To my surprise, Sterno seems safe to use in unventilated spaces. It is basically an alcohol flame which with enough oxygen should produce CO2 and H2O.
There is a company called Barocook that sells packets that rely on chemical heat production (probably quicklime with water) that apparently does the job. This is likely how MREs work. Does anyone have experience with this product or similar?
The "Esbit" brand stove and naptha pellets were a staple in my kit while I was on active duty. Back then, buying new fuel at the PX, the system was highly affordable. I see the same kit on Amazon today at what I consider an exorbitant price. Maybe find it via another source?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Esbit-Ultralight-Folding-Pocket-Tablets/dp/B001HYIHGC?th=1
Chaffing fuel cans.
ReplyDeleteWithout fumes is tough. The only thing I can think of is a solar heater, or a chemical heater from MREs
ReplyDeleteNeither is particularly great.
Minimal fumes, otoh....lots of camping stoves with fuel blocks
When I was a child in scout, my scout troop had been blessed with a comprehensive set of camping equipment. But much of it was probably initially purchased when parents of my contemporaries were in the troop. (Canvas does get brittle with age and use).
ReplyDeleteOne of the young scouts had been told that one could cook canned food in the can, and -- not thinking to ask anyone for advice or details -- added a can into a campfire without others noticing.
Everyone noticed when the until-then-still-unopened can started the "split seam dance". As it spun, everyone was peppered with the steaming kernel corn that was machine-gunning out of the can as it bounced and spun. It didn't hurt more than, say, a mosquito bite --- but mine was the nearest tent and afterwards that tent really looked like someone had just shot a shotgun at it.
Modern canned-foot metal cans all come with a polymer coating on the inside, and while no-one will tell you what compounds are created when this is overheated, the canned-food trade organizations, when they say anything other than "don't" about cooking in the can, say to do it in a water bath.
I think most any hydrocarbon fuel, in the presence of enough oxygen, produces CO2 and H20.
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