:40
i was hoping to find something wider than tall- so the fuel container (4-6 oz) & the stove could all fit within the mug...
Buy one of those crappy childrens hockey pucks... drill a hole into it... cap it with a pencil eraser or fashion a gasket out of something.
le loupe
02-26-2009, 13:47
clever
I'm also thinking about a plastic jar for hair products. probably seals well as its designed to hold a semi-liquid. would be hard to dispense from howerver.
You might try one of those metal containers that gelled fuel comes in.
It is aluminum I think, and not too heavy when empty.
http://zenstoves.net/Sterno.htm
Yeah dispensing is the big issue.
If you do it slowly and carefully, applying the right amount of heat, you can melt one of those grenade-sized water bottles down so the cap is sublexed(?) into the bottle, kind of like this:
http://imgur.com/A3TM
I did this quickly at work sooo yeah not a working prototype. But yeah, you can carry your alcohol in that and carry two caps. One has a hole poked in it so you can dispense properly.
I went to the drugstore and got one of the sturdy plastic bottles they use to bottle cough sypup/liquid medicines. Pharmacists gave it to me free. They usually have several sizes.
I just purchased a 700 ml titanium mug.
I would like to put my alcohol stove & fuel inside the mug & stuff sack. Any ideas on an appropriately wide & squat container for fuel?
The only thing i could think of are those tiny Maple syrup bottles, but those might be hard to come across. Obviously, I'm thinking about re-using a common household item as opposed to buying something specifically for this purpose.
Small size brake fluid container.
garlic08
02-26-2009, 20:52
Listerine bottle.
The Weasel
02-26-2009, 21:00
small (4 oz?) bottles of water available at some grocery stores. I use a small 4 oz instant coffee jar, which seals tightly. maybe also a small peanut butter jar.
TW
theinfamousj
02-26-2009, 22:48
Snowpeak 700 perchance? I have a small 8 ounce water bottle that I got at Trail Days last year. They were handing them out during the PCT movie screening. It fits perfectly in my Snowpeak 700 with room to spare for other goodies and gadgets.
Video of the bottle in the pot. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy6oq-jjipk)
4eyedbuzzard
02-26-2009, 23:23
Just make sure your plastic methanol bottle is HDPE(recycle #2), the same stuff the yellow HEET bottle is made from. Methanol attacks PETE(recycle#1) and some others. Not a failure you want in your pack.
le loupe
02-26-2009, 23:34
everybody is forgetting that I want my soda can stove to fit inside too.
I like the 4 oz water bottle, tho.
take-a-knee
02-26-2009, 23:44
Just make sure your plastic methanol bottle is HDPE(recycle #2), the same stuff the yellow HEET bottle is made from. Methanol attacks PETE(recycle#1) and some others. Not a failure you want in your pack.
Not something you want inside your cookpot if you are smart, IMO. Dances with Mice used a spectral analyzer to prove that an alcohol stove carried zero fuel residue on it, so it is safe to place inside you pot if you choose. Storing a formaldehyde precursor however (methanol), inside your cook pot ain't overly bright.
go to walmart and in the cosmetics department, with the travel sized stuff for vacations, they have a 3 oz bottle with a good flip top bottle with lid for $.99, its what i use.
kytrailman
02-27-2009, 00:18
Take-a-knee is right. Why would you carry your alcohol bottle in your pot? Maybe thats just me...I carry mine in a small 8 oz. water bottle with my windscreen wrapped around it to protect it a little. ziploc it and stick it in an outside pocket.
theinfamousj
02-27-2009, 00:23
:: whispers ::
If you use ethyl rubbing alcohol (you have to search for it at the local drug store but it is worth the hunt-and-seek) as your fuel, you don't have to worry about toxic methanol in your cookpot and it stores just fine in a water bottle with no fears of it eating through the plastic.
4eyedbuzzard
02-27-2009, 00:53
Not something you want inside your cookpot if you are smart, IMO. Dances with Mice used a spectral analyzer to prove that an alcohol stove carried zero fuel residue on it, so it is safe to place inside you pot if you choose. Storing a formaldehyde precursor however (methanol), inside your cook pot ain't overly bright.
