Let's see what a little research says...

Sterno:
67% Ethanol
3-4% Methanol
Sterno MSDS
Wikipedia says it is "made from ethanol, methanol, water and an amphoteric oxide gelling agent, plus a dye". Does this mean that the missing 30% or so is water? Water and other non-toxic stuff doesn't show up in most MSDS.

Co-zFire Bio Ethanol Fire Place Fuel 190 Proof Denatured:
88-92% 190 proof ethyl alcohol
1-5% Isopropyl alcohol
<1% Isopropyl acetate
1-4% Acetone
Product MSDS

Kleen-Strip Green Denatured Alcohol:
90-100% Ethanol
<10% Methanol
<10% Methyl isobutyl ketone
<5% Acetic acid, Ethyl ester
Kleen-Strip MSDS

I guess you CAN reduce the heat by adding water!

Sue

Thanks susan
You remind me of water in the gel

I remember some "magic show" where a paper tissue is wetted with fuel and burnt. Fire is lighted but paper does not burn. Fuel is a mixture of alcohol & water !!!

So, that is why sterno has a "cool" fire.


Now, my question to all is that, if I fill a can with sand instead of perlite, and then pour alcohol in it. It should burn just fine while danger spillage or splash is minimized.

Is this true or have I missed something ??

Thanks LED

I have seen a few videos about the canteen cup stove stand
In one of them at least, the guy added four nuts & bolts to raise the pot a little above the stand. From your and everyone's experience do you think it is more effeiecient to let the pot sit right on the stand, or is it better to leave half an inch ( or so ) distance for flames to come through the stand holes and touch more surface of the pots bottom ??

The stand has four raised holes for pot support allowing flames to pass through and hit the pot.
I have one too.

Lee

I have one of these stoves:

http://foldingfirebox.com/

I love it. You can set it up for an alcohol burner, sterno, Esbit, Hexamine, woodburning, etc. It's probably too much stove for just a stow-away-in-the-office emergency setup, but it's a really nice stove IMHO. If you're using something other than wood burning (alcohol, sterno, etc) it's a really good windscreen and pot support.

Thanks for the link haertig, thats a really well designed stove.

the Swiss Ranger Volcano (new surplus..some used stuff out there) kit comes with a nested cup, 500ml aluminum bottle with cork stopper... I got 2 for $20 just to fool around with...if you go with denatured alcohol and a $12 Trangia brass stove (comes with simmer ring and rubber gasketed screw on lid)you could lower and retreive the burner with a piece of bent wire and not go to the effort to open up the fuel feed hole....also works with Esbit, hexamine, twigs...but not on desk top

I had never thought of it until you mentioned it earlier in this thread, and I think it's brilliant! More ballast, less chance to shift or splash/slosh.

Personally, I would use a coarse white silica sand (parakeet grit in small boxes), but that's just me.

Still looking for some of that Kleen-Strip denatured stuff.

Sue

way too much reinventing the wheel going on here..
for around $20 you can get a well made copy of the Trangia alcohol cooking system,burner,pots and a lid/fry pan.there is enough space inside the closed kit to keep a few dry meals and things like tea and coco.



you could keep this and the fuel anywhere,car,home,office and forget about it at that price and when you need it you have a real kit that you can really cook with.



i suggest going for the real thing.pop can stoves and the like are fun but it's like a tent V.S. a trash bag for a shelter.

http://www.wmbarr.com/product.aspx?catid=21&prodid=104