I purchased a pack of smaller Sterno cans for emergency use. Over about a five year period about half of them, six or so, lost their contents through evaporation. These were pristine, unopened cans.

I just go with alcohol now. many of the disadvantages you list for Sterno apply to liquid alcohol, such as the nearly invisible flame. At least the alcohol doesn't seem to evaporate and it is usable in a variety of situations.

Interesting. I've never seen unopened Sterno cans of any sort loose their contents. The old, mid 70s, paint can style closure was pretty good. I've seen cans resealed after partial use last well over a decade.

I'm also unsure how jellied alcohol would be less likely to evaporate than liquid alcohol.

Just to be Safe,I would think the MRE heaters would be The Safest means of Heating up Food/Beverages,In the confines of your Vehicle(Car/Pick-up) without resorting to the use of The Battery,ie.Inverter,Cig.Lighter,etc. Most Surplus stores sell them Individually for a few bucks each!

Doesn't the MRE FRHs use a Magnesium reaction liberating Hydrogen gas. Even carrying MRE FRHs for transport under FAA guidelines is regarded as a transport hazard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flameless_ration_heater

Perhaps the Hotcan or Hotpack self heating meal solution would be even safer as both products use a different exothermic chemical reaction with no explosive hydrogen being released.

http://www.hotcan.com/

http://www.hotpackmeals.co.uk/

FAA Guidelines?Since when did they have anything to do with an Automobile?I have used the MRE Heaters,Outside of my vehicle,& I've Never even thought about Lighting up the contents,Upon opening, for Retreival of food source!Are WE thinking Static Electricity for possible Ignition of Said,Minute amount of Hydrogen Gas? In that case,Go ahead & Have Cold Tea w/ Coddled Cream! I'll take my chances,Of which are Many,& Enjoy a Hot cup of VIA- Colombiano & Something to Nosh on,As well,Afterward,I'll use same used Heater bag to,Empty my Bladder into,So were Talking Multi-purpose for $3 bucks or less! I was gonna'say dual-purpose but realized,I could also Throw the bag at The Official from The FAA,of whom had the GALL,to walk thru a Blizzard,from his Cushy warm office at the Airport,Just to inform me,I'm Not abiding by FAA Guidelines!

The last couple of days the mid west has been hammered by a snow storm which is moving east to New England and east coast.

Did I hear correctly that some drivers in the mid west were stuck in the snow for 12 hours before rescued along freeways?

I haven't seen anything on here regarding that so figured it was a miss read by me.

In the Winter Car Kits thread yesterday:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wintery_weather

Wind hampers efforts to free drivers on Ind. road

By TOM COYNE, Associated Press – 12 mins ago

LAPORTE, Ind. – More than 70 motorists were stuck for hours Monday in biting temperatures on snow-covered highways in northwest Indiana as strong winds hampered snow plow drivers' efforts to free them. By Monday afternoon, most had been rescued safely, but a few were still trapped by drifts.

Authorities said strong winds with gusts up to 30 mph were delaying rescue efforts.

...Others were trapped overnight on U.S. 30, some for more than 12 hours...

Thanks.
Normally I am on here daily but my schedule's been a bit weird. There is a lot more 'bold' unread threads to scan through.

This thread is amazingly timely, isn't it!

The big storm around the Great Lakes has hit your Canadian neighbours pretty hard too. Quite a mess.

Around 300 people have been trapped in their cars in Ontario for 24 hours and counting. Here's a story with a bit of detail on how people are coping.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nati...#articlecontent

I was curious how quickly water would heat up on top of a "Candlelier" (3-candle candle lantern) so I put a cup of water in a Snow Peak titanium cup and placed it on top of a Candlelier.

Within 10 minutes the one cup of water was warm. Within 20 minutes the water was cocoa-toasty. After 40 minutes the water was not boiling but it was painful to dip a finger in and tiny bubbles were forming on the bottom of the cup -- plenty hot enough for mixing with Mountain House freeze-dried meals.

With these candles still burning I emptied out the water, cooled the cup and started over with 2 cups of water. This time I put the pot set's "frying pan" over the cup as a lid. The time-line is about the same -- cocoa-toasty after 20 minutes, Mt. House-ready in 40 minutes (water not quite boiling but bubbles forming). Around 50 minutes it was boiling.

I've been carrying a single-candle candle lantern but this makes me think the 3-candle is worth carrying in the car. For this experiment I used the standard 9-hour UCO candles that come in packages of three ($3) and that are nearly burned out.

Candlelier (these are $29 at Campmor)
http://www.rei.com/product/624320

REI and Campmor also carry a Beeswax version of the candles that last 12-15 hours. They are three times as expensive ($10 for three) but in addition to lasting significantly longer, they generate less smoke. Seems worthwhile for a stranded car situation. Light + heat in one package that you can use inside the vehicle.

Beeswax UCO candles
http://www.rei.com/product/737330

I just ordered three packs of the Beeswax candles, from Amazon, for $9.84 each and free shipping with the Prime membership. Should receive them in two days and they'll be going in the car along with a Candlelier that's been sitting in a box. I went Candlelier-crazy in the 90s after a power outage.

Fortunately, camp gear lasts if stored well and sometimes sees much more use later on in a different application. I'd bought them for ambience.

The titanium cookset I'm using:
http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/41366?feat=506856-GN2