has anyone used the Brunton Green Heat canisters for an emergency stove/heater? i was planning on getting a NuWick candle for this purpose until i read about brunton canisters. they seem pretty useful, lightweight, non-toxic, with a good shelf life. and the larger canisters can be resealed with the lid. i was thinking the smaller cans would pack down nicely in a kit though. anyone use one of these? i already have an esbit stove which is good, but the fuel tabs really stink, and even when sealed with bags, still stink up everything in the same bag with them. and apparently they're rather sweet smelling to bears. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

here's a review from last year:
http://www.mountainzone.com/gear/blogs/gear_junkie/2005/04/canned-heat.html

If you read the last comment on the page, it sounds like they might be hard to come by.

There is somethign similiar that I've seen places like Brigade Quartermaster in the recent past, called Heat Cell. Might be the same thing, or something very similiar, but I think it only had a 20 minute burn time. But that does sound a little more realistic than the 80 minutes given by Brunton.

I have used them in the past. They are an alcohol jelly based cooker. Very slow, because the flame is quite "cool." Big advantage is that they don't give off toxic fumes - or so the manufacturer claims. The tin it comes in is prone to rust. So they need to be stored carefully.

From the link:

"...my test liter of water took about 22 minutes to boil in a slightly breezy, 65-degree setting..."

I can get an 8 oz cup boiling over a regular Sterno in 18 minutes so 22 minutes seems a bit excessive, especially at $9.50 a pop. The smaller size looks like it could be useful though.

I'm a firm believer in the usefulness of Sterno-type products, especially in a 72 hour or a vehicle kit. I emailed Sterno once and they advised that the only byproducts you get from burning it is carbon dioxide and water vapor. No CO, and that's a good thing. And the 7 oz can of Sterno will burn for 3 hours.

Norad, how's the shelf-life on them? I've been thinking of adding them to my BOB and DIG-IN kits. Triox might be another route, I'm just trying to eval the options.

You would want to check them every 4-6 months. Being alcohol based, they are subject to evaporation, even in the orginal containers.

And always remember, like any other open flame, they require oxygen to work, and so do you.

Sue

I'll catch plenty of heat (no pun intended) but I prefer the SVEA 123 stove; I've burned white gas and gasoline in mine. They are tricky at first, but last almost forever, have very few moving parts, and heat like crazy. They fit pretty well into a 32oz steel cup. I never used the fire paste stuff, just be careful and cover the area under the valve with fuel and watch it all burn until it builds enough pressure. I've used a blast match and a magnesium starter (mine has a part of a hacksaw blade tied to the mag block - just scrape it along the mag striker and it throws a lot more sparks than a knife).

Option 2 is a small alcohol stove (Swiss military?) that is contained in a mess kit. They dried up from the scene a year or so ago but have no moving parts, can burn 151 rum in a pinch (maybe less proof as well), and are quite compact. Mine has been on many trips and I'd take it over the esbit any day (I've played with a few of those too). One full charge of alcohol (1/2 to 1 oz maybe?) seems to boil a 32 oz cup of water pretty quick. It always seems to take a couple esbit tabs to do that. If all else fails - drink the rum and sleep off the emergency. :-)

My philosophy is to keep it as simple and sustainable as possible and get equipment you can use often to become adept.

I just cracked one open out of a case I bought about 5 years ago and lit it up. Seems to look normal and be working fine. I'll see how long it goes-usually I get about 3 hours out of a new can. If it runs a significantly less amount of time then I'll know there has been some evaporation.

Edit: it just went out. It burned for 2 hours and 50 minutes, so it looks like it stored pretty well.

Sweet. Sounds like a winner.

Don't use in an enclosed space. Check. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />