Cat Food Can Stove??

[ronen.schatsky]

I keep seeing posts about these ultra-light, ultra-simple stoves online. Is there a catch at all, like reliability?
I currently own an MSR Whisperlite--the old kind, that only burns white gas--and it's kind of heavy. Still, I like it because it's rather reliable and can cook for as long as I want it to for non-instant meals. I may be open to trying the cat-food can thing--maybe using a bigger can for longer cooking times--if I can be convinced that it's reliable. What have people's experiences been?

[Busky2]

I used the super cat can stove for months on end without fail, NO MOVING PARTS. Longer cook times I add a bit more fuel to it at the start. I could cook a meal with a 7-8 min boil with a just under a ounce of fuel.

[Cheyou]

It cost $.50 to make one. A can of Heat gas line antifreeze cost another buck and a half . U should try it out and c if u like it . I like the deluxe stove with the tomato paste can and the fiberglass wicking. It cost a whole buck to make. Yes I am a big spender. Have fun stoving.

Thom
the best part is how quiet they are

[QiWiz]

I keep seeing posts about these ultra-light, ultra-simple stoves online. Is there a catch at all, like reliability?
I currently own an MSR Whisperlite--the old kind, that only burns white gas--and it's kind of heavy. Still, I like it because it's rather reliable and can cook for as long as I want it to for non-instant meals. I may be open to trying the cat-food can thing--maybe using a bigger can for longer cooking times--if I can be convinced that it's reliable. What have people's experiences been?

What's good: low cost, ease of making one and replacing one, nothing to break really (though they can be crushed underfoot).
What's bad: don't work so well for tall skinnier pots; not as fuel efficient as some other stove types

An alternative is a simple open cup/container to hold the alcohol and a light pot stand that puts your pot about 1.5" above the burner. Don't forget a good windscreen.

[Turk6177]

If you don't feel comfortable making one, you can get various alcohol stoves here: http://www.woodgaz-stove.com I like the light weight. I really only rehydrate my meals in lieu of "cooking" with my alcohol stoves. The only downside would be that it takes a little longer than a canister stove to boil water. You also really benefit from a wind screen which is easy to make out of a foil serving pan. You can make one out of a friskees can and a paper hole punch. I would avoid the bigger is better idea due to the size of your flame (too wide for some pots).

[4eyedbuzzard]

MY experience and opinion only - The poor performance, especially in the wind, of alky stoves isn't worth a couple of ounces saved. With a canister stove, I can be eating my meal and drinking hot coffee or tea while some folks with alky stoves are still waiting for their water to (barely) boil. But others disagree. Make or buy one and practice making some meals with it. There is a learning curve that is more difficult IMO than that with either canister or white gas stoves. Make sure you try it in windy/breezy/cold conditions as well. Even with a windscreen, the flame pattern of a cat stove in windy conditions isn't good. Performance, or more accurately lack thereof, in windy conditions, is the biggest drawback to me. But most of my hiking is in the Whites in NH and more recently in the Ouachitas in OK, both places where it is often quite windy (20 mph+ is very common). Also be aware that the alky stove itself gets hot (can burn wooden surfaces - use a rock or old can lid as an insulator) and that the flame is invisible under normal daylight. Spilling or tipping over is also a safety disadvantage.

Alky stoves have their good and bad points like any other stove. The differences in weight between alcohol v canister amount to a couple of ounces at most given comparable amounts of fuel based upon the same quantities of water boiled. White gas stoves weigh anywhere from 8 ounces to a pound more, but have better cold weather performance, especially for winter hiking where snow must be melted for drinking water. Alcohol "efficiency" from a weight carried standpoint decreases as the time between resupply increases. It's typically a break even with gas canisters at about 5 days to a week if you boil about a liter per day. For a two day trip in calm, good weather, no problem. Beyond that, I don't see their advantage. But again, that's just my opinion.

