FUEL & STOVES
From BSA Outdoor Skills Instruction: Cooking
Policy on Use of Chemical Fuels
There are three factors that influence the establishment of Scouting's policy on the use of fuel other than natural wood: (1) the basic purposes of Scouting and its camping program; (2) the protection from hazards of chemical fuels; (3) the necessity of safely adapting to local conditions and practices.
First, it is essential to Scouting's purpose that a boy learn and practice the skills of primitive living. He develops a personal confidence, initiative, and preparation for life as he advances through the Scouting program.
In building a fire, he needs to learn the care and use of tools; know about tinder, types of fuel, and how to prepare it. The correct principle of building a fire to cook his food and warm his body, containing fire, and putting it out, are essential for his training in campcraft, self-reliance, and preparedness.
The need for adapting to special circumstances, such as lack of natural wood for fuel or the regulations of specific areas where open fires are prohibited for safety or environmental reasons, make it necessary for Scouts and Scout leaders to learn the skills and safety procedures in using chemical fuel stoves.
Convenience is one of the jobs of modern life, but with it goes the necessity of precaution against many hazards. When any chemical fuel is used for cooking and lighting, it is the fuel that is dangerous--not the stove and lanterns. For safety reasons, knowledgeable adult supervision must be provided when Scouts are involved in the storage of chemical fuels, the handling of chemical fuels in the filling of stoves or lanterns, or the lighting of chemical fuels.
Battery-operated lanterns and flashlights should be used by Scouts in camping activities, particularly in and around canvas tentage. No chemical-fueled lantern, heater, or stove is to be used inside a tent.
Kerosene, gasoline, or liquefied petroleum fuel lanterns may, when necessary, be used inside permanent buildings or for outdoor lighting. When used indoors there should be adequate ventilation. Strict adherence to the safety standards and instructions of the manufacturers in fueling and lighting such stoves and lanterns must be carried out under the superivison of a responsible and knowledgeable adult.
Both gasoline and kerosene shall be kept in a well-marked Underwriter's Laboratory (UL) approved container (never in a glass container) and stored in a ventilated locked box at a safe distance (minimum twenty feet) from buildings and tents.
Empty liquid petroleum cylinders for portable stoves and lanterns should be returned homw or to base camp. They may explode when heated and therefore must never be put in fireplaces or with burnable trash.
The use of liquid fuels for starting any type of fire is prohibited. This includes damp wood, charcoal, and ceremonial campfires. Solid-type starters are just as effective, are easier to store and carry, and are much safer to use for this purpose.
All types of space heaters that use chemical fuels consume oxygen and must only be used in well-ventilated areas. When used in cabins, camper-trucks, and recreational vehicles, there is not only a fire danger but also lives can be lost from asphyxiation if not well ventilated. Use of charcoal burners indoors can cause lethal carbon monoxide poisoning.
Guidelines for Safely Using Chemical Stoves and Lanterns
Use compressed or liquid-gas stoves and lanterns only with knowledgeable adult supervision, and in Scout facilities only where and when permitted.
Operate and maintain regularly according to manufacturer's instructions.
Store fuel in approved containers and in storage only with adult supervision. Keep all chemical fuel containers away from hot stoves and campfires, and store below 100 degrees F.
Let hot stoves and lanterns cool before changing cylinders of compressed gases or refilling from bottles of liquid gas.
Refill liquid-gas stoves and lanterns a safe distance from any flames, including other stoves, campfires, and personal smoking substances. A commercial camp stove fuel should be used for safety and performance. Pour through a filter funnel. Recap both the device and fuel container before igniting.
Never fuel a stove or lantern inside a cabin; always do this outdoors. Do not oeprate a stove or lantern in an unventilated structure. Make sure there are at least two ventilation openings, one high and one low, to provide oxygen and exhause for lethal gases. Never fuel, ignite, or operate a stove or lantern in a tent.
Place the stove on a level, secure surface before operating. On snow, place insulated support under the stove to prevent melting and tipping.
Periodically check fittings on compressed-gas stoves and on pressurized liquid-gas stoves for leakage with soap solution before lighting.
When lighting a stove keep fuel bottles and extra conisters well away. Do not hover over the stove when lighting it. Keep your head and body to one side. Open the stove valve quickly for two full turns and light carefully with head, fingers, and hands to side of the burner. Then adjust down.
Do not leave a lighted stove or lantern unattended.
