Bio fuel temps

Munro277

Thru Hiker
What’s coldest folk used bio fuel down too ?
used mine at -6c does it still work fine say at -10 c ? Cheers
 

Robert P

Thru Hiker
I haven't measured the temperature but think I must have gone to -6 C or below. There is no reason alcohol won't burn, the only challenge may be getting it to light in the first place. Personally I'd not worry about it in any temperature we'll get in the UK, but it might just need a bit of warming and carrying matches as a backup in case a lighter won't work. I certainly choose it over gas in sub zero conditions (and other conditions for that matter).
 

Robert P

Thru Hiker
On a related point, while I often use a truncated cone in summer, in cold conditions I'm more likely to use a cone with full coverage, as heat loss is going to be more of an issue. There may be a case for using a more powerful burner in cold conditions, again because the balance between heat in vs heat out will be different. One of my summer set ups uses a partial cone and a simmer ring to get an efficient but slow boil; in sub zero conditions I suspect it may struggle to reach a boil (not that I've tried (yet)).
 

Mole

Thru Hiker
I have used alcohol down to - 10 degrees centigrade in the past (about 10 years ago). It was a full cone and Starlyte wick stove. I didn't noticed any difference in performance to normal.

I think Dan/Zelph has demonstrated using one of his Starlyte stoves to - 30 Fahrenheit in the past.

A burner with a more enclosed fuel chamber like a Trangia would need priming.
 

ivo44

Trekker
Search for "Mushe Cooker". People use them racing in extreme temperatures(-50C+).
I used alcohol stove down to -10C, but it takes too long to melt snow. In light winter weather you will need 20+ minutes to melt and boil little over 1L, and you will probably use around 60-90ml of alcohol, depending few factors. But if you need it just to boil water, it will work great.

Tips from my experience for cold weather:
- Use the stove that will bloom fast.
- Isolate stove from ground (aluminum foil and some foam pad).
- Use stove that has separate pot stand.
If your stove is touching the pot, pot cooling down stove becomes noticable, which will degrade the stove performance.
- Keep fuel in your pocket before putting it in stove (also stove if possible).
 
Top