tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Aug 13, 2017 10:21:54 GMT 10
I'm looking at different small portable stoves. The fold up ones that use solid fuel, such as this one www.bcf.com.au/Product/Kookaburra-Backpackers-Solid-Fuel-Stove/114429, look good. And in a thread here about food storage in cars they are mentioned because the fuel is safer to carry around. I was also looking at alcohol/metho burners, and would like to hear what others think of them. At bcf they have a couple of cheap nipper kipper brand ones, with one being listed as a spirit burner www.bcf.com.au/Product/Nipper-Kipper-Spirit-Stove/114593 and one as a metho burner www.bcf.com.au/Product/Nipper-Kipper-Metho-Burner/114592. I'm wondering what the difference is between these - never having used this style of stove before I'm wondering what makes one able to burn metho but not spirits and vice versa. Perhaps that's a silly question, but I just can't see it. How safe is metho to carry/have in the car?
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spatial
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Post by spatial on Aug 13, 2017 14:03:31 GMT 10
I'm looking at different small portable stoves. If you were fitting out a bob for someone else and wanted to make it as cheaply as possible, yet easy to carry and use, and really does need to be able to heat at least water, what would you include. I have a small solid fuel stove like the "Kookaburra Backpackers stove", as well as two butane gas stoves (under $20) for grid down as well as an entire broom cupboard shelf full of butane canisters under $5 for a set of 4 canisters at Bunnigns. The small solid fuel stoves are good will never fail, they can be used with wood as well, but cant be used in a tent/shelter or vehicle etc.. I was buying BoB stuff on Friday with a bit of tax return and to my surprise I found you get small cheap cooking attachments for the Butane canisters. That is a viable option, the canisters can also have multiple uses.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Aug 13, 2017 14:53:31 GMT 10
I always hesitate with those butane stoves from yes ago when they were recalled when there were some exploding etc. Have all the ones around now days had that issue fixed. I did quite a lot of googling to try and find out, but only came up with much older info saying they were dangerous.
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spatial
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Post by spatial on Aug 13, 2017 18:57:11 GMT 10
I always hesitate with those butane stoves from yes ago when they were recalled when there were some exploding etc. Have all the ones around now days had that issue fixed. I did quite a lot of googling to try and find out, but only came up with much older info saying they were dangerous. Have not heard of any issues and know of a number of people who use them and have had no issues, including the exploration guys at the mine where I work. In Bunnigns they sell the butane canisters by the crate load, all hardware and camping stores sell them. Just did a quick intrenet search and there is detailed issues with models prior to 2015, and advice on what to look for. There are some safety consideration to be aware of. www.sa.gov.au/topics/energy-and-environment/using-electricity-and-gas-safely/portable-gas-cooker-safety
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hd1340
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Post by hd1340 on Aug 13, 2017 19:23:01 GMT 10
Just checked mine not on the list.
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spatial
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Post by spatial on Aug 13, 2017 20:15:58 GMT 10
Just checked mine not on the list. I have one on the naughty list (QLD - gov site)- will have to go to Bunnigns and replace it $20... Will still consider using the naughty one for small things or as a backup as the issue is that the canister can overheat and the shutoff valve fail, causing explosion.. But for $20 just toss it.
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Post by Peter on Aug 13, 2017 21:44:23 GMT 10
I've also seen a number of small burners - with optional grill plates - at Korean supermarkets. I like the grill plate option as it's more compact than a pan.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Aug 14, 2017 1:09:44 GMT 10
I'm looking at different small portable stoves. The fold up ones that use solid fuel, such as this one www.bcf.com.au/Product/Kookaburra-Backpackers-Solid-Fuel-Stove/114429, look good. And in a thread here about food storage in cars they are mentioned because the fuel is safer to carry around. I was also looking at alcohol/metho burners, and would like to hear what others think of them. At bcf they have a couple of cheap nipper kipper brand ones, with one being listed as a spirit burner www.bcf.com.au/Product/Nipper-Kipper-Spirit-Stove/114593 and one as a metho burner . I'm wondering what the difference is between these - never having used this style of stove before I'm wondering what makes one able to burn metho but not spirits and vice versa. Perhaps that's a silly question, but I just can't see it. Also, these don't seem to have anything to put a pot/cup on, so are they to use on or in a stand such as a bottle stove www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/products/stainless-bottle-stove.php. I have something a little like this already and would prefer not to spend extra on some sort of stand if I don't have to. How safe is metho to carry/have in the car? I'd like to have a couple of alternatives for portable cooking for a couple of possible uses, and one is to keep in the car. I'm thinking perhaps solid fuel stove for that. I'm wondering about a metho burner for when I might normally use sticks etc with a bottle type stove or a jelly kettle but when it's not convenient to use the sticks. If you were fitting out a bob for someone else and wanted to make it as cheaply as possible, yet easy to carry and use, and really does need to be able to heat at least water, what would you include.
Sold fuel stoves are great but the fuel tends to get expensive. Would be my preferred solution for a small single use car bag or bug out bag. For anything more than one or two uses I'd go the metho though.
