Does anyone have any thoughts to share on good containers for alcohol used as stove fuel? I'm thinking of maybe one 0.5-L or 0.75-L bottle plus a small, flat plastic flask for heating next to my body in case of cold weather. For water, I normally use half-liter water bottles of the type they sell bottled water in; any problems with using one of those as my main alcohol bottle? I think I heard that Heet bottles don't reseal well...?

PET drinking bottles should work fine.

Cheers

Thanks for the reply, Roger! Anyone have suggestions for small, lightweight flasks for prewarming small amounts?

I use these plastic squirt bottles to store my alcohol fuel -- they come in 1, 2, 4 and 8 oz. sizes. For 0.5L and up, I would recommend Platypus bladders -- to reduce bulk (when carrying empty) and weight.

Edited by ben2world on 01/30/2011 16:23:33 MST.

I have found that eye contact solution bottles work extremely well. They are some of the lightest I have found. They do not leak. They have an integrated cap that you can't loose. They also squirt vs pour for better fill control. They also come in a variety of sizes 2oz, 4oz, 8 oz, etc and are fairly cheap.

What I don't like is that they are round, vs flask like. You can not see through them so its hard to tell fill level.

Jamie

Small Flask -



Holds 8 fluid ounces, weighs 1.23 ounces. About 6.25" tall x 1.5" wide.

PM an address and I'll send one. Or direct to greg at smgm dot org.

not all PET(e) bottles are created equally tho, Ben.

there are some very thin, flimsy bottles (arrowhead)
i would not trust 8oz of HEET in a crapy plastic bottle.

i found small 8oz bottles of stuff called "joint juice" (reduces tennis elbow pain, etc)
and the bottle is very sturdy. Dasani is another super durable choice.

Jamie:

The REI bottles are translucent and except for the 1oz size which is round, all other sizes come in flask shape. Don't know if the squirt cap works as well as your eye contact solution bottle caps, but maybe worth a try. I like mine.

Edited by ben2world on 01/30/2011 16:34:12 MST.

I use an 8 ounce water bottle and carry a spare cap which has a small hole poked in the center. The spare cap with the hole allows the bottle to act as a squirt bottle. The bottle and cap weigh about 0.5 ounces and the spare cap adds another .05 ounce. This seems to be a very light weight yet reliable system.

Chris

Edited by cms432 on 01/30/2011 16:37:29 MST.

Ben, I have purchased multiple bottles and flip top lids from REI (about 10 I'd guess). Every one of them leaks if I squeeze it. They usually leak out the flip top (when it is closed). If you go into the store you can test them by simply squeezing them. If air easily leaks out then liquid can leak out too.

Maybe in practice this doesnt make much difference, but I had one trip where I lost significant alcohol because of a leaker top. When you precisely measure out 1/2 oz per cook, if you loose ANY you are not cooking one or more meals. To be completely fair the bottle that leaked was not an REI bottle, it was actually the bottle from my caldera cone. But I fear the REI ones could act the same way.

If I could get an REI bottle that I trusted, I would switch to them...because I love the flip top and the fact that they are clear.

I'd like to know if you fill yours up, close the lid and squeeze does alcohol come out. Also want to make sure the bottle won't leak if it is turned on its side or upside down. Maybe I need to check out the newer ones.

Jamie

There are many Nalegene bottles that are suitable and trustworthy (definately don't leak and can take a beating). My favorite was an 8 oz. low rectangular shape, with a wide (1"?) mouth. Nice and stable for drawing and dispensing with a syringe. But "suitable and trustworthy" are a drag on my DIY gene...

There are lots of bottles that can be reused as alcohol containers, but I shifted to the ones that actually came prepackaged with alcohol, like Purell and ~7 oz. plastic wine bottles. My paranoia is a cap designed for some other liquid could fail when alcohol starts to "eat away" at the seal, or worse, interact with the plastic itself. At least with these, there's comfort knowing that if it was going to fail, it would have failed already--at least chemically.

Purell comes in a variety of sizes, and most are in a slender rectangular shape. The wine bottles are round, and are OK for "body warming." They also have a nice metal cap that should last a long time. (I don't have enough "run time" with the wine bottles to be sure.)

As mentioned already, clear bottles are much nicer to work with, either by simply judging how much fuel is left, or with a little work, by drawing graduations on the side.

And I think the most important thought on using DIY alcohol fuel bottles is to bring a spare cap: I had a cap on 3 oz. mouthwash bottle crack while tightening it--fortunately, this was only used for body warming.

Jamie:

I know what you mean about flipping the top down, squeezing the bottle, and feeling the air rush out!! I've always made it a point to "test squeeze" and buy only the ones that don't leak air when squeezed. So far, no mishap, with six years of use.

I attribute the success to two factors:

1. Test squeeze when purchasing.
2. Packed inside my titanium mug/pot -- bottles may face every which way, but they're never squeezed en route.

EDIT: Just filled up a bottle and squeezed hard multiple times, with bottle facing down and all. No leak at all.

