Is there a stove whos fuel source is suitable for long term storage in a car?

Thanks all,
Ben

I would think esbit is probably the best. Since it is solid you don't have any risk of leaking.

Laugh.. I live where it's 30 below a lot and I'm driving an hour in the sticks each day.. If I end up stuck I may have to be self sufficient for a little while.. including melting snow for water. If someone else ends up in the ditch you need stuff to stop and help.

Among other things usually in my car on the highway in an alberta winter[1] is a svea 123 stove full of white gas inside a pot set and blue foam cozy.. It has never let me down. As long as you keep the bottle closed, there's no reason why white gas won't work well for this.


[1] Old REI down sleeping bag, big down coat, gloves, toque, canadian army surplus mukluks, blanket, flares, first aid kit, snow shovel, tow chains, jumper cables, gas line antifreeze, dietheyl ether "quick start", jumper battery, tire inflater, tools, 10x10 blue tarp, empty nalgene bottles and the aforementioned stove in potset...

Bottle of white gas and a white gas stove. That stuff never dies and it isn't pressurized until you pump up the stove.

I've contacted Esbit about storage temps. I'm worried about warm weather storage especially with liquid and gas fuels.

If a get a response from Esbit I'll let you know what they say.

Your gasoline doesn't explode in your car in warm weather, neither will white gas, properly stored - yes, have it in a properly sealed container, but with that you'll be fine.

Esbit fuel stinks. Coleman fuel, properly stored in metal cans with a tight sealing cap, will keep for years. Older Coleman stoves don't seem to die either. A compact Coleman like a 502 could store enough fuel itself to run the stove a couple hours. I agree with phat, the Svea 123 would be a very good bet also, but it holds only enough fuel to run about an hour at full blast.
Duane

... however in the situation you'd use a stove that was in a car you'd be a fool to run the stove at full tilt.. I get about two hours out of a svea at snow melting temps if I'm patient.

OTOH a 502 or something like that would be a great choice, and easier to find than a svea. I only use the svea because I have it. an MSR Whisperloud or xgk or any comparable white gas stove would also be good.

Given that I'll be storing this for long periods in the car I'm worried about white gas going bad. If I get a multi fuel stove I could always use gas from the car in an emergency.
I'm still waiting to hear back from the esbit folks.

White gas doesn't "go bad" - people are used to gasoline "going bad" because of the anti-knock compounds that are put in it for running internal combustion engines - this is why if you store gasoline for long periods of time you need to put in a fuel stabilzer or the crap in it preciptates out and clogs up your equipment. (and it does this astonisingly quickly - this is why your chainsaws, lawnmowers, snowblowers, etc. have issues when stored with untreated gas in them)

White gas is "white" because it does *not* have any of that stuff in it - no anti-knock, no additives, no lead, nothing.

I've used cans of white gas that are over 10 years old. I've used stoves with white gas stored in them for 15 years, no ill effects. - now *other* parts of the stove can fail in time (seals, etc.) but trust me, not the gas. white gas doesn't go bad.

It would likely be more than sufficient to ensure you took the stove out once or twice a year and made coffee on it. That's what I do - but it's just to make sure the stove is functioning and pumps, seals, etc, haven't had issues over time. it's not for the gas.

My concern with white gas would be just that... is the stove going to work when I need it to. It sounds like you have had better longevity with white gas stoves than me. I remember the ones we used ta have getting clogged up all the time and being a pain to light if I didn't use them regularly.

Simple stove designs help a lot. A svea doesn't have a lot of moving parts

you still need to keep an eye on. Taking it out once or twice a year to make coffee with it is fine. Mine usually comes out for a coffee and B.S. session during hunting season and at least one other time of the year

Are their any modern equivalents of the Svea?

Yeah, the svea - they still sell them:

http://www.campmor.com/optimus-svea-123r-backpacking-stove.shtml

the new one will have a cleaning valve instead of a pricker, but basically the same thing

Failing that I'd probably take an MSR whisperloud or XGK - other than the pump and o-ring seal nothing ever breaks on them that can't be easily dealt with by taking apart or thunking it on a rock, or both

Any thoughts on an alcohol based stove for this use?

a fancy feast stove is pretty minimal and pretty sturdy. I would be more concerned about storing the alcohol.

http://andrewskurka.com/2011/how-to-make-a-fancy-feast-alcohol-stove/

Almost any alky stove would work well for this application. Assuming you had a nice bottle to store the alcohol in - but any decent bottle will work for that. I'd just pick your favorite stove and put a big secure bottle of alky in the car.

They still make the SVEA

And Amazon has it. SVEA

I have 2 Sveas and one R-8, with many interchangeable parts between them.
The only thing I'd watch out for are dried out gas cap gaskets. The stock ones dry out, crack and crumble. An 0-ring of the same size will fix this, especially if you don't tighten things too tight. Otherwise, no pumps, no seals, and one moving part with a carbon seal. They just don't break!
Warning...don't run them completely out of fuel. That cotton mop in the fuel tank will caramelize and you'll then have to rebuild the stove. Since they are rarely worked on, the brass fittings can seize.

I also have a Svea 123, an old one from the 60's I think. It is in a Sigg Tourist cook kit, and doesn't have the brass case like the newer ones or the ones sold as the Climber. I wouldn't recommend an XGK, I have one and the pump can leak if not serviced fairly regularly and you really don't want to set one on fire. And yes, I've done it, in my kitchen no less. I also have an Optimus Nova and it is finicky, so no on that one too. Nice stove, but you'd better know how to take it apart.

For warmer weather (anything above freezing), I would take a small canister stove like an Optimus, Primus, Kovea, MSR, something like that and toss a couple of canisters in with it. Those are pretty foolproof-screw on the canister, turn the valve, light it and that's it. Some have a piezo lighter, but keep a butane lighter or waterproof matches like REI sells with it anyway in case it fails. Optimus sells the Crux Lite with a little cook kit that looks like the perfect thing to toss in a bag to keep in the car. I have a Primus, but I think some of the other designs are better. I don't like the pot supports on mine-too flimsy.

Since weight isn't an issue, you might look at the Optimus Hiker, a really old design that is still made. The plus is that it burns almost anything from white gas to diesel while the Svea burns only white gas. Check out the Optimus website for their stoves.

Or I could just get out my old school Bob and Doug McKenzie special...

(and note what's on the right hand side of the pic tom )

Yep. All I can see is a sliver of it, but I know exactly what it is.
Ps. For those who don't know, it's a Sigg Tourist cook kit. The perfect companion for the Svea 123.

“Is there a stove whos fuel source is suitable for long term storage in a car?”

+1 on Esbit.
+1 on Alcy

If you don’t use the stove regularly and you don’t want to maintain it then the pepsi stove will always work with HEET (which can be stored indefinitely).

-Barry