I have one of these from ebay:
Comes with something to rest the pot on. I have a few experimental ones also but the key is the pot rest, you need to have the correct distance between the flame and the pot or it wont work properly. The metho is cheap and works well. I use metho in mine and it was listed as a 'spirit' burner so I'm really not sure if there is a difference. I'd have no issue keeping just one of those 1L bottles in the car but you could always decant it into something more sturdy if you were concerned as long as nobody drinks it, it doesn't taste nice BTW.
If going with solid fuel or metho stove one thing I would HIGHLY recommend is a wind break. You loose a lot of heat through even a light breeze with these things. Can also get nice ones on ebay pretty cheap ($14 for the one I use).
It looks like this:
Made out aluminium it is a fuel saver to be sure, folds up nice and compact/light. One thing to keep in mind solid fuel & metho are slow ways to cook food so you'll need any way to keep the heat in you can get.
The butane stoves are great, they burn really hot and are very efficient for amount of cooking/volume & weight. I have a couple for blackout cooking at home. The super portable/hiking ones are actually quite loud so it wouldn't be my first choice for a BOB cooking solution.
So yeah... I love both metho & solid fuel stoves. I honestly cant say which is better as it will also depend on what you're cooking/how you like to cook. The solid fuel seems to burn hotter/quicker but you get more time out of the metho... Given you can get both for under $20 I'd buy one of each and have a play.
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blueshoes
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Post by blueshoes on Aug 14, 2017 8:17:11 GMT 10
What para said. Also +1 for the stoves he linked. And all the other stuff he said about wanting a windbreak. And a spirit stove is a meths stove. But don't use other fuels (petrol, kero) - something about carbon monoxide and burn heat and other things making it risky...
I use a (bigger size) trangia - cooks for 3-4. It's expensive but compact and has a full kit and caboodle: burner, pots, frypan, grabber, windbreak, little kettle and you can even get a chopping board/strainer thing that fits into it too.
The nipper stoves from bcf linked in the OP come with a metal trifold stand for putting cup/pot on, don't know how big it is but I've a hunch anything smaller than a soup mug might struggle
I keep metho in different places around the place, it's 95% alcohol 5% methanol - tastes awful if you accidentally get it in your cooking pot! At least one of my bottles is the red safety bottle you can get, makes it easy to see if you want to refill a burner. Depending on how full and whether you have the flame restricted with a half lid, you might get 20-40 minutes cooking time on one burner load of fuel
Cooking over gas is faster and works better but metho never gas-leaks and you don't have to worry about disposing of canisters (recyclable bottles, yay) and you can see exactly how much is left. Mind you metho will leak through your stuff if your burner isn't burnt dry or you don't have a lid with a decent seal; there are times when you only use part of a burner full and want to keep the rest for later
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blueshoes
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Post by blueshoes on Aug 14, 2017 8:22:32 GMT 10
I keep metho in different places around the place, it's 95% alcohol 5% methanol - tastes awful if you accidentally get it in your cooking pot! I just realised it sounds like I spill it in the pot or something careless like that. Beware of storing a burner with a smudge of metho on the outside, in your pots - or putting a pot with metho on the underside, into another pot.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Aug 14, 2017 9:19:42 GMT 10
I'll be passing a bcf tomorrow so I'll go in and ask about the difference between the metho and the spirit burner.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Aug 15, 2017 20:58:42 GMT 10
..... I was also looking at alcohol/metho burners, and would like to hear what others think of them. At bcf they have a couple of cheap nipper kipper brand ones, with one being listed as a spirit burner www.bcf.com.au/Product/Nipper-Kipper-Spirit-Stove/114593 and one as a metho burner www.bcf.com.au/Product/Nipper-Kipper-Metho-Burner/114592. I'm wondering what the difference is between these - never having used this style of stove before I'm wondering what makes one able to burn metho but not spirits and vice versa. Perhaps that's a silly question, but I just can't see it. ..... Went into bcf today. Both these burners are identical and have identical instructions on the pkt saying to use metho. One burner has a fold up stand. That's the only difference I could see. I think the cheaper ones on eBay look better - stand looks better.
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shinester
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Post by shinester on Aug 23, 2017 10:36:35 GMT 10
Thanks for the replies. Does anyone use a metho or spirit stove? Yep, all my food kits [that need cooking] use metho stoves made from tuna cans. That is cost me nothing extra! Easy to make, they also work reasonably well. Pretty sure I covered it in my food kits [follow the linky below]. I wanted to make sure that each one of my tubs had all it needed contained within and that also meant providing fuel, stove and cooking equipment to do it. Pretty happy that i could just grab any of them in a rush and be ready. [they also have water purification and so on] The cheapness is in line with that philosophy, I'd rather have a full kit with cheap content than a great stove I can't find or that I only have 1 or 2 of. The other reason for the choice was the fuel doesn't produce smoke, which lowers it's presence, though the smell of cooked food does certainly carry. I balanced disposable gas versus alcohol in terms of price and it was cheaper and more space efficient to go alcohol.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Sept 13, 2017 18:52:45 GMT 10
Kmart has a recall on those little stoves made 2015-2017 I think this link has the recall posted.
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