Cycling UK Forum

Jdsk wrote: ↑21 Jun 2022, 10:02amI'd happily use liquid "bioethanol" in a standard Trangia. I'd be prepared for it to burn hotter than meths. It isn't mentioned on the Trangia site and I've written to them about it.

A different burner is recommended for alcohol gel fuel:
https://trangia.se/en/support/guides/fuel-list/

And I've just had a reply. But It wasn't to quite what I was asking about, and I'll try again.

Jonathan

I use bioethanol in my spirit burner and the last load I bought was from Millets (iirc, they were selling it greatly reduced at the time).

As well as camping shops, garden centres sometimes sell bioethanol (often for patio heaters, lamps etc.)

Small Uk chemists seem to have stopped stocking meths? leading to a recent tours 1 hour delay to find some in a small hardware shop. (The first shop I tried would have had A4 spigoted gascylinders (asian gas presumably, not russian) and these are usually ridiculously cheap...

Also, even in such shops 0.5litre meths is now much dearer at 3 pounds plus (pre 2020 was about two pounds in such shops and 1.29 in home bargains and 3.99 in homebase/b&q etc)..

this year homebase charged me 5.50 for 0.5litre meths...
Is gas for one's Trangia now both more easily available and cheaper than meths in the Uk?

SA_SA_SA wrote: ↑5 Jul 2022, 4:21pm
Is gas for one's Trangia now both more easily available and cheaper than meths in the Uk?

Good question.
One for the scientists among us.
You can still sometimes i think get cheap puncture cartridges (i have an adaptor which allows you to disconnect the stove though would never leave inside)
And those tall thin cartridges are still very cheap*
As long as you have a preheat tube on the burner, and the trangia burner and many third party ones do have them, they are perfectly safe i think.
* I use with another adaptor for my espresso brewing - adaptor keeps the cartridge the right way up so that arrangement doesn't need a pre heat tube.

Meths still seems ubiquitous, Screwfix and Toolstation all stock it.

Methylated Spirits is available virtually anywhere. To use Gas in a Trangia is bordering on sacrilege! (in my opinion of course)

In the UK many outlets have stopped selling meths.

But it's widely available from DIY and hardware stores and some others.

And liquid "bioethanol" works fine in Trangia stoves.

Jonathan

hamster wrote: ↑11 Jul 2022, 3:24pm Meths still seems ubiquitous, Screwfix and Toolstation all stock it.

But Screwfix and Toolstation are not ubiquitous

Most towns now have one, AND what's important is that you can search for them remotely.

Thanks.
It seems the trangia can continue to sup the purple stuff, as long as a smartphone is used to hunt it down combined with some preplanning...

It also seems homebase is now unusually expensive., at 5.50 when the other chains still charge around 4.00 or slightly less. Home bargains used to sell it at 1.29 pre 2020 but their website doesn't show it at all...

At 4 quid per 0.5 litre at big chains for meths, gas is probably cheaper though....but meths has other uses. B&q 2l bioethanol would be cheaper than chain meths if you could find someone to split it with...

I would go to a hardware shop (including Tool Station, Screwfix) for meths, not a pharmacy.

I use Bio fuel and carry some firedragon fuel blocks x6 (ethanol) works also as hand sanitiser (says on the packet)
Using a stormin stove and both work great, the stormin uses liquid ethanol and when and if I need to use the blocks I have a 25mm tall base I cut from and old sigg aluminium bottle which holes the fuel blocks, It also is a good base for the stormin stove to sit in if the ground is damp.
I always carry about a litre of fuel on multi days and buy it from BnQ if I run short (its cheaper than online).