Trioxane; A Chemical accelerant For Wet Conditions Fire.

[Mistwalker]

Since Autumn is nearly here, and winter is just around the corner I thought I'd do a post on quick starting a fire under cold and damp conditions.


I really love writing threads like this because it gives me an excuse to go to someplace like.... this.

and play with my toys...um I mean tools.

The stuff in the green mylar packet is a compressed fuel called trioxane. It was given for use with the U.S. issue canteen cup stove.

It ignites more easily by another open flame but it will ignite by hot sparks also. The warmer the temp of the fuel bar the easier to ignite with a spark so in the coldest months it helps if you hold it under your arm or in another warm place for a while before you need to use it. It burns with a very pale blue flame that is impossible to see is bright sunlight. Though you cannot easily tell it the bar is burning in this picture. What will give it away, besides the heatwaves of course, is that parts of it immediately liquefy and puddle momentarily.

In a shady or dark place the flame is more easily seen.

Had I a lid for the cup, as I have noted some of you have for your crusader cups, this water would have reached a good hard boil. As it is it just barely boiled. It burns for roughly ten minutes.

It isn't all consumed and leaves a scar behind, thus I am not exactly fond of it for regular use.

However, there are those times when time itself is of the essence. At times such as those I am very fond of it. In the event of a cold, wet, hungry situation where having a fire very quickly is the priority...say in order to keep from succumbing to the elements or to quickly and efficiently provide food for a little one. And to do so without tying yourself up being completely devoted to tending the fire...this little green packet can be your friend.Using this as an accelerant to start damp wood you don't have to be so picky about the size of your kindling. You just ignite it and start piling on pencil size and smaller twigs.

 

[Mistwalker]

then add some larger ones. This was 4:45pm

in a couple of minutes (4:48pm) as that is catching good you can add some larger fuel.

This is 12 minutes later at 5:00pm

This is 5:20pm 32 minutes after starting the fire and I have done little more than sit here by the fire and enjoy the sounds of nature.

This is 5:28, forty minutes after starting the fire, and still I have done nothing more than sit beside the fire and watch it...much like one might were they exhausted or busy tending to another.

But the base of coals is at this point plenty hot enough, and all it takes is gathering up the debris laying around on the ground....

giving it a little time exposed to the rising heat....

and then giving it a little oxygen and you have flames again.

Even this little bit burned another ten minutes for a total of fifty minutes of fire before I poured a gallon of water on it. Had I needed to tend to another I would have had the time. Under other circumstances, had I wanted to, I could have easily had a very large fire going within that time. As I stated earlier...I'm not overly fond of chemical accelerants, I don't care much for the refuse that comes with them, or the fumes...however, when the time arises they are very useful.

 

[jca21]

weird, i've been using trioxane for a long time now and mine usually burns up atleast 90%

there is usually a small residue of purple stuff left on the bottom. i have that exact same setup as you except my canteen and canteen cover are black. i pack two squares of aluminum in the little side pouch that is located on the canteen cover. one to put on top as a lid and one folded into a square to place the trioxane tab on. i usually get a 3/4 full cup to a boil with one tablet.

great photos btw.


cheers

JC

 

[Mistwalker]

weird, i've been using trioxane for a long time now and mine usually burns up atleast 90%

there is usually a small residue of purple stuff left on the bottom. i have that exact same setup as you except my canteen and canteen cover are black. i pack two squares of aluminum in the little side pouch that is located on the canteen cover. one to put on top as a lid and one folded into a square to place the trioxane tab on. i usually get a 3/4 full cup to a boil with one tablet.

It is a really good little set up to have. As for the trioxane itself the older it is the less well it burns, and the more residue it leaves behind. This bar was far from fresh and had quite a bit of powder built up in the pack instead of the crystalline look the fresh ones have.

I have used aluminum foil for a lid before, but now that I have seen some peoples metal lids they made I am just going to make a permanent one, it can serve as a plate as well if I need it to.

 

[PayetteRucker]

depends on the age, some of the surplus stuff you get is vietnam war era. I've used that stuff so much when I was in the military, its just not economical right now because it costs about a buck a bar. Maybe more. I'd just as soon buy a 2 dollar tub of 100% petrol jelly and soak up some cotton balls.

 

[shelbysguns]

have you tried the new gel fuel packs? ill send you one to try theyre like the green heat gel with the crusader cooker? I like them!

 

[jca21]

a permanent lid sounds like a great idea. although im lazy so i think i'll stick to tin foil

 

[fujita yuji]

Never heard of this stuff, looks quite cool and useful.
I've also found your blade is wearing nice patina.
Thanks for sharing!

 

[Mistwalker]

depends on the age, some of the surplus stuff you get is vietnam war era. I've used that stuff so much when I was in the military, its just not economical right now because it costs about a buck a bar. Maybe more. I'd just as soon buy a 2 dollar tub of 100% petrol jelly and soak up some cotton balls.

I know what you mean. I don't use it, or any chemical accelerant, very often at all, I hate the smelly refuse or container that comes with the use of any of it and there is just too much fatwood in this area for me to need to. I only keep a bar of it in my kit in the cold months after a serious round of frost bite and very nearly losing five toes. I'd very much like to avoid reliving that in the future.

have you tried the new gel fuel packs? ill send you one to try theyre like the green heat gel with the crusader cooker? I like them!

No, I haven't even heard of them till now, sounds interesting.

a permanent lid sounds like a great idea. although im lazy so i think i'll stick to tin foil

I've been wanting make one for months...I hope to get around to it soon. It's not so much that I'm lazy...there just needs to be more hours in a day is all.

