Author Topic: Where/ how do you carry your MSR whisperlite fuel bottle and stove?  (Read 6996 times)

cycling4chapatis

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Hi Thornies,

in further pursuit of fine details: where/ how do you position your fuel bottles/ wind shields/ stove on your touring bike?

Previously I've had our 1l fuel bottle with pump inserted and wind shields wrapped around it in a combo of plastic bag+2 further material bags in my non-clothes/ food pannier. Once I obviously forgot to close the tap (that always happens on the first day, when I forgot that I had opened the tap to burn the stove clean before taking it on a plan journey) and it took a few weeks for that pannier to stop reeking of petrol...

My thinking is to tidy up the bag contraptions, maybe add a protective cap over the fuel pump head and then stick it in of the the profile design cages and adding an extra strap for safety (losing a plastic bottle = 0-10$, loosing fuel bottle + pump....$$).

Another minor pain is the stove. I've got that in it's original bag plus another to contain the forever present soot in of the panniers. While that's ok, it's odd shape makes for tricky packing, especially if you want to avoid bending it. Thinking of getting a container (70x80x160cm should do) and stuffing space with stuff that can handle being near fuel/ soot.

Your thoughts/ approaches?

Cheerio,
c4c


Danneaux

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Re: Where/ how do you carry your MSR whisperlite fuel bottle and stove?
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2014, 07:47:24 AM »
Hi c4c!

This might not help you directly (sorry!) but may give an idea that could be adapted to your needs...

Our respective multifuel stoves are a little different, but mine stores in aluminum pots that nest to form a carry-case and hold the entire lot of my cooking gear, including Swiss Army Deluxe Tinker knife, MSR piezoelectric igniter, cleaning sponge/scouring pad, bottle of pump oil and two folding spoons. The stove has never leaked to date, so no danger of getting fuel on the pots, and when used as a case the pots protect the burner from damage and my bags from burner soot. If burning naphtha or unleaded petrol, the pots don't get sooted, but I carry the lot in a lightweight roll-top dry sack anyway to ensure my panniers stay clean and this comes in handy if I have to burn "dirty fuels" like kerosene/paraffin.

c4c, in looking at my setup, I wonder if you might be able to wrap the burner assembly and fuel hose in a zip-top plastic sack and then store it inside your pots? Another possibility -- though it would take the place of a water bottle -- would be to put it in a plastic lidded container and strap it to a Salsa Anything cage outside the bags. Depending on how much room is needed to contain the burner assembly and supply hose, it might pack into an empty Gatorade powdered mix can with screw-on lid; those are almost purpose-made to fit an Anything cage and would be very sturdy and weather proof as well, being made of polyethylene with a labyrinth-gasketed lid.

As for the fuel bottle itself, I realize if the lid contains a valve assembly it may not be secure (as you've found). Hmm. Perhaps it could be carried in a bottle cage secured with either a tether, mini-bungee or toe strap or in a BikeBuddy cage/mount ( http://bikebuddy.co.uk/ ). Topeak do make a couple of bottle cages with adjustable capacity and it might be possible to snug such a cage 'round the fuel bottle, adding security.

This next idea is Out There a ways, but a question: Would a Trangia or similar spirits/meths/alcohol stove fit your needs? The stoves can be fairly inexpensive (my Mini-Trangia kit was USD$10 on sale, complete with stand, pot, and frypan/lid). Fuel is widely available and lacks many of the problems associated with petrol-based fuels; it evaporates cleanly with no real odor if spilled. It doesn't have the energy density of naphtha and so is less economical for long trips away from resupply, but can still do a fine job if it is not going to be very cold and if you can carry enough fuel or can replenish it at intervals. A Trangia with, say, a Clickstand support/windshield should still work with your current pots and pans and these are available fairly inexpensively -- really inexpensively compared to higher-end iso-butane stoves and are an especially good bargain compared to most multifuel stoves. It can be made to simmer and will burn a considerable amount of time on each full fill and can cook rice and beans if those have been softened a bit first. I have a Mini-Trangia kit for use up to about three days and a Heineken beer can penny-stove for day rides and overnight (8-minute burns per fill), this last used with a small set of nesting alu bowls to boil water for tea and to cook my preassembled freezer-bag meals that are then steeped in a homemade Reflectix cozy.

Just some general thoughts on stove/fuel packing/placement, hoping something among them might prove helpful to you.

Best,

Dan.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2014, 08:35:51 AM by Danneaux »

Andybg

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Re: Where/ how do you carry your MSR whisperlite fuel bottle and stove?
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2014, 09:11:07 AM »
Just to add another suggestion to the fitting of the fuel bottle; I have been very impressed with the Monkii cages in respect to both ease of use and how securely they hold various size containers.

Andy

mickeg

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Re: Where/ how do you carry your MSR whisperlite fuel bottle and stove?
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2014, 12:24:21 PM »
I use Optimus Nova or Primus Omnifuel stoves, not the MSR stoves.  But they function the same.

The cases for these stoves have adequate padding, I have not considered other means of packing the burner part of the stoves.

I am not sure of the translation from USA/Canadian to UK English language for various fuels, but when I am using white gas (also known as Coleman Fuel), that readily evaporates and does not leave a residue.  I think Europeans refer to that fuel as Benzene.  I just put the fuel bottle in the pannier and not worry about it.  If I spilled a bit of fuel on the bottle, it has evaporated 10 minutes later and does not leave any odor in the pannier.

If I am using Kerosene (or jet fuel or Diesel number 1), that does not evaporate as readily and spilled fuel will stink for a long time.  (I am not sure what Europeans call this fuel.)  Brunton is a company that for a while was the USA distributor for Optimus, they had a 0.6 liter bottle that fit in the water bottle cage perfectly.  I carry the bottle and pump in a water bottle cage.   I have seen some carry the bottle in the cage below the down tube, but that exposes the pump to a lot of road dirt and dust, I prefer a location where less dirt gets on the pump unit.



I always have a spare fuel bottle cap in my kit in case of pump failure that would prevent it from sealing properly.

energyman

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Re: Where/ how do you carry your MSR whisperlite fuel bottle and stove?
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2014, 05:08:12 PM »
Got me worried there. I have a click-stand for propping my bike up.  Spend a few seconds wondering (as Google down loaded) how it adapts to become a stove shield !
(Brain a bit slow after a freezing ride today)
(Not of course as cold as over the pond at present of course)

cycling4chapatis

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Re: Where/ how do you carry your MSR whisperlite fuel bottle and stove?
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2014, 04:13:44 AM »
Dear all - thanks a lot for sharing your rigs!

Fuel bottle: I'm tending to the seat-post bottle cage option. Given the cost of the pump, I'll add an extra band/ string contraption. Alternative is indeed back in the panniers, especially if I want to carry a 1.5l bottle in that cage instead. Not going with our front panniers, but adding a 31l Ortlieb rack pack will require a bit of a re-think, as I'd prefer to keep fuel bottle from food/ clothes/ sleep gear. After touring in Europe and Africa I'm a great fan of petrol (for tour cooking only, 2wheels4life otherwise! ;-) ), everything else is an at best an amusing wild-goose chase through hardware shops/ random shops. Initailly I was hesitant to go for petrol and used essentially paint stripper...total soot fest. Might be that the smell is coming from the bags I have the bottle/ pump in, will investigate.

Where do you place your wind shields? Around the bottle and into said cage too?

Stove storing: Gatorade jar - great idea! Will check what I've got at home! Storing inside the pots would have been my first instinct (used to do this with billy/ butane canister stove)), but current set isn't big enough. That said, we're ditching the smaller pot and the pan of said set, only keeping the largest one as our 'small' sauce pot, as we got ourselves a bigger aluminium pot off an Kenyan market - otherwise we can't cook enough pasta! :-) So will check if stove can return to pot central, zip-locked indeed.

Cheerio,
c4c