camping stove fuel

[Johnboy]

Hello, I'm thinking of taking a small camping stove with me on the VDLP next year (I have to start the day with a cup of tea!). Has anyone done this and how easy is it to buy the fuel - meths (denatured alcohol) in Spain - I hope to start in Seville. Thanks and good luck to you all!

 

[sillydoll]

John - we took a little stove with us in 2002 and bought 'la bombona de gas' at a camping store. Some electrical stores also had them. It often came in handy when we picnicked on the side of the road and felt like a hot drink.

 

[John Hussey]

Hello, I'm thinking of taking a small camping stove with me on the VDLP next year (I have to start the day with a cup of tea!). Has anyone done this and how easy is it to buy the fuel - meths (denatured alcohol) in Spain - I hope to start in Seville. Thanks and good luck to you all!

I am curious, which alcohol stove are you using?

I use a Trangia while backpacking but did not take it with me to Spain. I only cooked in a few albergues and observed that most did have kitchen facilities-although a few did not- so usually you could have a hot drink most (but not all)mornings. I decided that i wanted to enjoy, as many times as I could, the delicious Spanish "Cafe con leche" from the closest bar each morning or to warm up anytime especially on cold and rainy days. It is simply the best coffee I have ever had.

But, to answer your question, I would imagine that 100% denatured alcohol might be purchased in hardware stores (ferreterias). A Trangia only uses 15 ml to heat two cups (16 fl ounces) so a small 240 ml liquid prescription container that you could obtain free from any pharmacist (drug store) will hold enough for 32 cups of hot tea. Refilling it will be a chore as i doubt it is not sold in such small containers, though.

 

[Bridget and Peter]

I use a Trangia while backpacking but did not take it with me to Spain

We have bought a Trangia for our camino stage this year (from Reims to Vezelay to ?) where we intend to camp quite a bit. We chose this over a gas cooker because we thought meths would be easier to find than gas canisters in non-touristy areas. It's totally wonderful and I am completely enamoured. I took it for 4 days camping (at Womad - the world music festival) and used it for lots of cups of tea and porridge every morning, and used less than 200mls of meths. We bought the 1 litre Trangia fuel bottle and I'm now wondering if the 1/2 litre would have been wiser, but we are on bikes and there are two of us, so its not a crucial mistake, weight wise.

As I have an Aga at home, (I know, I'm very lucky) I call the Trangia my second swedish cooker. They are equally iconic, aren't they!

 

[John Hussey]

I use a Trangia while backpacking but did not take it with me to Spain

We have bought a Trangia for our camino stage this year (from Reims to Vezelay to ?) where we intend to camp quite a bit. We chose this over a gas cooker because we thought meths would be easier to find than gas canisters in non-touristy areas. It's totally wonderful and I am completely enamoured. I took it for 4 days camping (at Womad - the world music festival) and used it for lots of cups of tea and porridge every morning, and used less than 200mls of meths. We bought the 1 litre Trangia fuel bottle and I'm now wondering if the 1/2 litre would have been wiser, but we are on bikes and there are two of us, so its not a crucial mistake, weight wise.

As I have an Aga at home, (I know, I'm very lucky) I call the Trangia my second swedish cooker. They are equally iconic, aren't they!

The venerable Trangia stove is slow, boiling 2 cups in 9 minutes, but it consumes the denatured alcohol at a miserly rate. With it's internal reservoir filled with ~4 fl ounces (120 ml) and the aforementioned 240 ml container filled, I can go 10 days on an unsupported backpacking trip boiling 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups in the evening, both for re-hydrating food only. Yes, I suspect the 500 ml container would have been wiser for you. Weight is still weight, whether it is carried upon your back or pedaled upon your bike. Now, what is an Aga stove?

 

[Johnboy]

Hello John, thanks for the info (and thanks to others who replied). I am using a small meths burner (smaller in size than a tennis ball) and windshield that weigh hardly anything. I place my metal mug directly on top for a quick brew up!

 

[Bangali]

Just a bit off Local perspective. I am a pensionist in EU. Little cash. To walk the camino I need to cook,pretty much all the time. As a result I will be carrying a stove
As to,whether or not it will be allows on,the plane I know not. I own 4 MSR whisperlites, including the very,first model. I usually buy a new one for flying. This time I'm not bothered. Whether airport security will confiscate it ir not I do not know. I also have a gas pocket rocket.. Weighs nothing. However as far as security,goes I will post again here. I will if its all confiscated just get something usable in France.
People use money to avoid problems. I have to eat. With fire I cook. I am a pilgrim, not a,tourist. Ian,amongst other things high,altitude Himalayan guide. Now I am,a sannyas. An ascetic. So I survive on faith in humanity,water and a little food. All this light weight stuff seems to me to,miss the point. A stove, a little fuel, a little food and water. Salt and sugar. Very fundamental,and very very much allowing the freedom,to choose. Some rice and something to go with it. Half an onion, a quarter lemon. Some salt and chilli. Maybe something else. Ok.
All of you use western material philosophy yet in the old days one just walked. One became an ascetic. So gear ,rucksacks clothing etc are all illusions.
However fire is of fundamental relevance to us both now and for thousands of years gone by. To have fire gives a chance to survive, without bocadillos, menu del diaz, and so on. Simplicity focuses the mind. What is it I really need. Albergues are elitist and modern. Pilgrims did not go from albergue to albergue. The rich could afford things. Your local pilgrim could not.. So I would say a small stove, a pot, a little food and water carrying capacity are essential to any traveler. But then money will get you out of many physical hardships. Choose. Do I really want to be limited to getting to an albergue and only then eating what I can afford. If they gave a kitchen, and knackered from,walking. For a few grams the freedom exists. Use it. The camino is a pilgrimage in it's essence. Not really a tourist trip. But exercise the privilege of being a free human being. Make the choice yourself. A little stove and fuel is worth it. I've used mine in Singapore! ( where there is great food available ready made) and all over the world. A small weight sacrifice for what you get. Fire. A very fundamental, yet taken for granted part of the necessity of human life.
Et godt camino,til jer allesammen.