Preheating paste

HELP I am looking for tubes of Optimus burning paste. Does anyone still sell it in the UK?

I havent seen it for ages and ages - optimus may even have stopped making it.

I have used a piece of fire sealing rope as a wick and some meths and also alcohol based hand disinfecting gel along with BBQ starter gel.

the hand cleaning gel works best for me (combo of mult-use and small bottle) with the BBQ stuff close behind.  Meths and wick works OK.

I use meths.  If it's in a squeezy bottle with a fine squirt then it's pretty easy to get it just where you want (and not everywhere else too).

Pete.

What about using a small bit of Hexamine/Esbit, easy to carry and usually easy to light?

 Never use priming paste so don't know exactly what you mean/want.

think you might be out of luck then - I cant find anywhere with it and there are a number of mentions (on other forii) that optimus have stopped making it.  However, have you tried searching for Coghlans Fire Paste?

I havent found a UK supplier of this either, but then I havent looked very hard.

found it

here

and

here

the second one is close to me and I drop in every now and then - nice guys.  Never knew they did this stuff

huskyman wrote (see)

What about using a small bit of Hexamine/Esbit, easy to carry and usually easy to light?

 Never use priming paste so don't know exactly what you mean

I use the paste for priming an old paraffin stove I use occasionally. Does Hexamine still make people feel sick from the fumes?

Hexi. is dangerous if used in a confined space with no ventilation. (likes of snow holes, deep caves, etc.), But only if used a lot, might cause a head ache, feeling sick, if used in less quantity with out proper ventilation.

 For the small amount you'd need to light a stove, I don't think would be a problem.

 I don't think you would need to use more than the size of something like an Asprin tablet to light a stove. Would burn for around 2/3 min. Maybe more, a full block of Hexi. normally lasts about 20 ish min.

 Normally enough to heat up a litre of water, (depending on how cold it is), or heat a rat. pack.

Hexi; headaches and rat packs the good old days

Cheers grumpy, have checked out the sites.                                                              They are charging a lot for postage