Solid fuel alternatives
- Thread starter MikeLA
- Start date
Some countries (usually colder ones) always used liquid fuels/alcohol burners and didn’t go the esbit/hexi route. Or as Mike said central cook house and then a small wood burner set up to warm mess tins after visiting the chow line.
Doesn’t seem to be a shortage of solid fuel being available for sale on line. I haven’t seen it in the high street outdoor shops for a year or two though.
Doesn’t seem to be a shortage of solid fuel being available for sale on line. I haven’t seen it in the high street outdoor shops for a year or two though.
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Who'd have thought it .
I'd imagine there are quite a few guys with a few of these tucked away in the back of sheds and garages.
A hexamine block amnesty - how very quaint !!
Not only that but a fairly safe straightforward process to a safe to use powerful explosive. Kind of terrorist dream. It is a quite important precursor to a lot of other chemicals so it is not going to be phased out totally, just private use.
Seems a shop is selling vintage trioxane, but have to collect it in person in Evesham.
Army Surplus Trioxane Fuel
Army Surplus Trioxane Fuel CAN NOT SHIP - SHOP COLLECTION ONLY Vintage Compressed trioxane fuel for heating rations. Possible 1960s/ vietnam Era Army Surplus Trioxane Fuel Specifications & Features: Compressed fuel Ration Heating Tablets 3 Bars per box Worked when tested but can not guarantee...outdooradventurer.co.uk
Can't see it on the regulated list.
Remember, They will not give you a license to aquire/possess/import hexamine for use in stoves as "There are safer alternatives available"
That is not considered 'good reason' to have it. Their words not mine.
I have about six months to use up the amount I have.
Don't waste your money on an application for that reason.
Just keep quietly using what you have till it's gone and don't post it up on a public forum maybe? That would be percieved as a sensible solution?
As for Trioxane, it burns much faster than hexamine and the fumes contain large amounts of formaldehyde which on a single exposure will not be a problem for most but long term I would use it with care. It's used as a source of formaldehyde in the Laboratory.
A single hexamine block is approximately the same as 2 full size tablets of trioxane practically speaking. If you do use trioxane you will need to let one tablet almost burn out then add the other or part of it to finish cooking.
Also if you open the foil wrapper and only use part of the tablet you may find the remainder gone as it is quite volatile.
Flashpoint of Hexamine: 250°c
Flashpoint of Trioxane: 45°c
As you can see, trioxane is much more flammable. If you go to light a bar of it in daylight you may not notice it's lit till it burns your fingers! the flame is near invisible in some conditions.
Flame colour would be comparable to burning pure methanol.
I use trioxane myself and have lots of it thankfully but bear in mind that any you buy is likely 50 years old and may be in poor condition.
Hope that info is of use to you all.
Edit* I may try to cook up an alternative thats legal purely for entertainment. will post it up here if I'm successful! Nothing like a challenge!...
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