Edited by ben2world on 01/30/2011 17:54:46 MST.

Jamie: Baush & Lomb recently redesigned the packaging for their 'Renu' contact lens solution and they are now using clear bottles, so you can see thru them. Using one of these bottles is a good idea. I'll have to see how much they weigh when I'm done using the contact solution.

I personally like using a Ginger Ale bottle with the lid from PackaFeather. Ginger Ale bottles are tinted green, so you can still see thru them, but there's less risk of someone taking a drink from one. Especially after I draw a skull & crossbones on it. Using a colored bottle for fuel helps me easily remember that it's fuel....just another way to keep things simple out there.

The lid from PackaFeather comes with an o-ring for a nice seal and it's got a short spout attached that sprays in the fuel nicely, and it works great for vacuuming up any unused fuel after you've snuffed the stove.

I like these, the 8 oz size. Heet seems to eat through them, but plain alcohol works well.

http://www.rumrunnerflasks.com/flasks.aspx

Does 100% alcohol disolve plastic?

"Heet seems to eat through them, but plain alcohol works well."

HEET from a yellow or red bottle?
"Plain alcohol" - as in SLX, or Sunnyside, or Everclear, or....
"...them..." - how many did you try?

A little more information could be useful.

Does Everclear 95% Ethanol dissolve plastic bottles?

I'm more interested in plastic byproducts getting into the Everclear, which I would then drink.

http://www.proplasticsinc.com/chemical_resistance_guide.pdf

Methanol and Ethanol (the two major components of our typical fuels) are Aliphatic Alcohols.

Thanks!

I use PET water and juice bottles

PET has no or slim absorbtion/mechanical effects from aliphatic alcohols

I personally like using a Ginger Ale bottle with the lid from PackaFeather. Ginger Ale bottles are tinted green, so you can still see thru them, but there's less risk of someone taking a drink from one. Especially after I draw a skull & crossbones on it. Using a colored bottle for fuel helps me easily remember that it's fuel....just another way to keep things simple out there.

This Ginger Ale bottle is a 'Canada Dry' bottle. It's 591ml or 20oz which I find to be a nice size for most medium length trips. With the PackaFeather lid, it weighs 29g or 1.03oz.

I used to have markings on the bottle every 2oz so I could easily tell how much fuel I had left, but apparently alcohol dissolves permanent marker, so over time these markings were dissolved off. Maybe there's another way to add them.

Edited by dandydan on 02/01/2011 23:45:34 MST.

Dan,

Thanks for posting that. I've had trouble finding a good mate on the Pack-a-Feather caps.

Yeah, I've had the same problem with "permanent" marker too. I marked my PET bottle with "FUEL" all over the place so it wouldn't be confused with water, but the alcohol dissolves the marker. Maybe thin strips of duct tape would work?

HJ

I use the same type of bottle for drinking water and Everclear

Once I accidentally used some of the Everclear to wash my glasses. Really #####ed me off!!!

Now I mark the Everclear bottle profusely and in multiple colors.

lol

Thanks, all, for the replies -- it's amazing how helpful people are :-) Greg, thanks very much for the kind offer to send a flask, but I think it's not quite what I want.

Dan-

Had same issue of alcohol dissolving he markings. I put a thin strip of Blue Painters Tape on the side and them put the markings for the ounces on that. So far so good.

Hope it helps

Good idea Mark....great little community we have here.

I have this trick: at the bottle shelf, squeeze the air out of a bunch of them and screw the caps on tight. Go wander around REI and look at other stuff for a while. Come back and any bottles that have reinflated, ignore. Then do final checks on those that are still holding some vacuum.

Alcohol is very thin and will leak out if the seal isn't tight. Try to pack it so that it doesn't get squeezed, i keep mine in the pot with the stove. You can use a bottle that won't hold alcohol for thicker liquids like water, detergent, honey, sunblock, etc.

Alcohol may remove permanent marker ink, but I thought the alcohol and the marker ink were on different sides?

My experience has been that 'permanent marker' ink is fairly easily rubbed off PET bottle surfaces. It does not bond and is not permanent. This is actually a plus for the reliability of PET bottles.

Cheers

"Alcohol may remove permanent marker ink, but I thought the alcohol and the marker ink were on different sides?"

Normally, the alcohol is on the inside. Once in a while, a drop or two will migrate out onto the outside surface, mostly by spills. That may dissolve the outside ink markings.

I will scratch shallow lines into the outside of my bottle, and then I mark them with a black Crayola, which is more of a wax. The spilled alcohol has no effect on wax.

--B.G.--

I've got the 8oz size and after a week in the container it's starting to look a little milky with some bubbles forming in the plastic on the inside layer. I'm using Crown brand denatured Alcohol. I thought this would be a great container for alcohol but I wouldn't want a failure on a trip. Perhaps I shouldn't store unused fuel in it after a trip.

Eric,

I went to check the rum runner I used for a trip 2 weeks ago. I'm having the same issue. Mine has leftover HEET in it. It worked great on the trip, but it looks like I will be switching to something else.