... Never messed with meths due to carrying etc might give it a bash, what fuel is best for a burner?
Again there isn't really a best. A lot is down to personal preferences and the way you travel. If you're carrying a month's fuel on your back you might have little capacity left for life's little luxuries like a sleeping bag.
Of the liquid fuels you basically have two types: hydrocarbons and alcohols. There's a wider range of solid fuels, from manufactured stuff like hexy blocks to things like wood that nature provides (but which burn a bit dirty) and derivatives such as charcoal which like anthracite is more or less pure carbon.
Solid fuels are relatively easy. You don't usually need any kind of equipment to burn them, you can often just put them in a pile and set light to them. Equipment like the famous 'Honey' stove, the lovable Kelly-style kettles or technical wood-gas stoves like the Bushbuddy can make it a lot more efficient and quicker to get a brew down your neck. I have a Ghillie kettle which goes with me almost everywhere. The equipment can be heavy and/or bulky, but you might not need to carry the fuel as you might be able to forage it on your travels so that can more than make up for the weight of the equipment. It's rare that I don't tidy up my camp site by burning a few bits of paper and odd sweet wrappers that thoughtless people have discarded. There might be local regulations forbidding ground fires and the equipment might avoid the regs or it might not. Solids like waxes are often used for starting fires and of course for illumination but rarely for heating/cooking. They'll usually need a wick, even for starting a fire, and maybe a container if they're to burn for an extended period. Burning charcoal gives off a lot of carbon monoxide so it's dangerous in enclosed spaces. People die that way every year.
Liquid fuels are more complicated. The hydrocarbons are essentially three groups: paraffins, petrols (or similar) and liquified gas mixtures. The distinction is in how many carbon atoms (somewhere between one and about a dozen) are in each molecule. The alcohols are usually ethanol, methanol and isopropanol. They mostly need some sort of burner. Most liquid-fuel burners give you a way to adjust the heat output of the flame, something that's more difficult with solid fuel burners.
The alcohol burners tend to be very simple, like the Trangia-style ones. Nothing to go wrong really, except perhaps a leak if badly/cheaply fabricated. Alcohols
can be burned almost like a solid fuel, gelled alcohols especially, but it's better to use a burner even if it's just a bean can full of sand to keep things under control. The fuel isn't as unpleasant to handle as any of the hydrocarbons except perhaps liquified gas. Because alcohols contain some oxygen, and (compared with hydrogen and carbon) oxygen is a relatively heavy element, the fuels contain significantly less energy per unit volume and per uint mass than any hydrocarbon so you can end up carrying more weight per meal if your burner/pot system isn't efficient. The efficiency of something like the Trangia more or less cancels that out because for some reason the hydrocarbon setups rarely go in for great efficiency. There are exceptions to that such as pots with built-in heat exchangers, and occasionally you see a Trangia modified to take a pressure burner. An alcohol flame can be almost invisible in sunlight so it can be dangerous for the unwary.
For efficient burning for heating and cooking hydrocarbons usually need to be under pressure. The pressurized gas escaping from a small jet or nozzle causes turbulence, which mixes the fuel with the air to give a clean, efficient burn -- a blue flame. One notable exception is the old-style paraffin heaters which have a cylindrical wick around a chimney. The effect of the chimney gives enough air flow to get good mixing. One of my stoves works on this principle. Pressure can come from the fuel (like a gas kept liquified by pressure) or from heat boiling the fuel at the burner (like the Optimus 8) or from a pump (many stoves have a pump, a bit like a bicycle pump). Pressurized gase is very easy, you just turn on a tap at the burner and light it. LIke being at home in the kitchen, except in the kitchen it's usually above freezing point and butane won't come out of the bottle if it's below that as it boils around -0.5C. Even above that it can be reluctant after a few minutes because the evaporation of the liquid gas cools it below ambient -- you'll see frost start to form on the container. Wind can be an issue, the butane gas flame especially tends to be a flimsy affair. The hydrocarbon fuels that are liquid at room temperature invariably need to run through a very hot burner, which needs to be designed to burn that particular type of fuel. It also usually needs to be 'primed' (not unlike the Trangia needs to heat up to bloom, but a more definite process which needs to be complete before the fuel will burn properly). There are burners that 'roar' and 'silent' burners which, er, roar less. The roarer burners give a powerful flame which won't blow out in even fairly strong winds but the silent burners are pretty wind-resistant too. For me, part of the fun of using the liquid hydrocarbon fuels is getting the damned thing going. And keeping it going. And fettling the things to keep them working properly. And listening to the roar. And... it goes on and on. You can prime the burner with the fuel in the tank (and priming this way may generate a lot of smoke and soot) or you can for example use alcohol (poured into the little cup or wick placed around the burner for that purpose) which is much cleaner, only lighting the main fuel from the tank when the burner is up to working temperature.
Paraffin is much the cheapest and some say the best. You can use it in a hurricane lantern or a pressure lantern too. I llike it a lot but it smells bad and if you're not careful it gets everywhere (handling hydrocarbon fuels is quite an art in itself). I mostly use less dense fuels like Aspen 4 which is sold as a cleaner alternative to 95 octane petrol. Aviation spirit (100 octane) is fantastic because when it evaporates it leaves almost no trace. Not expensive but it's difficult to get hold of. If I run out of Aspen 4 (unlikely as I usually stock a couple of gallons) I can always siphon some fuel out of a petrol tank, assuming there's one nearby. Aspen can also be difficult to find and it's more expensive than 95 octane. Liquified gas is most expensive, in my opinion the least safe because it escapes easily and then hangs around as an explosive mixture with air, and you can't always find the style of container that you need just down the road. People refill their own containers but I've never fancied that kind of a risk.
A clean-burning liquid fuel (a blue flame) generates little carbon monoxide but fuels under pressure have to be treated with intelligence and respect or they will hurt you and perhaps others. Liquid fuel burners don't really allow for refilling while burning (no problem with most solid fuels) but I manage to refuel a running Trangia burner with an old contact lens solution bottle. That's not a recommendation, many people would call it unsafe, but I've been a pyromaniac since I could strike a match.
Incidentally don't use road fuel unless you don't mind the stink and you're happy with fettling burners. Petrol can clog up some burners and diesel won't burn cleanly in most burners -- but it can be done.
That's a quick run-down and time is pressing. I'm sure if I've missed anything important people will chime in. Feel free to ask for clarifications.
There's lots more if you spend some quality time reading threads here and for example on spiritburner.com which is a lifetime's entertainment all on its own.
