Hello All,
I'm a complete newbie here and was wondering if you travel by foot (and rail) to campsites, and if so how do you transport Bioethanol Fuel or Methylated Spirit for a Trangia Cooker set on Trains?
I'm surprised that so far every camp site I've contacted doesn't stock either fuel, and I wouldn't know if I could risk taking it on a train, even though I have a Trangia 0.5 Litre Fuel Bottle with Safety Valve for Liquid Fuel?
Any tips or answers would be gratefully appreciated.
Thank You,
K.
Be cautious of plain unlined aluminium Sigg bottles - unavoidable water in meths & even bioethanol can cause corrosion long term resulting in pin prick holes.
Is it safe? I think so, but I'm confident in my own quota of common sense. I won't make the same judgement for strangers.
You are fine with the red or green plastic trangia bottles. I do it all the time on trains.
As spirit burner says the unlined aluminium bottles can end up with leaks though.
I also carry bottles of whisky on the train and nothing has gone boom yet
The only trains you'll have trouble with are the Channel Tunnel hi speed trains. Gas and liquid fuels of all kinds are prohibited for foot passengers, they even run explosives dogs over your luggage.
I carry a Campingaz stove with no fuel knowing that supermarkets, camping stores and the French equivalent to Halfords stock fuel.
The British equivalent to Halfords stock Campingaz cans!
Quote: Originally posted by spiritburner on 26/3/2026
& meths aka alcool à brûler is readily available in French supermarkets although it smells different.
For other countries:
https://internationalfuelnames.org/
I much prefer the alcohol brûler smell. I have sometimes found it difficult to get the screw on Coleman type canisters so often take a modified Globetrotter if I'm not taking an alcohol stove to France. It can take modern Le clic Campingaz canisters.
Technically ferries ban all liquid fuels as well. They sometimes do checks but the dogs have never found my Bio-ethanol.
In which shop in France can one buy alcohol à brûler? What would it be next to in the supermarket?
In Britain meths is coloured blue and given an intentionally unpleasant taste and smell to deter meths drinkers (it makes you go blind), so any fragrance is likely to be an improvement.
I also use Campingaz Le Clic canisters, in the last small town I stayed in it was only available from the Halfords equivalent.
With domestic cleaning products. They also like to sell petrol like product for stain removal on clothes (I think) - but like Dab-it-off of old. Similar bottles & label so careful! Usually 1l white bottle, 5l in bigger stores.
Any of the big supermarkets has it in France. Usually a white plastic 1 litre bottle in the household products aisle. Carrefour, Auchan, intermarche off the top of my head. Failing that, any bricolage (DIY) type shop will have it. It might be under fondue as well.
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