Resources http://thru-hiker.com/articles/stoveweight_vs_time_14days.php and http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2014/09/which-is-lighter-alcohol-or-gas_14.html and google search canister vs alcohol stoves

[zelph]

"Shug" has tried all the alcohol stoves and has chosen the cat food can stove as his "goto" He also likes canister stoves....see the one he has on top of his head :D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKAFAsPfC4s

[TexasBob]

Endless debates on Whiteblaze about alcohol vs. cannister stoves. Pros and cons to each type. You probably won't be doing much more than boiling water on the AT and you might need to simmer something for a few minutes. Alcohol stoves work fine for this. You will be resupplying every few days so you won't need be carrying lots of alcohol and it is available essentially everywhere. Alcohol stoves are way more reliable than even a Whisperlite and way simpler to use. In the end it comes down to which type of stove you like best. Make an alcohol stove and practice using it. You will figure out pretty quickly whether you would want to use one on the trail or not.

[CarlZ993]

"Shug" has tried all the alcohol stoves and has chosen the cat food can stove as his "goto" He also likes canister stoves....see the one he has on top of his head :D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKAFAsPfC4s

This is the alcohol stove I used on my AT thru-hike. Worked great. As with any alcohol stove, it won't be a fast as a canister or white gas stove. The 'standard' cat food stove requires a wide-based pot to be more effective (wide flame pattern). Not a problem w/ Zelph's Fancee Feast stove (much narrower flame pattern).

If you're considering a canister stove, look at the Soto Windmaster stove. Very light & its design handles the wind better than any standard upright canister stove I've seen.

As for a white gas stove, I think I only saw 2 or 3 of them the entire time I was on the AT. I'd only bring one of them to do some serious winter hiking.

[bikebum1975]

Never personally tried a cat can stove. I do use trangias regularly love them pop can stoves work decent to. While they do work well don't expect anything close to the speed or heat of white gas isn't gonna happen. They suck in wind and suck in super cold to. Reason why I still keep white gas stoves is for actual heat control sure ya can fiddle a bit with simmer rings and such still not the same.
If anything get one try it outside at home on some meals you'd plan to cook. I've done regular cooking and have made baked goods on an alcohol stove.

[Harrison Bergeron]

Besides all the negatives -- doesn't work in the cold, takes forever to boil, messy, poisonous fuel, can't simmer -- they're also heavier than a canister stove setup. But at least they're cheap!

This was my pop-can setup:

Titanium mess kit Snow Peak Hybrid Trail Cookset 4.7
Spork Included in cookset 0.6
Alcohol stove Homemade "firelight" alcohol stove 0.3
Wind break Homemade 0.8
Cozy Homemade Reflectix cozy 2.3
2 alum tent stakes for pot holders 1.0
Alcohol, 12 oz bottle of yellow "Heet" 11.5 (about a weeks's worth of fuel)

Total, alcohol option: 21.2 oz

This is my Jetboil setup:

Jetboil Flash stove 4.9
Jetboil Sol Titanium replacement cup 5.8
Spork Sea to Summit Alpha Light Spork 0.3
Fuel canister Jetboil small 100gm 6.8 (about three weeks worth of fuel)

Total, alcohol option: 17.8 oz

[Venchka]

No one mentioned:
Alcohol, wood and Esbit burning stoves are not permitted in burn ban areas because they lack an off device.
Be that as it may, these hopelessly ineffective and inefficient devices account for an inordinate amount of screen space on the Internet.
Alcohol is for drinking.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

[burger]

MY experience and opinion only - The poor performance, especially in the wind, of alky stoves isn't worth a couple of ounces saved.

I've used my supercat stove in steady 30+ mph plenty of times with no trouble. You just need a good windscreen. The flame pattern on the supercat is just fine with a wide pot (if you have a narrow pot and don't want to switch to a wider pot, don't bother with the supercat).

I'm not really sure what you're talking about with the learning curve. So long as your setup is good (windscreen, wide pot, ideally a piece of foil on the ground to reflet heat and keep from scorching whatever's under your stove), you're set. The only learning involved for me was exactly how much water to use to get my meals rehydrated correctly, and if you look around the intertubes (or just post something here), you'll find the answers.

[Uncle Joe]

I use a Trangia alcohol stove. I would agree with other that say wind can be an issue. Even with a windscreen, I've had trouble lighting my stove on a very cold very windy morning. Granted, I have a rather small windscreen. Other guys in camp had their nice, JetBoil-type stoves lit, boiled, and shut off by the time I got mine rolling. The only time I might consider taking a nice, pressurized stove would be for Winter. That said, once lit it stayed lit and I had a boil soon enough. People talk about the "learning curve" but I really don't get that either. For me, it's worth it not to carry containers of fuel that I have to haul out. I carry a single bottle of fuel. BTW, if you go with alcohol us HEAT in the YELLOW bottle (not the red).

