Comparing Cooking Fuels

[Alan De Enfield]

I have recently been looking to improve my cooking fuels and get 'more bang for my gram'

I have been a confirmed Hexamine user ever since working with the Army Youth Team so 45 years ago, sooty, smelly and a little slow, it always gets the water on the boil - even when wet. Part used tablets can be extinguished and saved but is 'messy'.
Cannot adjust temperature, its all or nothing
Comes with its own 'pan-stand' that can be used with 'twigs' when Hexamine exhausted.

A few years ago I 'found' ethanol-gel (also known as Chafer fuel), burns fairly cleanly takes about the same time to boil water as the 'Hexy' but benefits from the fact as soon as the water boils you can extinguish it by putting the lid back on the can. Just about gets the water to a 'rolling boil' but certainly hot enough for a brew, or to use on dried meals.
Cannot adjust temperature, its all or nothing.
Need to also carry a 'pan stand' (mine are about 35 grams) to clip onto the top of the can.

Recently become a gas convert - particularly the 'gas-mix' ( a mixture that gives the cold temp characteristics of Propane, with the output of Butane) Boils water twice as fast as Hexy or Gel, no smell and 'clean' no-soot. Simply switch off when finished.
Temperatures fully adjustable for boiling, simmer, or even (heaven forbid) cooking food.
Needs a stove to fit onto the top (I have several types at £0.99 up to £5.00 off ebay) My favourite weighs 45 grams and cost 99p

So having looked at the pros and cons which performs the best for the carry weight ?

It takes 105 Wh to heat 1 litre of water by 1 degree Celsius, so to heat 1 litre from (say) 5 degrees to 100 degrees takes 9,975 watts (just under 1kw)

Dry Seasoned Wood produces 4.2Wh per gram
Chafing Fuel (Gel) produces 7.44Wh per gram
Hexamine produces 8.0Wh per gram
Camping Gas-Mix produces 14.2Wh per gram

A Hexy stove with 8 tablets (and its own built in pan stand) weighs 361 grams and produces a total of 1.47Kwh

A Chafer Gel Can containing 200g of gel weighs 245 grams, add the 35 gram pan stand for a total cooker weight of 280 grams which produces 1.49Kwh

A Coleman 220g Gas cartridge weighs 372 grams, add the 45 grams for the stove for a total cooker weight of 417 grams which produces 3.12Kwh

Conclusion -
Carrying an extra 56 grams (2 oz) gives over 2x the "bang per gram" when gas is compared to Hexamine.

My 99p 'stove/burner' brings 1 litre of tap water to a ‘rolling boil’ in 4 minutes 30 seconds and uses 15g of Gas (Camping Gas: 70% Butane / 30% Propane mix) So, from a 220g cartridge I can boil approx. 14 litres of water ( or looking at it another way - 50 mugs of tea)
Stove produces 2.84Kw.

If I wanted to reduce the weight further, and only get 20 odd mugs of tea, I could cut down to a 100g cartridge.

 

[Hammock_man]

Very useful set of numbers there. What about running costs? Taking a single hexi block per mug of tea, how fare the others. For dry wood I would use cat litter as a yard stick ( bad pun maybe) and the new gel block instead of the chafing tins.

 

[Alan De Enfield]

Very useful set of numbers there. What about running costs? Taking a single hexi block per mug of tea, how fare the others. For dry wood I would use cat litter as a yard stick ( bad pun maybe) and the new gel block instead of the chafing tins.

I purposely didn't use 'costs' as the purchasing costs can be so widely different.

I recently found 6x C250 gas cartridges for £15 inc P+P, I have seen them at over £6 per can, Hexamine tablets also vary greatly but a 'low end price' on ebay looks to be around £5 per pack of 8 tablets.

Assuming a 'mug of tea' takes 250ml of water then :
With gas at £2.50 per cartridge a 'mug of tea' costs 4.25p to heat.
With 8 Hexy tablets at £5 then a 'mug of tea' cost 62p to heat.

To be 'price competitive' you would need to be able to buy a pack of 8x Hexy tablets for 34p

 

[Janne]

Wood is free in form of dry branches and stcks, and the woodlands are full of it.
No need to carry any!