 

[Rockywolf]

Looks like a day well spent. Where do you get any of this stuff? Military surplus store?

 

[dawsonbob]

Ahhh, yes... I remember it well. When I was in the service we were issued that stuff, and hated it. It simply never did what it was supposed to do: it was often hard to light, smelled while burning, and left tell-tale residue behind. Back then (Vietnam) we much preferred C4 explosive for little fires. I haven't used it since.

But that was then, and this is now. I can see how, for civilian use, it might be worth trying again. I'll pick some up next time I have a chance, and give it another go.

Nice pics and a good presentation, Mist... as usual. Your threads are always good.

 

[frontiersman]

I use trioxane quite a bit. Look for deals, I just got 12 3-pack boxes for 3.00. So 36 bars for just a little over .08 cents a bar. Local surplus store going out of buisness.

 

[David M]

Great post and pics.

 

[shelbysguns]

No, I haven't even heard of them till now, sounds interesting.

Send me an email ill send you two lol!

 

[dogtownhootie]

I always cut a slit down the center of the packet and fold it back,then fo;d the ends up.this makes a little container to burn the tab in and when it is out just fold the pack up and there is no trace left.

 

[Mistwalker]

Looks like a day well spent. Where do you get any of this stuff? Military surplus store?

Thanks Rocky, after all the rains we've been having it was nice to get out for a day. Yep, I buy mine at a couple of different surplus stores, but I have friends who order it on-line.

Ahhh, yes... I remember it well. When I was in the service we were issued that stuff, and hated it. It simply never did what it was supposed to do: it was often hard to light, smelled while burning, and left tell-tale residue behind. Back then (Vietnam) we much preferred C4 explosive for little fires. I haven't used it since.

But that was then, and this is now. I can see how, for civilian use, it might be worth trying again. I'll pick some up next time I have a chance, and give it another go.

Nice pics and a good presentation, Mist... as usual. Your threads are always good.

Thanks Bob, I'm glad you liked it. I have noticed that the colder it is and older it is the harder it is to light with a spark....not sure carrying c-4 would be a good idea for us civilians lol, but how it burns is really cool.

Like I said, I personally seldom use any chemical accelerants because I seldom need to. I found this on that same trail...well actually I think I can remember when it fell years ago, but it wasn't as much interest to me at that time. At first glance, this appears to be just a rotten log across a trail.

but a closer look shows that parts of it are indeed very hard.

Look closely and you will see the wear pattern that gives fatwood away.

It was once a large Pine tree.

While the outer section is very soft and "punky" there is very solid interior consistently about 3 inches / 8 cm below the surface. That is a sliver of the fatwood I got from one of the limbs that I stuck in the outer surface and lit.

By the time the outer material rots and falls away this will be one huge hunk of fatwood. Trioxane is only an emergency measure for me.

I use trioxane quite a bit. Look for deals, I just got 12 3-pack boxes for 3.00. So 36 bars for just a little over .08 cents a bar. Local surplus store going out of buisness.

I used to use it a lot as a teen and when I lived in other areas. Not so much now though, little need for it here. I usually pay $0.79 a box so it's less than $0.30 a bar and that's fine for my need. I have three boxes in my pack that are over three years old that need to be replaced. It's hard to find any of the newer stuff in the smaller bars...I suppose the war has something to do with that.

Great post and pics.

Thanks David, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Send me an email ill send you two lol!

Ok thanks, I'll email you in a few minutes.

I always cut a slit down the center of the packet and fold it back,then fo;d the ends up.this makes a little container to burn the tab in and when it is out just fold the pack up and there is no trace left.

Thanks I've tried that too, it does help with the mess....but it seems to put off an even worse smell. I have done that in actual fires so that the waste is consumed.

 

[TheGame]

Great thread Mist, as always. I never have the need for anything other than a little of jute and some wood for a fire. Well, I think I am going to get one of those stoves for my canteen though. That looks pretty useful.

:thumbup:

 

[Mistwalker]

Great thread Mist, as always. I never have the need for anything other than a little of jute and some wood for a fire. Well, I think I am going to get one of those stoves for my canteen though. That looks pretty useful.

:thumbup:

Thanks T.G.

I seldom need anything more than my knife and a firesteel...but one never knows what may happen in the woods in the winter.

The stoves are pretty awesome. That one is the old style. The new ones are heavier made and function a little differently, more like the British crusader cup stove but they are hard to find right now....besides I have had that one for so many years I am used to it.

 

[sicily02]

Awesome pics mistwalker and I really like the write up you did.
I have not used them tri. bars for years. Next time I am in Omaha Ne.
I will stop at the local surplus store and get some just to have on hand:thumbup:.

When I was in the first Gulf War we used C-4 also. That stuff could cook and boil up a cup of Joe in no time at all. Awesome stuff.

As always great reveiw and pic man,
Bryan

 

[Mistwalker]

Awesome pics mistwalker and I really like the write up you did.
I have not used them tri. bars for years. Next time I am in Omaha Ne.
I will stop at the local surplus store and get some just to have on hand:thumbup:.

When I was in the first Gulf War we used C-4 also. That stuff could cook and boil up a cup of Joe in no time at all. Awesome stuff.

As always great reveiw and pic man,
Bryan

Thanks Bryan, I'm glad you enjoyed it. The trioxane bars are d@mned handy to have around for contingencies.