I'm experimenting with a cat stove that I like and I'm thinking of switching to alcohol from canister fuel. In reading, I notice that a lot of people store the stove in their cook pot. My question is, Is that safe? Since denatured alcohol is toxic, is it a big risk? I assume the thinking is that all the alcohol has burned off. Any thoughts on it are appreciated. It is definitely more convenient to store it all together, I just don't want to do it at the risk of poisoning.

Use everclear and don't worry?

(You are in North Carolina! lol)

John,
That is definitely an option I'm considering. I don't spend so much time on the trail that the cost difference would be an issue.

If you burn all the fuel then don't give it a thought.

If concerned, though, you should put it in a baggie, inside the pot, or improvise something similar.

I always store my cat stove inside my Heine can pot. It seems to work fine and fits inside perfectly. The alcohol burns off dry. I really don't even see a lot of residue or smell much after using it.

I've been doing it for years and am still around to tell the tale, but then again I'm not a big survey size. :p

I pack my windscreen inside my Heiny stove plus the matches, pot stand and tea light, so there is plenty of other crud in there too. :p

Never an issue here. Been doing it for years also. Any concern and a freezer zip bag should do the trick. Great suggestions and insight above.

Not an issue with the stove for me either. The fuel burns off with no noticeable residue. My fuel bottle would sometimes leak inside the pot until I applied Teflon plumbers tape to the threads. Now it doesn't leak, although I put it in a zip-lock for safety's sake.

Depends on the denaturant.

If its methanol, then you are probably pretty safe, as methanol, while toxic...really isn't toxic enough to kill you in those minute volumes. Besides, its totally volatile and would completely evapourate while you were prepping for supper.

But, putting in a ziplock bag is an excellent idea.

Cheers

John

Ethanol is safest.
Methanol is toxic, but volatile, so it should evaporate quickly with no residue.
Many other denaturants are used in the USA. Some of them are proprietary and others are not well tested. It's really hard to find out how safe/unsafe some of these denaturants are.

So, let any volatile residues evaporate, then put your stove in a plastic bag.