27
votes
Accepted
Is burning cow pies (dried cow manure) safe?
It is apparently not safe, among the poor today who have to use it as they have no alternatives, it leads to all sorts of health problems.
It is also a worse polutant than burning wood.
On the ...
21
votes
How can I guess if an outdoor expanse contains flammable gas?
This is rare. I have a BS in chemical engineering, worked in natural gas transportation, and went to fire school at Texas A&M.
Natural gas is mainly methane. It is odorless and colorless. It is ...
14
votes
How are camping fuels named in different languages and geographies?
Below a list of common camping fuels and their translated names.
Please do leave a comment and/or edit this answer if you think there are errors or if you can fill the gaps or provide more ...
Community wiki
12
votes
Accepted
Using "unusual" liquid fuels in a multi-fuel stove
There are a couple of reasons why you can't use alcohol or acetone:
A petrol/gasoline/kerosene/diesel etc. stove needs the fuel to be vapourised, under pressure and mixed with air for it to burn (...
10
votes
Accepted
What are the different names for and sources of alcohol for my stove?
There are four common types of stove alcohol:
methanol, ethanol, denatured alcohol, and isopropanol.
You can usually find them in hardware stores and (but not always) in camping stores.
You can also ...
7
votes
What's the best way to use up (and dispose of) almost-empty butane canisters?
A third option to Russell Steen's excellent two is:
To Refill:
There are adapters (from G-Works and Alva, amongst others) that will let you refill them using either other butane canisters, larger ...
6
votes
What can I add to alcohol to make the flame visible?
You can try a non chemical way to add visibility to an almost invisible flame: a small metal net layer on top of the flame that the flame will go through and after just a few seconds will be ...
5
votes
Using "unusual" liquid fuels in a multi-fuel stove
No alcohol - because these use a vapour phase to burn, this is best achieved by evaporation from the surface of the fuel under the heat generated by burning. Pressurizing alcohol based fuels results ...
5
votes
What are the different names for and sources of alcohol for my stove?
Martin's answer is good. Adding a few tidbits:
Most alcohol stoves will burn other alcohols. Denatured alcohol usually refers to ethanol with an agent added that makes it undrinkable. The 3 ...
4
votes
Buying Campingaz in Eastern Europe
Your bottle will just contain LPG. The problem you may have is the connector for filling up. This is non standard across countries and so you may require an adapter.
adapters: https://www.alibaba....
4
votes
Accepted
What is the life expectancy of Propane/CO detector?
It depends on the device but 5-7 years seems like the max with some as short as 2 years.
The gas sensors in CO alarms have a limited and indeterminable life span, typically two to five years. The ...
4
votes
What can I add to alcohol to make the flame visible?
There are several methods, one is adding water. The thinking is this: the alcohol should be at about 75% alcohol, and denatured alcohol sold in the US already has some water in it, or other compounds ...
4
votes
Accepted
Could I have problems / obstacles with obtaining petrol / gasoline for a stove
In the UK many petrol stations (which, BTW have some of the longest opening hours of any retailers, especially on Sundays) say minimum 2 litres, some minimum 5. There are rules about the type of ...
3
votes
Accepted
Finding fuel for a Trangia stove in Russia
Alternative answer in case you can't reliably come up with a good fuel solution: buy an alternative burner for your Trangia stove.
If finding ethanol fuel is too much of a hassle it might be worth ...
3
votes
Accepted
Portable power generator ballpark fuel consumption
Generator run time per gallon varies greatly by manufacture. Just like gas mileage varies per vehicle. Not all small 4 seat cars, driving the speed limit get the same gas mileage, even though they ...
3
votes
Is burning cow pies (dried cow manure) safe?
Dried cattle dung is somewhat safer than wood in so far as it produces fewer sparks and therefore is less likely to set the surroundings on fire. This is especially important if you have an open fire ...
3
votes
Is burning cow pies (dried cow manure) safe?
Smoke has it's hazards. For 30 years I cooked over open fires for about 6 weeks a year. It's irritating as heck, but I don't have obvious problems. That may be about as good as the 2 pack a day ...
3
votes
Using "unusual" liquid fuels in a multi-fuel stove
If you find yourself in a remote area without a supply of "normal" stove fuels, you might try lamp oil, tiki torch fuel, citronella oil, charcoal lighter fluid, cigarette lighter fluid, ...
3
votes
What can I add to alcohol to make the flame visible?
See "How to Make Colored Fire (Ask an Expert)", while the article is intended for fireplaces and not cooking amongst the recommendations is borax which is not very poisonous (in some countries it is ...
3
votes
How can I guess if an outdoor expanse contains flammable gas?
The best way to tell an area's at risk of a gas explosion is it smells like gas. Another good way is posted warnings of flammable gas, like you might see on a propane tank. These are way more valuable ...
3
votes
What's the difference between white gas, propane, kerosene, and gasoline?
Chemically, they're very different, having to do with carbon chain lengths, the discussion about which will not help you decide.
@WedaPashi gave an awesome answer, so, I'll add to it by saying this:
...
3
votes
What's the difference between white gas, propane, kerosene, and gasoline?
My experience with compact stoves for butane/propane mixture:
Amazingly efficient when it is warm outside. Super for camping in the summer and early autumn. But in the late autumn, when the ...
3
votes
Which gas cartridges (fuel) can I use for Bluegaz Mobile Stove?
I noticed that the Bluegaz Mobile Stove looks almost exactly like the Campingaz Camp'Bistro 2 which takes Campingaz CP250 gas cartridges. So I took the punt and bought some CP250s. I'm pleased to say ...
2
votes
What can I add to alcohol to make the flame visible?
As can be seen in the pictures in my answer to my own question What can I burn in an open cup burner stove?, isopropanol is a good option. In some countries it has replaced methanol in denatured ...
2
votes
Buying Campingaz in Eastern Europe
I was able to refill my CampingGaz 907 bottle at the INA in Tivat. They have a filling factory behind the petrol station: https://goo.gl/maps/cis2zcHGFoSNzLzd8
I went to lots of other places and most ...
2
votes
Accepted
Primus Omnilite liquid fuel stove: can't prime with 0.25 jet
I've written to the Primus support and received this answer:
The 25 jet for Kerosine is more of a in emergency use part. The
kerosine is harder to get to light and will be problematic and will
sot a ...
1
vote
Primus Omnilite liquid fuel stove: can't prime with 0.25 jet
I think 0.25mm Jet seems not to be the industrial product, and so many defective jets. The hole of 0.25mm Jet is sometimes defective, often cannot pass through the cleaning needle easily.
I use 0.32mm ...
1
vote
Could I have problems / obstacles with obtaining petrol / gasoline for a stove
It is also worth knowing the pros and cons of using automotive Gasoline / Petrol in stoves:
From MSR's website MSR's website "Liquid Fuel Stoves 101 Choosing the right fuel for your stove
White ...
1
vote
What is the life expectancy of Propane/CO detector?
I ordered the new detector linked in the question, when it arrived I read the directions and learned about the 30 day reset window for end of life.
Question says:
The Propane/CO detector in my camper ...
1
vote
Buying Campingaz in Eastern Europe
Try this Camping Gaz store locator for Poland: http://www.campingaz.com/PL/t-retailerlocator.aspx. It might help (and you can use Google Translate if needed.
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