All alcohols are NOT created equal. But which ones make decent stove fuel?

In this week's blog post, I try to answer "What's the Best Alcohol for Stove Fuel?"

HJ

nice thanks. I use the Denatured stuff, you can buy at box stores and REI.

What do you mean by fuel velocity? I use a White Box Stove (mod: wrapped kevlar twine around it to light faster). I get that its the vapor that ignites and when there is no pot on top it burns fairly weak. Place a pot or kettle on top and the pressure creates a very loud and powerful flame.

I do still use the provided windscreen.

Flame velocity (not fuel velocity) is the issue.

Think about how flames shoot out of a blow torch. Try waving the flame from a blow torch around in the breeze from a fan on low. It won't affect the flame much. Now take a candle. Wave the candle flame in the same breeze. You should see a pronounced effect on the flame. A blow torch has a high velocity flame; a candle has a low velocity flame.

In like manner, an alcohol stove typically has a relatively low velocity flame. Wind affects an alcohol stove flame more than it will a gas or gasoline/kerosene stove's flame. You're making the right choice using a windscreen with an alcohol stove.

HJ

Nice article Jim. Thanks. FYI for all you alcohol stove users, Klean Strip Green is only slightly more expensive than regular denatured alcohol.

Thanks for the article. I have seen a number of other articles as well trying to answer the same question.

I have never seen Everclear grain alcohol. It's only for sale in Alberta and not my province. Probably because it would be too easy for substance abuse. But all reports say that it is the best stuff to burn.

Denatured grain alcohol has about 5% water content. However, because of the methanol additive, one has to be careful not to spill it on your hands because of the toxicity. Depending on the manufacturer it can be denatured with as little as 5% methanol or as much as 75% methanol so you have to check the MSDS sheets for the true content. It is not as common as pure methanol.

Methyl hydrate (methanol, mineral spirits) sold in the form of paint thinner has about 10% water content. It is cheap and available in convenient 1 and 4 litre quantities for about $3/$10. It is also available as chaffing dish or fondue fuel but for some reason it is more expensive! If you buy it in the 250 ml bottles as in anti-freeze or yellow HEET version you are paying a lot per BTU used. I made the mistake once by hurriedly grabbing a similar looking bottle to methyl hydrate and got shellac thinner (turpentine) which is NOT the same - it is heavy and leaves a sooty residue although once it got lit it burned like a torch!

Lower down on the list is isopropyl alcohol (30+% water), rubbing alcohol and gelled alcohol (Sterno).

The thing I like with alcohol stoves is that you don't need to transport a white fuel or canister stove when travelling by air. If you don't carry a stove, you won't get hassled by the TSA or equivalent. Simply empty a couple cans of pop or beer, cut, fit, make jet holes and add alcohol to burn! And at the end of the trip, just recycle the stove.

Sidebar: I tried a blend of Coleman fuel and methyl hydrate just for the test in my alcohol jet stove. I used three blends: 75/25, 50/50 and 25/75 with about 1 oz. of fuel. The 75/25 Coleman/MH was scary. It became a frigging blow torch and is way too volatile for a jet stove. The 25/75 blend worked great -- the added BTU value of the Coleman fuel boiled water much faster. I was concerned about the two fuels separating, the MH evaporating faster, uneven combustion, etc. Also, the hassle of mixing the fuels and storage took away from the convenience and simplicity so I never bothered with this again.

Id have say that the dual use nature of Everclear seems to make it the clear winner in my mind. Of course you have to make sure you don't get carried away and drink the rest of your fuel.

I haven't met anyone yet,that could actually tolerate drinking Everclear straight-up,though I watched a few drink crudely refined boot polish in the military,Yuck!

Thanks! I always wondered what the difference was between the yellow and the red Heet.

Sue

I thought same thing. I couldn't carry enough OJ in my pack to drink Everclear as a beverage. Way to strong and who wants to wake up in the backcountry that hung? OMG that stuff will put you on the couch for a weekend.

But with radically more ethanol content (less than 50% with regular Klean Strip vs. over 90% with Klean Strip Green).

HJ