I wouldn't worry about methanol from an ingestion standpoint, other than the obvious one of actually drinking it by mistake. Any methanol residue that spilled on a cookpot would pretty much evaorate after the pot was wiped/washed. Any trace of methanol left would hardly constitute a health hazard. People ingest small trace amounts of methanol all the time in a variety of products from fruits to alcohlic beverages.
I'd simply be more worried about the mess it would cause in my pack.
take-a-knee
02-27-2009, 01:07
:: whispers ::
If you use ethyl rubbing alcohol (you have to search for it at the local drug store but it is worth the hunt-and-seek) as your fuel, you don't have to worry about toxic methanol in your cookpot and it stores just fine in a water bottle with no fears of it eating through the plastic.
That has a high water percentage and sucks as a fuel, it is still a poison, it just takes longer to kill you. If it is potable, it is taxable, pure and simple, that means you'll find it at the liquor store if it is safe to ingest.
take-a-knee
02-27-2009, 01:10
I wouldn't worry about methanol from an ingestion standpoint, other than the obvious one of actually drinking it by mistake. Any methanol residue that spilled on a cookpot would pretty much evaorate after the pot was wiped/washed. Any trace of methanol left would hardly constitute a health hazard. People ingest small trace amounts of methanol all the time in a variety of products from fruits to alcohlic beverages.
I'd simply be more worried about the mess it would cause in my pack.
Most folks' liver has to deal with a little DEET every year too, so just store your bug dope in your cookpot too.
beakerman
02-27-2009, 03:57
As a chemist I'm puzzled at folks concern over stuff like this. Methanol is going to evaporate plain and simple. Now I will confess that I do not know what else they put in with the methanol but if it's straight methanol and you give a chance to evaporate off before you fill your cook pot you have nothing to worry about. If the bottle does not leak then what's the issue? If it does wipe it out and give a a few minutes to air out. Problem solved. If you are really anal about it give it a rinse with some water and you are indeed good to go.
4eyedbuzzard
02-27-2009, 08:59
Most folks' liver has to deal with a little DEET every year too, so just store your bug dope in your cookpot too.
Different animals TAK. Methanol occurs naturally in fruit, fruit juices, beer wine, etc, and also is present in aspartame. Humans have been consuming small naturally occuring amounts of methanol since weve ever existed. In the very small quantities we are talking about the body processes it without issue. I could wash my cookpot with methanol, let it evaporate, and ingest less methanol from using it than someone would get from drinking a beer.
theinfamousj
03-01-2009, 15:54
As a chemist I'm puzzled at folks concern over stuff like this. Methanol is going to evaporate plain and simple. Now I will confess that I do not know what else they put in with the methanol but if it's straight methanol and you give a chance to evaporate off before you fill your cook pot you have nothing to worry about.
Reading the "inactive ingredients", besides methanol they use :: gasp :: acetone.
Ethyl rubbing alcohol 70% (which I honestly haven't seen a difference in performance between denatured, heet, or ethyl rubbing except in time to boil ... and all alkies boil before my home stove does so I'm happy) spikes in acetone, a preservative, and water.
I've probably eaten, spilled on me, etc. my fair share of acetone since we used it all the time in the water quality lab. The PI was of the distinct opinion that HPLC-grade acetone was safe for human consumption. Don't know about that.
Silver Bear
03-01-2009, 17:47
Cracker Barrel serves Maple syrup in small bottles. More tall than short.
beakerman
03-01-2009, 23:16
Reading the "inactive ingredients", besides methanol they use :: gasp :: acetone.
Ethyl rubbing alcohol 70% (which I honestly haven't seen a difference in performance between denatured, heet, or ethyl rubbing except in time to boil ... and all alkies boil before my home stove does so I'm happy) spikes in acetone, a preservative, and water.
I've probably eaten, spilled on me, etc. my fair share of acetone since we used it all the time in the water quality lab. The PI was of the distinct opinion that HPLC-grade acetone was safe for human consumption. Don't know about that.
