BigLoad
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Pancakes!
Posts: 12,911
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Post by BigLoad on Apr 11, 2022 10:35:52 GMT -8
At 17°F which is about as cold as we’ll do, lighting and using alcohol has never been a problem. I agree. Alcohol is great in the cold once you get it started. It helps a lot if warmed up to body temperature before use, which for the small amount used at any time isn't hard. I used alcohol regularly down to 10F, but with burn restrictions almost everywhere in the Southwest, I haven't used anything but canisters lately.
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swiftdream
Trail Wise!
the Great Southwest Unbound
Posts: 543
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Post by swiftdream on Apr 11, 2022 12:34:15 GMT -8
At 17°F which is about as cold as we’ll do, lighting and using alcohol has never been a problem. I agree. Alcohol is great in the cold once you get it started. It helps a lot if warmed up to body temperature before use, which for the small amount used at any time isn't hard. I used alcohol regularly down to 10F, but with burn restrictions almost everywhere in the Southwest, I haven't used anything but canisters lately. I am using a knew alcohol blend now that I have not experimented in cold. It’s the Kleen Strip Greene that is something like 95% ethanol instead of the Klean Strip with the 50% methanol. That’s the reason for the splash of water. Methanol burns very clean but the ethanol can be a bit sooty without that little splash of water. Have no idea how well ethanol lights in cold compared to a methanol blend. Canisters are more convenient by far for me too. I just like to fiddle around with stoves to some degree. Very surprisingly my Sun Oven was able to cook up bacon crispy and crunchy, tender and moist, the best bacon I’ve ever been able to cook. I didn’t think it could do that but it surely did. If there is ever a ultralight sun oven that works as good as the 24 lb All American Sun Oven that I use at home, saving 10% energy in summer, no electricity for the stove or to cool that back down with air conditioning either. a test in the workshop of the new fuel
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Post by trinity on Apr 11, 2022 13:14:24 GMT -8
swiftdream , is that a Trail Designs Sidewinder? What stove are you using with it? I have a Caldera Cone that I like a lot, but can't recall that I've carried it in quite a few years, partly because of fire restrictions, partly because canisters are just so danged convenient.
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BigLoad
Trail Wise!
Pancakes!
Posts: 12,911
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Post by BigLoad on Apr 11, 2022 13:51:22 GMT -8
My poor Caldera Cone has been used to death. It's time for a new one. I'm thinking of going for a Sidewinder this time.
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swiftdream
Trail Wise!
the Great Southwest Unbound
Posts: 543
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Post by swiftdream on Apr 11, 2022 13:53:14 GMT -8
Trinity that is something I sort of forgot about over time. The cone is Trail Designs but it is the inferno cone for the pot you see, a SnowPeak 1400 titanium with a Four Dogs lid that can nest their titanium bowl to make a dynamite double boiler. I needed an ultralight windscreen and pot holder for my Trangia stove. The cone is upside down but works for those two things and packs very small. It’s their titanium stakes and on top inside rests their mesh for the inferno setup. I really can’t burn any wood in my seven canyons with absolute safety so it works for that pot and smaller with the Trangia and with its super simmer ring in any position. So those parts came from one of the earlier Trail Designs before they even offered a sidewinder. You have to carry the entire setup in a plastic caddy, very inconvenient. It sure worked well though.
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franco
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Post by franco on Apr 11, 2022 15:02:12 GMT -8
In Australia we use 95% Ethanol very much like the denaturated type sold in Europe. Because a lot of US stoves are made using methanol/ethanol mix with Ethanol only they tend to burn too hot so I found that adding a drop or two of water helped. White Box stove , the one on the left has added water : BTW, at the time this was dismissed by several experts as rubbish .
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swiftdream
Trail Wise!
the Great Southwest Unbound
Posts: 543
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Post by swiftdream on Apr 12, 2022 8:52:26 GMT -8
Franco’s photo sure illustrates the performance value of adding some water o ethanol. It burns far cleaner. I’ve found around 8% water is good. I realize this is definitely not intuitive but the proof is in the pudding…and Franco’s photo.
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Post by leadbelly on Apr 21, 2022 10:24:15 GMT -8
this discussion has been helpful. i'm a longtime white gas user, most recently via an Optimus Nova+ i just overhauled, but i'm probably taking a backup stove (3 person group) this summer, a Soto Amicus. i'm thinking any brand i recognize that's 80/20 IsoPro should work for fuel, but i'm going to give it a test drive this weekend.
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