Let's face it. The number one reason by far that the majority of campers use canister stoves is because they don't want to handle fuel. On the other hand, we here at CCS love our fuel stoves. I personally HATE to spill fuel or get it on my hands or gear. And I also consider fuel handling to be the most difficult part of using our beloved stoves. I will share my methods, which admittedly need much improvement. I hope you can share your successful methods here so that I and others can improve our techniques. 1) Coleman gas. It comes in 1 gallon containers that are terrible to use, IMO. I transfer the gas into various camping bottles, from 1L down to 350 mL. I pour the 1 gallon container using a filtering Coleman funnel, with rag on the floor underneath the pour, since it always leaks. I wear nitrile gloves for all fuel handling at this stage. For the MSR and Sigg fuel bottles I have tried every type of pouring spout and they all leak or drip. Only the Trangia fuel bottle with clever push button spout do not leak. 2) Kerosene. I buy it at the pump in a 5 gallon container, which I also use to fuel a kerosene heater in my garage. For my only kero burner, a Coleman 550B, I transfer into a 1 L Sigg bottle using the hand pump that came with my heater. I use the Coleman funnel to transfer into the stove. 3) Alcohol. I buy this denatured alcohol in the same hated 1 gallon containers that the Coleman gas comes in. Again, I transfer into the Trangia fuel bottle using a funnel. At least when this spills it is not so obnoxious. Stoves: Here is where I really struggle. All stoves fill spouts appear to me as a BLACK HOLE! No matter what light I try I can't tell if the stove is empty or near full. Only by shaking can I get a very rough idea of how much is in the stove. Coleman, Optimus, Svea are all the same. The only thing that remotely works for me is to dribble a tiny bit at a time using the Trangia bottle. I think I always quit far too soon since I don't want to overfill and spill. I have spilled so much fuel by overfilling that I am unhappy. So now I dribble to avoid the overfill, but have to fill too often since I am sure I am under filling. Would love to hear some good ideas and success stories. Thanks, Brad
sorry Brad,i always over fill and slop the rest on the ground to get the right amount in. i wash my hands with Coleman fuel to get paint and glue stuff off. i do have some small funnels that came with Asian stoves and the spouts seem to be made so when you fill to the end of the spout the tank is full.
The older non child safe msr bottles (and some other brands) have holes in the threads of the cap. With a little care one can pour a small stream of fuel precisely enough to get it into a camp stove. Indeed I've been filling a zippo with coleman fuel using this technique for years.
I remember seeing those. I just checked. I have 2 Siggs, 3 MSR, and 2 Trangia. None with the old holes. Great idea.
Evening, BradB, I never wear Nitrile gloves, but do try to be careful in my fuel handling. When I do get fuel on my hands, I wash them as soon as possible, with warm, soapy water, then dry, and apply a good lotion, so the fuel doesn't dry out my skin. I don't have too much trouble with the gallon cans, and if you pour from them correctly, with the hole towards the top, and NOT the bottom, you will spill much less fuel! I learned that the hard way, and used to be, like you, very frustrated with all the spillage. Following the directions on the side of every gallon of Coleman fuel taught me this, after many years of having not even looked at the side of the can!! I also use a vented Coleman funnel most of the time, which is also shown in the photo above. Otherwise, I, too, transfer fuel to more convenient Sigg, or MSR bottles, then use an old Canady cap venting device along with the fuel cap, to pour with very little, to no spillage. I don't have a photo at hand, but this one of my then new Manaslu 96 shows the Canady vent, which appears as a thin red line, between Sigg bottle, and fuel cap. If you look carefully, you can see the venting spout on the left side. To use, you align the vent holes, with the dual holes in the fuel cap, then tighten it down, as shown. With your thumb over the back hole in the venting device, you place the vent mouth into your stove's fuel port, then remove your thumb. Fuel will begin to flow into your font. if you don't want to over-fill, then it's best to use a measuring stick, which can be just about anything, and dip it into your font until it touches bottom, then remove. Check the fuel line on the stick, and either call it good, or continue, until you have filled it to the desired amount of fuel. With only a little practice, this simple method can easily be mastered, and it works fairly well, too. The Canady vent cap devices are no longer made, but you can buy a used one on the 'net, now and then, or use your Trangia fuel spout. Good luck, and I hope some of these suggestions work as well for you, as they have for me. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Thanks, Doc. I like the idea of the dipstick. My sailboat does not have a fuel gauge for the tank and I use a Port Orford cedar arrow shaft marked 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, full. I could do the same for the stoves and mark it Svea, Coleman 400, 550, Optimus 8R, etc. Brad
For filling small stoves and for priming I use Flight Leader Fuel-Tite bottles. These bottles are designed to fuel model airplanes and are available from U.K. hobby stores in 250 cc and 500 cc sizes. They have a brass twist valve at the end of a plastic tube that closes securely. Squeezing the bottle gives me good control of how much fuel is dispensed. The plastic tube allows me to get the fuel where I want it and see how much has been dispensed. Ben
Considering that when I was a lot younger and petrol still had lead in it (in New Zealand I think lead was removed about 1985) it was standard practice after working on the car to grab a length of hose to suck some fuel out of the tank to wash hands in. Not a clear hose and a few mouthfulls of leaded petrol does teach you you to be more careful. (or use longer hose) Needless to say I dont worry about a little fuel on the hands
MSR sells the old non child proof cap. About 6.95 USD. http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/stove-accessories/expedition-fuel-bottle-cap/product Less at other retailers. I pour from bulk to smaller containers also. I really like the Trangia bottle.