Don't get me wrong I would never consider up ending a flask of the stuff but again acetone is also a fermentation product so when you down that jigger of bourbon guess what yep you just drank a measurable quantity of methanol and acetone. Not to mention acetone is a byproduct of your own body attempting to metabolize the ethanol you consumed the night before.
You point out that these things boil before you water does but presumably they burn to completion or nearly so before they leave the flame. The question seems to be centered around around residual stuff in the cookware after a spill. Again all of these things boil at low temp and have a fairly high vapor pressure so my contention is if you wipe it out and give it a few minutes to dry you are golden--if you are not patient enough to wait the drying time you can either speed the drying by adding heat (fire your stove up) or by just rinsing your pot with water because there is nothing in there that is not miscible with water.
OP. perhaps you just want to store it some place else unless you're just going out for a weekend. i'd burn through 4 ozs of fuel in 2 days
I'm another one who never even thought of storing my fuel in my cookpot. Of course, I normally carry a 1.3 liter ti pot which also holds my cup and supercat stove as well as a spoon and possibly some ground coffee. I carry my alcohol in a Nalgene fuel bottle (no longer available to my knowledge) in a side pocket of my pack just in case it decides to spring a leak.
I would avoid fuel in the cup for tainted taste I've had food pick up taste/smell that after cooking I had to choke it down. If I carried it and thats whats to eat then down it goes so I try to be a little careful like fuel in an outside pocket
Go to the pharmacy when they're not busy. The pharmacists have about a dozen sizes of the prescription cough syrup bottles and eye dropper bottles. They hold up really well and you can even get a little top that will dispense drops at a time. I've had two that I've used several times for years. One of them still has fuel in it from 2005. Can't vouch for your pharmacy but mine gave me three for free.
medicjimr
03-02-2009, 01:52
I thought I would store with my pot fortunately I checked bag before leaving 3 oz spilled my bandanna absorbed it fortunately but residue was still there so now it's stored in outside pack will be trying other bottles there the walmart flip top mentioned earlier that leaked.
The walmart fliptop was my first attempt they leaked like crazy. Somebody here told me to get the pharmacy bottles and they worked great. I think the issue here is that the guy wants something very short and squat. You think the plastic bottles that hold lemon and lime juice might work for him?
Go into someplace like a dollar store and just look around. You'll often find oddball containers of this or that that works great for a fuel bottle.
I found this weird Mexican syrupy candy in a little 6 oz squeezy bottle that is the best fuel container I've ever used. Kinda like the Platypus "lil Nipper".
The walmart fliptop was my first attempt they leaked like crazy. Somebody here told me to get the pharmacy bottles and they worked great. I think the issue here is that the guy wants something very short and squat. You think the plastic bottles that hold lemon and lime juice might work for him?
i too found this out the hard way (but could've been way worse). foolishly i forgot to put my fuel in a ziplock bag and went out hiking. my fuel was in the water bottle side pocket. i laid my pack down on a big rock where i had lunch and i guess while laying on it's side, the fuel leaked out. i had a stinky alcohol pack for the walk back to my car. a drag...
back to the listerine bottle for me
Vagrant Squirrel
03-04-2009, 01:37
http://www.handi-craft.com/images/p_large_bottles_wn-4oz.jpg
Wide mouth for easily getting the fuel in... Also you can buy a travel cap for transporting and use the nipple cap for dispensing. Never tried it, but it seems like it would work well.
Nearly Normal
03-04-2009, 04:00
I went to the drugstore and got one of the sturdy plastic bottles they use to bottle cough sypup/liquid medicines. Pharmacists gave it to me free. They usually have several sizes.
Yep, built in measure on the side too.
SGT Rock
03-04-2009, 09:32
Geez, some folks have really pole vaulted over some mouse turds today.
Your alcohol fuel is fine in your pot. Next they will be telling you your aluminum pot is also going to kill you.
mister krabs
03-04-2009, 12:23
When you're at the grocery, look at the very small bottled water aimed at kids, they have some very squat bottles. I use an 8oz one.
mister krabs
03-04-2009, 12:25
the one on the right here.
http://www.mineralsprings.com/images/5_bottles_w_sizes.gif