I have used STERNO when camping or hunting for years. About a dozen
years back I discovered a better product than STERNO for about one
tenth the cost. My local Sam's Club sells a hand sanitizer under their
Maker's Mark label. A two liter jug of this with a hand pump sells for
as low as $5.50 when it is on sale. It has a built in hand pump and I
always have one in the shop. I started using this as a substitute for
STERNO when I was packing for a fishing trip and discovered I was out
of STERNO. I remembered reading the label on the hand sanitizer and it
said it was 70% Ethyl Alcohol so I tested it and it definitely burned
hot. I have since started filling empty STERNO cans with this and it
works great. I know it is a hotter fire than STERNO (A friend has an
InfraRed thermometer and we did comparison tests with STERNO vs the
hand sanitizer and the sanitizer burned a lot hotter) and it has a
pleasant smell. My only PROBLEM with it is that the flame is almost
invisible. Do any of you have an idea of something that could be
mixed in with the hand sanitizer that would make the flame more
visible? When I am the only one in the area when I am using this I am
not worried however I would hate to see some other person accidentally
get burned.
Just to keep this on topic I will mention that I have used this in
small soldering projects when their was no electricity available for
my soldering iron.

DL