Southern Tier & Fuel for cooking advice please

[tonythomson]

Hi coming over to Florida 2 weeks and need to buy a camping stove, being English have to make sure I can get a cup of tea.  Riding the Southern Tier.

What is he easiest kind of fuel to get along the route - this will determine what kind of stove I buy.
Thanks in advance

[Westinghouse]

High octane (93) unleaded gasoline. But it depends. In the eastern part of the ST---TX, LA, MS, AL, FL there will be no scarcity of places to buy white gas, compressed cycliners of gas, denatured alcohol, etc. In the western states sources of whatever it is you might need tend to be more spaced out, fewer and farther between. If you get a Featherlite 442 Coleman stove, you will be able to get fuel for it anywhere. Getting the fuel from the gas station hose into the stove is another matter. Fact is, I could not unless certain other things such as a larger gas can and funnel were available. You must bring your own little funnel. It weighs next to nothing. This gas station hoses run at a certain minimum velocity that is too much to get into that little hole in the stove. You have to pump the gas into a larger container, then funnel the gas into the stove. No larger container, no gas in stove. You can work it out. If you can deal with that problem, any  lightweight stove using white gas or unleaded gasoline is just  fine. There are department stores across the country that sell canisters of compressed gas, and the stove fixtures that attach to them. The lightest stoves you will find burn denatured alcohol. The fuel for this stove will be a bit more difficult to find in some places, but gasoline is available just about everywhere.

[WesternFlyer]

Tony

Getting a “real cup of tea” may be your biggest problem.  When you order a cup of “Southern Sweet Tea” hold onto you chair!

I have heard that Great Britain is even stricter than the US on allowing liquid fuel camp stoves on airplanes.  If there is even a trace of fuel residue, they will not allow it, and at least in the US they do test.  The only exception I have heard of are alcohol/spirit stoves like the Swedish Trangia, where the alcohol is easily washed out with water.  I haven’t heard or read anything, but I would think pressurized canister stoves less the canister would be allowed.

Denatured ethanol (I think it is called mentholated spirits on your side of the Atlantic.)  is readily available at any hardware or paint supply store even in small towns. In a pinch you an use Yellow HEET, which is available at gas/petrol stations. Don't use Red HEET.  It leaves black soot on your pots.   Fuel canisters vary a lot, but they last a long time and should be available in both the bigger cities and in areas that cater to a lot of campers. 

Western Flyer

[John Nettles]

Just get a multi-fuel stove, MSR, Coleman, etc.  While unleaded gas is readily available, white gas (Coleman) is cleaner and clogs less.

[IndyPat]

Just like the prior post said.  If you use a stove get one of the major brand and I would suggest if you are going to use unleaded gasoline then buy a cleaning kit to make sure you can clean the internal parts.

I carry the fuel in a MSR bottle, then fill the stove.

I like my coffee and hot oatmeal in the AM to get moving.

[Westinghouse]

That's me. Oatmeal with raisins, bananas, yogurt, and a 50-50 mix of applejuice and squeezed lemon juice. Gotta have that hot water. Then add an energy drink for good measure.

[staehpj1]

Don't count on getting canister fuel along the way.  Either make arrangements for someone to mail it to you via general delivery or use something else. You can mail isobutane fuel via ground mail (domestic mail only). The package must have the following label attached on the address side of the package:
"Surface Mail Only
Consumer commodity
ORM-D"

Alternately alcohol, gasoline, and white gas are generally available, but the white gas is often in gallons.  Someone mentioned sources for alcohol already, so I won't go into that.  I would probably take a pop can stove or a mini trangia if I was going solo.

[Westinghouse]

There is also a Sierra stove. It has a small fan underneath. You can put in just about any combustible material. Light it. The fan super heats the flames.
In my opinion, they charge far far too much for it. I most certainly would not buy one. It is price gouging. Anyone could make one just as good for a few dollars or less. But, they are out there to be had.

[MrBent]

You've got good advice so far.  On my own cross USA tour in 2007, I decided to try a Pepsi can stove that uses denature alcohol or the Yellow Heet as mention.  For a solo traveler, this is really hard to beat.  The fuel can be found everywhere, and the stoves are really easy to use.  I might hesitate to set up, pump, prime, etc. to get a more complicated stove going for a mid-morning beverage, but the can stove was so slick, quiet and easy, I found myself frequently stopping to brew up.  I often enjoyed a second cup of fresh coffee on the trail.  Here's a link to instructions on making a Pepsi can stove: http://home.insightbb.com/~royevans/pepsistove.pdf

Have a great trip!

Scott

[John Nettles]

How long does the Pepsi stove burn for on a single fill up?  Can the time vary based on anything, i.e. temp, wind, etc.?

[MrBent]

Hey, Tulsa:  If I recall, a single maximum fill burned for about eight minutes or so.  In practice, a couple of ounces of alcohol was enough to boil water for my morning java.  I have a little plastic measuring scoop. For meals, I would have to do a mid-cook refill because I often cook pasta and/or steam veggies.  It's handy to have a Leatherman or similar light pliers to move the pot stand.

A couple of points with this kind of stove:  You'll need  a good, tight wind screen with a few air holes--so not TOO tight.  And you want the pot to sit about 1.5 inches off the flame.  I constructed a very simple stand out of a piece of wire fencing material.  I cut off a couple of squares and bent over the protruding ends to the proper height--presto.  Stove and stand fit easily in the pot.

If you don't have the wind screen, efficiency drops off dramatically, by the way.  Besides the hassle of having to refill the stove (minor), I've yet to work out a good way to simmer.  One fellow talked about a "simmer ring" made from the top of another can where you remove the pull tab and use this to cover the jets and have the flame, supposedly, only come out of the open center of the stove via the pull tab opening--no jet, ergo, no hot flame, ergo simmer.  I found this not to work.  Eventually the stove would just get too hot and flames would start pouring out from underneath the ring.  I ended up not doing much simmering!  This is something I need to work with.  I think the Trangia stoves might have a good solution to this problem, however.

Cheers,

Scott

[Westinghouse]

Here is a good wind screen for that alcohol stove. It is a coffee can, a smaller one of course. Take a church key and cut out some air holes around the bottom. Take tin snips and cut some slots out of the top. Put the stove in the can. Mine, a manufactured alcohol stove, fits perfectly. Put the pan or pot on top of the can, and you have higher heat retention. I can get a quart of water to boil lightly in eight or nine minutes, and even if it does not come to a full rolling boil, it is plenty hot enough. When it somes to sauces, they boil in four minutes. Foods and meats get very hot quite soon. It is just fine unless you plan on putting on a big feast everyday. The alcohol stove, mine anyway, and wind screen weigh only eight ounces or less. It is maintenance free and very simple to use.

[WesternFlyer]

Here is a windscreen that can be modified to fit most any stove system.  It is half the price of the name brand screens and folds up flat.  I used a simple paper punch to put a line of vent holes near the bottom.  I just added holes until it was right. 
http://www.campsaver.com/ItemMatrix.asp?GroupCode=trd0002&MatrixType=1