Zero Cost Cookset - Fuel Issues and possible upgrades

Fritz Krueger is a bicycle tourist who also has a passion for researching, designing and building homemade camp stoves. He has contributed several articles about Camp Stoves to Bicycle Touring 101. This particular article is part of his Zero Cost Cookset series.

Regardless of how any stove was originally made, whether it was purchased in a store or made at home from plans and ideas seen elsewhere please always remember to use caution! Flames burn and a bad burn could go a long way towards ending a bicycle touring adventure far too early!

An example of a Denatured Alcohol product.
Click to enlarge.

A simple tool to make measuring out fuel easier.
Click to enlarge.

This article continues the Zero Cost cookset series with a discussion of the fuel that you will need to use and some of the fuel related items that you should consider.

Alcohol fuel stoves use denatured alcohol as their fuel. Denatured alcohol is very readily available wherever paint products are sold. This includes stores like Walmart, Home Depot, and hardware stores. You can also use methyl alcohol gasoline de-icer which is sold at gas station convenience stores.

Carrying your fuel is another consideration. Depending on the length of your tour you may want to carry different amounts of fuel with you. One option is to carry a very small amount of fuel using something the size of the squeeze bottle shown in the picture. To carry more fuel you might want to consider a bottle the size of this hydrogen peroxide container.

When it comes time to actually place the fuel in the stove a measuring device that allows you to pour in a set amount while keeping your fingers dry is quite useful. Containers like this can often be found at drug stores. An example of one product that tends to have one is Pepto Bismo.

Hydrogen Peroxide bottle
Click to enlarge.

A small squeeze bottle.
Click to enlarge.

Possible upgrades

This cookset is so cheap, is it worthless? No, these items are fully functional. With the exception of the pot from your kitchen, the equipment is very light and compact and therefore well-suited for bicycle touring.

If you try and like the cookset, there are two upgrades I recommend. Replace your kitchen pot with a decent camping pot. You want something lighter and without a big handle so that it will pack compactly. Upgrade the pot stand from coat hanger wire. A hardware cloth pot stand is sturdier and can be packed in your pot.

The next article in this series contains the operating instructions for your newly created stove.

Submitted by Fritz Krueger

This article is just one of a series of articles that Fritz has written for Bicycle Touring 101. I encourage you to check out his other articles in this section and his wonderful web site where he has more plans for stoves and accessories.

Tell A Friend about this page!