Gas cartridges or Meths available at Tesco or Morrisons?

[fring]

Hello!

I'll be travelling to the Isle of Skye soon trying to tackle the Skye Trail. Cannot wait!

The last thing I'm still unsure about is the following: I'll be flying into Glasgow on a Saturday at noon and will be taking the bus to Portree directly from the airport, which means that I'll be in Portree sth about 10ish in the evening and shops will probably be closed and won't open on Sunday. Since I'd like to start the trail on Sunday and wouldn't want to eat nothing but cereal bars before reaching Portree again, I was wondering / researching where to get fuel for cooking, either gas cartridges or Methylated spirits (I'd own and could bring a stove for both options). The bus to Portree will stop in Ft. William for half an hour but it looks like it's too late for specialty stores to still be open so my only options would be shopping at Tesco's or Morrison's near the train/bus stop.

Cutting a long story short: Is it possible to buy Meths or gas cartridges at a scottish supermarket or would I need a specialty store for that?

Thanks for any insight!

[jmarkb]

You could try getting in touch with the gear shop in Portree (Inside Out https://plus.google.com/105642176289752860611/about?gl=uk&hl=en ). They aren't open on a Sunday, but they might be able to arrange for you to pick stuff up from somewhere.

[fring]

Thanks for the input, I already thought about this option but I'll give it a try!

If anyone knows if I'll be able to buy any fuels in Ft. William I'd still be interested in that, too!

[Gythral]

In Fort William -
Nevisport - which is through the underpass from the bus/railway station, but they dont seem to open late any more (17:30 close) or
Ellis Brigham (follow the main road around the railway station) is open until 18:00 on a Sat. (17:45 weekdays)


Morrisons is right next to the bus station & might stock BBQ lighter fluid - which might be meths...
(I'll check my local one and see in the next day or so)

[Rudolph]

Morrisons is right next to the bus station & might stock BBQ lighter fluid - which might be meths...

BBQ lighter fluid is usually a fairly heavy hydrocarbon fuel - like parraffin. It's not meths (which is too volatile for lighting charcoal).

[Gythral]

Morrisons is right next to the bus station & might stock BBQ lighter fluid - which might be meths...

BBQ lighter fluid is usually a fairly heavy hydrocarbon fuel - like parraffin. It's not meths (which is too volatile for lighting charcoal).

I was going on this ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcoal_lighter_fluid ) but was going to check - I've found bio-ethanol based fluids offered online!

[Rudolph]

I hadn't seen that type before. Thanks!

I'm still not sure the burn properties will be suitable for a meths stove. Still, I've learned something today so it's been a good day.

[Gythral]

What we call "meths" or Methylated spirit is not methanol but ethanol with an additive to make it taste horrid and Potassium Manganate VII (Potassium Permanganate for us oldies) to colour it purple...

[RyanfaeScotland]

What we call "meths" or Methylated spirit is not methanol but ethanol with an additive to make it taste horrid and Potassium Manganate VII (Potassium Permanganate for us oldies) to colour it purple...

What I call "meths" is not Methylated spirit but Methadone, a synthetic opioid used medically as an analgesic and a maintenance anti-addictive and reductive preparation for use by patients with opioid dependency.

You should have no trouble getting that late at night but may struggle in Tesco or Morrisons. I recommend Lidl or Aldi instead.

[fring]

Well actually what my dictionary told me to be "meths" is what I'd use for a stove like this:

http://trangia.se/2892.trangia_stormkok.html

so I guess I won't be to successful on the street market

I'll give the Lidl a try, it seems to be right next to the bus stop in Ft. William (didn't notice that when I was there 3 years ago)

Thanks to everyone for the tips!

[fring]

Fwiw here's what I ended up doing (maybe someone with the same situation finds this on Google one day): The folks at Inside Out in Portree didn't bother to reply to my enquiries, so that didn't work out, but I found out that there's a mountain sports store called Summits that is in walking distance (20 minutes one way) to Glasgow Airport so I could use the time waiting for the bus to walk there and get me some gas, they've been very friendly and helpful. So I guess that is the most viable solution when arriving in Glasgow on a Saturday afternoon and going further by bus.
Skye Trail's been absolutely amazing by the way.