View Full Version : Cooking Fuels -all cleared up by the MYTHBUSTERS.....
Wise Old Owl
12-30-2011, 15:13
Ahh Backpacking, want to know what the best solid or alcohol fuel is? Here is a little test
Triox, Hexamethalene, Alcohol, and yea C4 Military explosives.:banana....... Sorry no canister fuels here....
http://youtu.be/9syk3bZwpcE
Chummin' for Bear
12-30-2011, 15:33
Got to love those Mythbusters. So, hexamethalene was the winner which is what Esbit stoves use. It's a shame these tablets are not more readily available on the AT since they do a good job of boiling water, they are simple to use, they have a long shelf life and they only weigh 1/2 ounce each. Certainly works better with a wind screen but that can probably said about almost any fuel used in backpacking stoves. I use these Esbit tablets with a Varga Triad Titanium stove (flipped upside down)which weighs about an ounce. System has worked well for me.
skinewmexico
12-30-2011, 15:54
I'm glad the C4 didn't do that good of a job; it's gotten so hard to find.
Esbit stinks like fish, great for bringing bears in for close up pictures!
Mother Natures Son
12-30-2011, 19:07
What about "Whill P" you know the great stuff that Uncle Sam made back in Vietnam. Guaranteed to cook your meals and then some. When I was a scout, we used something called Girl Scout Water (high octane automotive grade fuel or anything else our devilish little hands could get a hold of. I wonder how these alternative fuels could compare to some of the stuff Mythbusters tested out.
What about "Whill P" you know the great stuff that Uncle Sam made back in Vietnam. Guaranteed to cook your meals and then some. When I was a scout, we used something called Girl Scout Water (high octane automotive grade fuel or anything else our devilish little hands could get a hold of. I wonder how these alternative fuels could compare to some of the stuff Mythbusters tested out.
JP8 would burn in an alcohol burner with a preheat, but the smell of burning jet fuel would probably make you really unpopular in a shelter, would definately give your cookwear that stealth black soot coating all the trained killers love:)
Wise Old Owl
12-30-2011, 20:34
I new this would start a good thread.
Odd Man Out
12-30-2011, 21:21
It seems to me that C4 would be the winner in multi-use - cooking fuel plus so much more with a bit of imagination.
gunner76
12-30-2011, 21:51
but the det cord gets a little bulky
but the det cord gets a little bulky
Is Det cord strong enough to pitch my fly??? Multi use makes it more valuable
rocketsocks
12-31-2011, 08:34
I think they might have put some c-4 in there bowl'in ball cannon
Esbit stove overload : http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=fp-yma2&va=titanium+esbit+stove
I used one of the Esbit titanium stoves on my Georgia section hike in '06 with a titanium foil windscreen that rolled up to the size of a pencil stub. I got both from www.backpackinglight.com (http://www.backpackinglight.com) , but they no longer have the ti. windscreen. You'll have to get that from www.titaniumgoat.com (http://www.titaniumgoat.com) . It boiled all the water for each meal I ate (Knorr-Lipton dinners, mostly) and coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. As the cubes burn down they get cooler, so they actually simmer for a couple of minutes before they go out.
hikin_jim
04-10-2012, 19:41
Ahh Backpacking, want to know what the best solid or alcohol fuel is? Here is a little test
Triox, Hexamethalene, Alcohol, and yea C4 Military explosives.:banana....... Sorry no canister fuels here....
Interesting that Hexamine (ESBIT type fuel) did the best. They didn't exactly optimize pot heights or use windscreens, did they? Still, hexamine did the best despite the lack of an attempt to really set things up properly for cooking.
HJ
I'm glad the C4 didn't do that good of a job; it's gotten so hard to find.
No not really, it is easy enough to make.
hikin_jim
04-11-2012, 00:26
No not really, it is easy enough to make.Uh, and just how does one make C4?
HJ
One part C1 and three parts C3 :D.
How old is that video? I don't think the military has issued trioxane in a long time. Something to think about with hexamine (aka Esbit, Methenamine; Urotropine; 1,3,5,7- tetraazaadamantane, Formin, Aminoform) is density. Some tablet are compressed more than others which can affect the burn rate. Like many experiments, this one create more questions than it answers. :)
Wise Old Owl
04-13-2012, 09:10
Don't really know - its not that old. And I still can get Triox at Surplus stores locally.
atraildreamer
04-14-2012, 14:58
When I was a scout, we used something called Girl Scout Water (high octane automotive grade fuel or anything else our devilish little hands could get a hold of.
Ronson Lighter Fluid...aka: Boy Scout Water...Troop 2, Valley Falls, RI. :rolleyes: :D
Wise Old Owl
04-14-2012, 21:45
What about "Whill P" you know the great stuff that Uncle Sam made back in Vietnam. Guaranteed to cook your meals and then some. When I was a scout, we used something called Girl Scout Water (high octane automotive grade fuel or anything else our devilish little hands could get a hold of. I wonder how these alternative fuels could compare to some of the stuff Mythbusters tested out.
91 high octane is heet - the people that sell it don't even know it's really heet! found that out by huge accident... The funny cars and other rods are burning it.... No Kidding..
kombiguy
04-15-2012, 21:07
One part C1 and three parts C3 :D.
Wouldn't that be C10?
Wise Old Owl
04-15-2012, 23:02
tooooche!........................
91 high octane is heet - the people that sell it don't even know it's really heet! found that out by huge accident... The funny cars and other rods are burning it.... No Kidding..
I'm not sure what your talking about here WOO. Yellow Heet is methanol and has an octane rating of 120 or so. There is a class of dragsters that burn methanol but most steet rods burn high octane gasoline. "91 high octane is heet" maybe I'm missing something here, can you explain.