Wednesday, April 27, 2022

HEET: It's not just for cars! - Fueling an alcohol stove while bikepacking-

HEET it's not just for cars. If you're bikepacking in Vermont or the Adirondacks finding stove fuel might not be easy due to lack of towns, stores and service hours in the Adirondacks and the bucolic nature of Vermont just not having many large towns that you generally plan to bikepack through.  Isobutane (MSR, Snow peak, Jetboil, etc) also are often out of stock even in sprawling metropolitan areas and suburban big box stores. 

It's also tough to cook like a gourmet chef while bikepacking because it's essentially ultralight backpacking. Just add water is about as gourmet as it gets if you aren't eating at a restaurant or -more often usually- a gas station or hopefully fast food. For this reason an alcohol stove makes the most sense. Just one setting: high. Six minutes to boil a half liter. Super compact, light, cheap (you can even make one yourself from a soda can) nothing to break. 

Most importantly (and the reason for this post) is fuel is easy to find at any gas station in America. HEET is always available at gas stations, convenience stores, big box stores, grocery stores, hardware stores. HEET is cheap, burns clean, and it's sold in a size you can manage to use on a route. It only takes 1 minute more to boil 16oz using HEET over denatured alcohol but every Stewarts shop in Vermont and the Adirondacks stocks it. You'll always have a hot meal and coffee or a cuppa.