 

[Nomad666]

x2 janne

__________________________________
Nomad Survival Community
http://nomadsurvival.tk/forum/

 

[Broch]

+1 for the wood.
Petrol has about the same energy output as gas for the weight doesn't it?, around 12kWh per Kg. 220g of petrol would only cost around 26p making a mug of tea from my fuel stove only around 1/2p - or have I got my maths wrong as I've not had a coffee yet?
On the other hand 220g of Uranium 235 will produce 5,280,000 kWh!!!

 

[Hammock_man]

Been down the Uranium route for makeing tea.. The weight of the lead lining means I have to stop for 800% more tea so pushes the "trip" price up. Plus the number of inspectors that turn up, all need a brew while I explain whats going on means another 37 cups to be brewed. All in all it is more hassle then carrying your Meths in a goldfish bowl!

 

[Broch]

Been down the Uranium route for makeing tea.. The weight of the lead lining means I have to stop for 800% more tea so pushes the "trip" price up. Plus the number of inspectors that turn up, all need a brew while I explain whats going on means another 37 cups to be brewed. All in all it is more hassle then carrying your Meths in a goldfish bowl!

Yep, and the suit you have to wear gets a bit tiring climbing the hills

 

[Hammock_man]

P.S. Nisbets are doing 9 quid for 12 two hour (200gm) tins. inc Vat and free delivery in Jan. Cheaper if you buy 4 lots (48 tins)
https://www.nisbets.co.uk/chafing-gel-fuel-200g-pack-quantity-12/ce241

 

[Broch]

P.S. Nisbets are doing 9 quid for 12 two hour (200gm) tins. inc Vat and free delivery in Jan. Cheaper if you buy 4 lots (48 tins)
https://www.nisbets.co.uk/chafing-gel-fuel-200g-pack-quantity-12/ce241

Will you guys stop doing this!!!!
Now I've had to order some.
I'm out in the woods next weekend though; they'll come in handy

 

[PDA1]

OP's interest was power per gram, not per unit cost. Our costs of cooking fuel per trip are insignificant,compared with other costs. If you are walking a half mile to your camp, and then not moving, you may have time to faff around collecting fuel (and good luck finding dry wood if in Wales or the lakes) andlighting and tending fire. If you are backpacking 15-20 miles per day, with several thousand feet of elevation gain, then you want light and easy to use. Liquid fuel stoves are reat the higher you go, but asvea123 or an XGK weigh about half a kilo, plus fuel. PLus you need to learn how to use them safely. They also cost 100 UKP plus. Canister stoves weigh 50-100 grams, pls the canister, and cost about 10UKP. I prefer to use a self made alcohol stove, which cost nothbng, and weigh 8 grams plus fuel (my capillary action) and 25 grams (my fancy Feestfor cold weather use). That's for solo use.For larger numbers, It's difficult to think of anything more convenient and light than canister.
p.s. I see there is a 13 gram titanium burner/pot stand from Esbit for 10-15 UKP Scores well on weight per burn if you like hexamine tabs

 

[Nice65]

Gas only for me, and a cheap, efficient stove for water. I do cook over the fire, but only on a grill, I can't be doing with soot everywhere so sold my collapsible wood stoves.

The canister also powers my Markill gas lantern later in the evening.

Cheap Chinese titanium stove. Lightest and smallest stove out there, cost about $11 posted.

Larger stove for pan use. Alpkit Toro.

 

[demographic]

OP's interest was power per gram, not per unit cost. Our costs of cooking fuel per trip are insignificant,compared with other costs. If you are walking a half mile to your camp, and then not moving, you may have time to faff around collecting fuel (and good luck finding dry wood if in Wales or the lakes) andlighting and tending fire. If you are backpacking 15-20 miles per day, with several thousand feet of elevation gain, then you want light and easy to use. Liquid fuel stoves are reat the higher you go, but asvea123 or an XGK weigh about half a kilo, plus fuel. PLus you need to learn how to use them safely. They also cost 100 UKP plus. Canister stoves weigh 50-100 grams, pls the canister, and cost about 10UKP. I prefer to use a self made alcohol stove, which cost nothbng, and weigh 8 grams plus fuel (my capillary action) and 25 grams (my fancy Feestfor cold weather use). That's for solo use.For larger numbers, It's difficult to think of anything more convenient and light than canister.
p.s. I see there is a 13 gram titanium burner/pot stand from Esbit for 10-15 UKP Scores well on weight per burn if you like hexamine tabs

The inside of most grown out and straggly gorse bushes has good dry wood, depends where you are of course but there's quite a few of those in some areas of the lake district.