Do not overload the stove top with extra-heavy pots or large frying pans. If pots over two quarts are necessary, set up a seperate grill with legs to hold the pot and place stove under grill.
Bring empty fuel containers home for disposal. Do not place in or near fires. Empty fuel containers will explode is heated.
Stoves or Campfires
For generations, most camp cooking was done over an open fire. While it is still important to know how to kindle a blaze, a majority of backpackers now prefer to cook over lightweight stoves. The reasons have as much to do with protecting the land as with convenience. In some areas open fires are prohibited.
When you carry a stove, your become more self-sufficient. No longer limited to sites near plentiful supplies of firewood, you can camp high above the tree line, in the deep snows of winter, or at the edge of an arid sandstone canyon. And you can prepare your meals quickly and neatly no matter what the weather.
Best of all, a stove does not scorch the earth, as does an open fire. It leaves no ashes, no charred logs, and no blackened stones to mar the wilderness. With a stove, you can more easily camp without leaving a trace.
Remember, though, that while a stove is a wonderful tool, it must be handled intelligently. Misused, it can be dangerous. Operating camping stoves with experienced adult supervision, and practice using them before your outing.
Kinds of Fules and Stoves
Of the stoves available to backpackers, those buring the following fuels are appropriate for treks:
Butane and Propane
Butane and propane are clean, highly combustible, pressurized gases stored in metal cylinders. Stoves using butane or propane are light, compact, and uncomplicated. Simply attach a cylinder, turn the regualtor knob, and light the burner. You'll have everal hours of quiet, study heat.
Due to the nature of the gases, butane and propane stoves lose efficiency in wind and in cold weather, especially at low elevations. In the summer and at high altitudes, they work well.
Take care not to damage the cylinders or put them near a flame, and tote empty containers out of the backcountry for proper disposal at home.
Kerosene
Since it will not explode, kerosene is among the safest of stove fuels, and in much of the world it may be available when other fules are not. It is often used on extended mountaineering expeditions.
A kerosene stove must be preheated by squeezing a dab of special flammable paste onto the base of the burner and touching a lighted match to it before igniting the burner itself. An air pump regulates the fuel tank pressure, and thus the height of the flame. Although kerosene stoves can be a bit bulky, they are reliable in any season.
White Gas
White gas is highly refined, extremely flammable, and potentially explosive. Use it with the utmost caution.
Some white gas stoves have air pumps to provide the pressure necessary for ignition and an even flame, while others must be preheated. Follow the instructions for your stove exactly!
Other Fuels
A variety of stoves use charcoal, canned flammable jelly, burnable pellets, or some other petroleum-based fuel. While they may be suitable for warming a cup of soup, most do not produce enough heat to serve the needs of backpackers.
Carrying Fuel
The amount of fuel you'll burn on a trek depends on the kind of stove you have and the amount of cooking you intend to do. You'll probably need to take along more fuel than the stove itself can hold.
Butane and propane cylinders are ready to pack just as they are, but if you use kerosene or white gas, carry it only in a container made especially for that purpose. Buy a high-quality metal fuel bottle with a secure lid. It's a good idea to get one that is colored red to avoid any chance of confusing it with your waterbottles. Wrapping several strips of tape around fuel bottles will enable you to correctly identify them in the dark.
Prevent gas fumes from spoiling your food by storing fuel bottles and cylinders in plastic bags, and then stowing them in an outside pocket of your pack.
Charcoal Cooking
By containing the briquettes within the wall of a small stove -- a pail, a piece of stove pipe, a square can, even a collar cut from a tin can--we cause the air to sweep through the charcoal. In addition to speeding up the draft, the stove has a further advantage in that the heat is directed upward where you can make most effective use of it.
To increase the heat for faster cooking, fan the fire with some kind of fan or blower. To slow it down, close up the draft opening or sprinkle water on the coals. Probably the most important trick you can learn is to place pots directly on the burning charcoal for fast cooking. It takes about ten pounds of briquettes per patrol, per day.
How to Make a Stove
Secure a two-foot length of commercial stovepipe and cut it in half to make two briquette stoves. Cut a draft hole at the bottom. Make four small holes in the sides, four inches from the top, and other sets of four holes at various heights so that you can make further adjustments. Push in through the hole two pieces of wire on which can rest a circle of half-inch wire mesh (hardware cloth). The pipe should be one inch wider than the diameter of the post.
Make sure you use dutch oven cooking and some utensiless items.
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