[TexasBob]

........Alcohol, wood and Esbit burning stoves are not permitted in burn ban areas because they lack an off device.
Be that as it may, these hopelessly ineffective and inefficient devices account for an inordinate amount of screen space on the Internet......

Have you personally used a supercat or fancy feest alcohol stove?

[Recalc]

My solution to poor wind performance was inserting a sheet of flash aluminum (with holes punched out at the bottom) inside of my wide pot. Strong wind was not a problem and this setup was reliable. The pot also contains a stand made from bicycle spokes. FWIW, the cup idea didn't work for me.33535

[Traillium]

I use a Trangia alcohol stove. I would agree with other that say wind can be an issue. Even with a windscreen, I've had trouble lighting my stove on a very cold very windy morning. Granted, I have a rather small windscreen. Other guys in camp had their nice, JetBoil-type stoves lit, boiled, and shut off by the time I got mine rolling. The only time I might consider taking a nice, pressurized stove would be for Winter. That said, once lit it stayed lit and I had a boil soon enough. People talk about the "learning curve" but I really don't get that either. For me, it's worth it not to carry containers of fuel that I have to haul out. I carry a single bottle of fuel. BTW, if you go with alcohol us HEAT in the YELLOW bottle (not the red).

Ditto on the simplest of the Trangias.

I appreciate that I can use its O-ring-sealed lid to store unused alcohol. I like that I can shut the stove off with the simmer lid. I like that I can simmer using the simmer lid.

I made a simple windscreen from the bottom of a disposable aluminum pan. The windscreen fits inside my pot.

BTW, here in Canada we have easy access to both methanol and ethanol. Not sure which I prefer. Ethanol is less toxic and seems to burn a bit hotter. Methanol is cheaper but is toxic. I'm probably going to stay with ethanol.


Bruce Traillium

[Mr. Sparky]

I love my Trangia, and the spirit stove can be easily adapted for backpacking as opposed to use with the excellently engineered trangia support and windscreen which is big and heavy for today's backpacking standards. Wind and cold? Well, alcohol stoves work for the Swedes, and I have used mine in the Colorado winter with sub-zero wind-chills.

Here is the trouble: one can easily make a cat food burner, or a fancier penny stove out of aluminum cans if you are handy BUT a homemade pot stand and windscreen that can handle a steady wind is more challenging.

As for canisters, I do not want to carry and consume all of them, or put them into the landfill.

[Packrat69]

I have used I have several canister, white gas, alcohol and wood burning stoves and have to say that I go with the alcohol and wood burning stoves if I'm backpacking as a weight saver and canister and white gas if canoeing or kayak camping. They all have plus and minus factors. Get out and use them before you hit the trails to see how they work and the meals that you can prepare on them.

[SamBrooks_01]

Can't say I ever got to use the cat food can. I'm heard a lot of people say nothing but good about them, though. Solid and easy to maintain. Kind of seems like a pain to me just because there's nothing to put your pot (?) on and if it's too tall it'll tip over. But, like I said, some use them and swear by them. Andrew Skurka uses it, check out some of his videos, especially if you've never checked that dude out. I, personally, am a PocketRocket guy.

[atraildreamer]

Jim Woods, the developer of the cat food can stove, has posted a downloadable pdf about the stove, available here;

http://www.jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/Super-Cat-3-4-11.pdf

Jim has a lot of other good hiking information at his site:

www.jwbasecamp.com (http://www.jwbasecamp.com)

[left52side]

I use a simple DIY fancy feast stove that I made by simply taking a cat food can and punching holes in it around the top and another set of holes under them,and it is my goto stove and have used it over about 100 miles so far and is going strong.
I also have A vargo triad titanium alcohol stove that I have used as well but personally I prefer the fancy feast stove.
I have also modified carrying my fuel(I know I carry to much) But I do not like to waste a twelve ounce bottle by only using part of it.
But anyway I put my fuel in two 4 ounce bottles and two two ounce bottles,this might change to one eight once bottle and one four ounce bottle though.
I do this in case one opens or leaks then I still have a reserve amount of fuel to use ..
Again this is not set in stone as to the amount of fuel but mine seems to boil two cups of water in about 7/9 minutes.