What are the pros and cons of using canned heat (sterno, chafing fuel etc.) as a cooking and heating fuel in a survival situation? Does it have a long shelf life? Anyone try it?

I've used it in a restaurant, in banquets, etc.
Don't think there's a shelf life danger.
Gets stuff really hot, for a low burning flame, and lasts an hour or two, IIRC.
Get some and try it.

I think it does. We learned to make our own in girl scouts. YOu take a tuna can, and wrap some cardboard type material in a spiral inside. The borders on chalk boards in classrooms work perfect. Then you fill it with wax and light it, and put a coffee can over it. We cooked that way. Got several uses out of it. Stackable, portable, cheap, and not that heavy.

forget cooking with it, I understand you can drink this stuff and get drunk. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson did just this. If civilization collapses I think I'll need it. of course it cant be healthy.....

Canned heat (Sterno) works pretty good, but it's a bit bulky if you need to be mobile. It doesn't leak like liquid fuel, but it will dry out over time, especially if not sealed perfectly. I remember opening one up once, expecting to have a flame and it was completely dried out to nothing - which was unexpected and disappointing. So, yes watch the shelf life dates.

As far as making your own, we use to take coffee cans and then cut & fold as much cardboard pieces you could fit in them (standing vertical). You need to make sure they pieces are cut off at the top of the can so you can extinguish the flame quickly by just using a lid. Then you pour wax over the cardboard so that it gets saturated completely. Then you can just light it anytime and it creates a quick hot flame for cooking which you can extinguish by covering the opening with a lid (not plastic). Provides quite a few hours of cooking and is portable.

Edit to add if you extinguish the flame, but then allow it to smolder they are great for smoke signals too.

[edit on 10-2-2010 by verylowfrequency]

I bought case of "Safe Heat" from Sam's club. It's Diethylene Gycol. When I opened the can I found a nylon wick. It burned with a blue flame about 2-3 inches high. It supposed to last six hours.

[edit on 9-2-2010 by RKWWWW]

In 2008,we had a severe wind storm that knocked out all power for several days.I have a wedding/floral business I run from my home.
I used the chafing dish fuel to cook with.

I removed one of the racks from my oven,used two,short 2x4's ontop
of my stove.I slid two cans of the chafing dish fuel under the rack and
I was able to cook,make coffee and tea!
It was a good thing I had these cans.My freezers were thawing out and
I was able to cook some of the meat.

I make the wax and cardboard fuel cubes with out the tuna cans.

They are a great fire starter or you can drop them in a tuna can and use them like Sterno.

They are great fire starting fire when everything is wet

Saw dust and wax are good too just take a large container full of sawdust and pour hot wax in and mix.

While the mix is hot take the mix and shape to what ever shape you want.

The cost using that stuff could add up pretty quick. I myself keep a couple bags of those match light briquettes on hand for emergency use. Of course you want to use that stuff outside, and keep it dry during the rain or a flood, but it's a lot cheaper and you can use just one or two of them briquettes at a time. A bag will last you for a while and they aren't as expensive.