@BradB I feel for your problem! Being a cheapskate myself and a person who have ruined several meals by having spillt denatured alcohol on my fingers here is what I do. Denatured alcohol I use a Trangia bottle or a very small bottle for priming. For petrol or kerosene I use a small 100 ml meassuring cup in stainless steel and a funnel to refuel my stoves, the meassuring cup has a spout-like dent that makes it easy to pour into the funnel. Petrol and kerosene I carry in sig type bottles that fit the pumps to my stoves that use that setup, all bottles are horrible to pour from, but when you pour into the little cup there is no spillage. You could also trade your stoves for Enders stoves, with the Enders funnel that you screw into the tank with a vent and a overfill prevention system. Check out what you´ve been missing if you don´t have a few already. I bet there is a couple of other funnels with overfill prevention system like the enders, but probably none better than the Enders system! /Lars
Hi @bem1965 , here is a link to an early Swedish intelligent filler funnel: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/endura-filler-filter-funnel.9058/ Best Regards, Kerophile .
@BradB My what rigmarole, I must be odd. I just get the fuel in there the best way I have to hand and get on with it. Also your premise that people avoid liquid fuelled stoves, on the grounds that they would have to handle fuel seems flawed. I would "think" it's more a combination of many factors including but not exclusively, that's what they know, you turn it on and light it, it was what was in the shop, saw it in a magazine. Etcetera.
I just fill the stove or lantern until I think that will do for now, and if I overfill it I pour some back. The main thing I have learned in 50+ years is to fuel up stoves and lanterns before it gets dark, and before I have had too many beers. I prefer filling stoves directly from the Coleman 1 gallon can whenever possible. I even transfer bulk kerosene to empty Coleman cans that I have liberally marked with blue paint. I use the smaller bottles for canoe and backpack trips of course but I find they are not that easy to pour from without some kind of special top.
My experience from a couple of decades of stove use is: everything will leak and fuel will be spilt. A superoverengineered Trangia bottle will leak, the same bottle with the o-ring trick will leak, all other bottles and all the “intelligent” funnels will leak or spill, stove tanks will leak - there is simply no avoiding it (just give it time). So, in my world the question is how to handle fuel spill. I pack stoves and fuel to the outside of my backpack, preferably in outside pockets. Good old newspaper paper (or tissue paper) around can be a good first line of defense. When refueling or similar I try to stay away from other gear and especially food. The days of leather and cotton canvas are long gone, and most new modern plasticy material runs and hide at a mere whiff of some proper fuel. But my main trick is – ohh yes – dedicated stove gloves. Solid leather work gloves; cold stove, hot stove, stoves funnels and bottles with fuel on them – no problem. Take off the gloves and go directly from handling fuel to handling food – fuel for humans. And in a base camp situation, there are also other chores where the same gloves are handy. All the best, and a good stove weekend, e
I always use the Trangia Safety Valve 506000 on all my SIGG-type "pour bottles" - and then I count the seconds... Usually I fill just about the right volume into the receptacle, be it a stove tank or a 'pressure tank' fuel bottle. Highly recommended! /Odd
"And in a base camp situation, there are also other chores where the same gloves are handy." What? Stoking the fire? Don't do this yourself. We are professionals.
I have access to a plethora of HDPE sample bottles ranging from 100-1000ml. I use them for my white gas, methanol, kero fuels depending on duration of trip.
I just pour my fuel(s) into those plastic energy drink bottles. I simply rip off the label and wash it out. Put a few "x" 's on the clear plastic bottle with a black marker. When I pour my fuel I do it slowly and little by little, and I use a small flashlight to see the level in the tank. That's it. I hardly waste any fuel.
