Alcohol Stoves in Central & South America

[Ruined Adventures]

I'm in the early planning stages of a Pan-Am trip...still a couple years away, but I can't stop planning every last detail!

Does anyone know how easy it is to find Denatured Alcohol South of the Border? I know it's widely available in Hardware stores, just not sure exactly HOW WIDELY AVAILABLE? Also, slightly related...does anyone know if Denatured Alcohol can be found in Europe & Madagascar? I'm trying to figure out whether bringing my alcohol stove will be worth it or not.

If someone has "been there, used that" please let me know.
Thanks

 

[Victorian]

I assume you are talking about a Trangia stove?



In Europe, it's no problem to get it. I only know the German word for it: BRENNSPRITUS . Translated that means burning alkohol, there is also a version for cleaning purposes ... thinned down with water. Doesn't burn well...

In Africa: You can only get some in bigger cities at "hardware stores".

No idea about South America...

Cheers,
Andreas

 

[UK4X4]

Unlikely in most places in latin-america

not that it does not exist- but finding will take time.

Standard coleman containers are just about in every large supermarket

backup - charcoal and coconut husks

 

[redbeard]

A friend of mine spent a couple months in SA with his tuna can stove. He seemed to always fine dn alcohol to burn...perhaps I should say he always found some fuel to burn in his stove (which is a dn alcohol stove by design, created by a couple tuna cans and coat hanger wire).

 

[Ruined Adventures]

Many thanks for the replies!

I assume you are talking about a Trangia stove?

Not quite, mine is a homemade alcohol stove (aka penny stove, aka hobo stove) made out of beer cans. It's the same concept as these:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Alcohol-Stove-4/

Standard coleman containers are just about in every large supermarket

Do you mean the red Coleman liquid fuel containers, or the little green propane cylinders?

He seemed to always fine dn alcohol to burn...perhaps I should say he always found some fuel to burn in his stove (which is a dn alcohol stove by design, created by a couple tuna cans and coat hanger wire).

I don't suppose you know if he used anything besides denatured alcohol on the trip? If so, I'm wondering what worked well for him.

 

[paulj]

Regarding Europe, the best known commercially made alcohol stove is from Sweden, Trangia.

Trangia has a pdf with the name for 'mythylated spirits' in various countries. 'Alcohol de quemar' and 'metillico' are listed for South American countries. One guide book suggests pharmacies. Brazil is a major producer of alcohol (ethanol from sugar cane) for vehicle use.

For Peru:

Getting alcohol for stoves is easy: Either buy the blue colored alcohol de quemar or, better, simply buy pure drinking alcohol. You can get this in every town for about 3 Soles (US$0,85) per liter. (Don't even think about drinking it).

http://wikitravel.org/en/Peru

 

[Toyotero]

I've seen alcohol available at even the smallest pharmacies in Guatemala and Nicaragua.

PaulJ probably has the best idea. Look for Everclear-like "drinking" alcohol. In Nicaragua, there used to be a very very cheap (1-2 Cordoba per shot, $0.10) and strong liquor that everyone called "El Caballito." I'm pretty sure it was near 100% ethyl alcohol and was probably made for industrial use... I've heard that after an incident a few years ago, the government cracked down on cheap liquor distribution (see below) so it may no longer be available... but I'm sure some 200 proof product is available.

BTW, cheap alcohol will be safe for cooking (in well ventilated area), but remember not to drink the cheap stuff when south of the border if you value you vision.

Bootleg Liquor Kills 35 in Nicaragua

 

[Ruined Adventures]

Trangia has a pdf with the name for 'mythylated spirits' in various countries.

Perfect. Thanks Paulj, I found the pdf.

http://www.trangia.se/core/files/2222.Names of fuels in different countries.pdf

BTW, cheap alcohol will be safe for cooking (in well ventilated area), but remember not to drink the cheap stuff when south of the border if you value you vision.

Rest assured, if I'm drinking something I won't take any chances in that regard. Besides, from what I've been reading the grain alcohol doesn't burn very efficiently. Hopefully I won't have to resort to that, since it's a slightly more expensive stove fuel.

 

[lostworldexpedition]

Instructables is awesome. Do you read Make Magazine?

Will your alcohol stove will be your primary cooking heat source or just a back-up? I am just curious.

I feel you on the planning stress. We were planning and preparing for our trip for 3 years! It hurt to wait that long, but it is worth it. If you have any questions about what I now think I should/'nt have done don't hesitate to PM.

 

[paulj]

It may not be definitive, but this backpakcinglight thread gives an idea of the ethanol v methanol issues

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=13830

In the US, denatured alcohol is mostly ethanol (like highproof drinkable stuff). Gas line antifreeze (HEET) is methanol (I think). I have not noticed a difference in the performance of my Trangia with the 2 fuels.

Evaluating the efficiency of fuels in simple stoves is tricky. There are variables like the vaporization rate of the fuel, and the mixing ratio of fuel and air, that are hard to control. The stove and fuel that heats a given amount of water the fastest is not necessarily the most efficient. It may end up using more fuel in the process. If the fuel evaporates too fast, some will escape before burning. I think I can boil more water with a given amount of fuel by using a heat reducer ring. And if there's a wind, the wind shield will make a big difference in how much of the flame actually does useful work.

 

[Ruined Adventures]

Instructables is awesome. Do you read Make Magazine?

Will your alcohol stove will be your primary cooking heat source or just a back-up? I am just curious.

I feel you on the planning stress. We were planning and preparing for our trip for 3 years! It hurt to wait that long, but it is worth it. If you have any questions about what I now think I should/'nt have done don't hesitate to PM.

Never heard of Make Magazine. I just checked out their website though and it looks like my cup of tea. The only problem with Instructables is having to sift thru all the BS that people have on there. It's worth the effort I suppose.

I'm still trying to decide what I'll use for a stove. I have a bulky two burner coleman dual fuel, an off brand but slightly smaller two burner propane grill, an Optimus Nova+ backpacking stove, and an ultralight alcohol stove...I may just go with the two backpacking stoves so I have a backup and I'll keep things light and compact. Between the two stoves I'll be able to burn anything that's flammable. I suppose I could always set both up when I need two burners at once...the only pro to the bulky propane stove would be bringing a 5 gal tank and using a distribution tee to hook up to my coleman lantern at the same time. Now that I've said it out loud, that sounds like a lot of wasted space actually.:sombrero: Luckily I have a couple years to sort it all out.

It may not be definitive, but this backpakcinglight thread gives an idea of the ethanol v methanol issues

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=13830

In the US, denatured alcohol is mostly ethanol (like highproof drinkable stuff). Gas line antifreeze (HEET) is methanol (I think). I have not noticed a difference in the performance of my Trangia with the 2 fuels.

Evaluating the efficiency of fuels in simple stoves is tricky. There are variables like the vaporization rate of the fuel, and the mixing ratio of fuel and air, that are hard to control. The stove and fuel that heats a given amount of water the fastest is not necessarily the most efficient. It may end up using more fuel in the process. If the fuel evaporates too fast, some will escape before burning. I think I can boil more water with a given amount of fuel by using a heat reducer ring. And if there's a wind, the wind shield will make a big difference in how much of the flame actually does useful work.

Sounds like I asked the right group of folks for advice.:coffeedrink: Thanks again, I have some thinking to do...