 

[Alan De Enfield]

Yes I was considering 'bang per gram' rather than 'bang per buck'.

I have been thru 'buy cheap' & the 'carrying an ex-army A-Framed canvas ruck sac, with a huge ex-army 58 pattern sleeping bag and a canvas 2-man tent whilst wearing heavy 'cord' trousers (and even heavier when wet) and Hob-nailed steel toe capped boots', I am now at the fortunate stage in my life where cost is not the sole consideration, in fact it comes behind, convenience - ease of use, weight, and functionality / effectiveness.

I do carry a small folding 'Lixada' wood stove (150 gram) for 'emergency use' (run out of gas, stove ceases working etc) but the hassle of finding (dry) sticks when it is persistently precipitating and I want a mug-of-tea and a Chicken Curry means I really don't care if it costs me 4.5p, 10p or even 20p to boil a litre of water.

The little stove shown by Nice65 is one of the ones I have - there seemed to be a price-war raging between 2 or 3 Chines suppliers, I purchased the first on at £2.99 and as the price dropped I bought 2 more at 99p each (inc P&P)
I also have the larger stove shown by Nice65 which is again an ebay bargain which I got with 'make an offer' at £4.50 inc P&P

The small stove boils 1 litre of water from 'tap temperature' to rolling boil in 4 min 30 seconds which shows it is 2.8Kw (seller claims 3Kw)

 

[Broch]

Not for me; I've been let down by gas at high altitude and low temperatures in my youth. Liquid fuel weighs the same for the energy output and you can control the pressure. Yes my Wisperlite stove wasn't cheap but up in the mountains I'm not looking for cheap. Yes it weighs a little bit more than those screw on gas burners but it will operate anywhere and has never let me down. There are other bits of kit that I will sacrifice the weight of before a reliable stove.

We all have different experience and 'play' in different environments; what works for one person will not be suitable for another - but there's no harm in chatting around the subject

 

[Janne]

Make the fire on the ground (after some simple preparation of it) and save carrying those 150 grams.

On youtube and lots of publications you see fires that can roast a pig. Simply huge!
Lots of work getting the fuel, higher risk of torching the surrounding nature, and a large scar on the ground.

In reality, the “footprint” of a correct fire is not even the size of your foot, just the size of your palm is enough. You sit with your legs apart, fire between them.
In fact you get warmer with a fire like this than a big one, where you sit meters away.

 

[Alan De Enfield]

Make the fire on the ground (after some simple preparation of it) and save carrying those 150 grams.

.

Agreed, but the wood-stove incorporates a pan stand and the shape encourages a good air-flow (Chimney draw effect)
With a ground fire I still have to hunt around looking for suitable rocks to be able to rest a couple of tent pegs across to give the pan something to sit on.
Its all about convenience.

There is no 'one size fits all' answers and that is the benefit of a discussion forum - it can make you sit back and consider other options.

 

[Alan De Enfield]

Not for me; I've been let down by gas at high altitude and low temperatures in my youth.
We all have different experience and 'play' in different environments; what works for one person will not be suitable for another - but there's no harm in chatting around the subject

Yes, as a Scout and subsequently an assistant Venture Scout leader I remember well those old Bleuet S200 stoves and the Butane gas cartridges, the slightest hint of a frost and you took the cartridges in the sleeping bag with you, or there was no porridge in the morning.

Todays gas-mixes 70/30 Butane/Propane work well at below 'zero'

There is no 'one size fits all' answers and that is the benefit of a discussion forum - it can make you sit back and consider other options.

 

[Barney Rubble]

It'd be interesting to see how meths compares to the above. I've always favoured my trangia stove owing to it's simplicity and reliability. Have also tried hexi/esbit (is there a difference between hexi/esbit tabs?) and have struggled to get a boil from one tab on half a pint of water. It's quite possible that this issue is down to the operator not doing enough to deflect the wind!

 

[Insel Affen]

Like the figures on this thread, they make interesting reading. I get people are saying wood is free etc, but that's not always an option as it may not be available on a bibmle or not allowed, so the other options are the viable ones.

I have used wood, Hexi, gas and even a Peak stove (for many years) which I love, even if it is bulky. Currently I've been experimenting with Meths on home made stoves, so I'll keep an eye on this.

Nice one Alan.