My alky addiction!!

[Mtn Scout]

for the past few weeks i have been making and testing alky stoves. i have ended up with a ton of different designs. i will post pics of all the ones i have. what i am wanting to do is let you guys try them and give advice or jsut a thanks for the stove. i am not selling these. i am giving them away. i just want to see if you guys like my work. on the last batch i made i did a test run sat night. i used 16oz of 35-40 degree water. the temps was in the high 20's with a pretty strong wind. i just fabbed a quick winscreen so i am sure performance times could be increased greatly but out of the 4 diff stoves i tried all had a consistent rolling boil time of 6-8 mins with total burn time of around 9-10 using 1oz of heet. i am pretty satisfied with these times considering temps etc. let me know how many of you are interested in getting one of these. they wont win any beauty contests but they serve there purpose. working on a new design tonight. going to try it right now. its about 25 with a slight wind. it may not work but it sure looks cool:banana

[mweinstone]

cant help you. im with zelph.i have taken vows. my stove god is zelph.

[Harrison Bergeron]

It lots of fun to play with alky stoves. I probably spent a month carefully constructing every design I could find. The best one was the "firelight" stove, which you can build with one pepsi can and a pocket knife. It boiled water 30 seconds faster than any other design I tried -- 4.5 minutes. But the main advantage was that it didn't need a primer pan and it was easy to build.

But here's the thing -- they ALL need about 5 minutes to boil water. There's really just not that much difference between them. The simple fact is that there's only so much energy in an ounce of alcohol and there's not really a whole lot you can do to change that.

And here's the other thing -- they really aren't that light because of all the paraphenalia they require. You'll need a windscreen and a cozy and probably priming pan and a measuring spoon and a bag to hold it all in and the fuel itself is heavy -- 12 fl.oz. of Heet weighs over 12 oz in the bottle.

And they aren't cheap, either. You'll need a $50 titanium pot to go along with your free stove to justify messing around with all that nonsense.

Then there's the disadvantages -- they're hard to light when it's cold, they take at least five minutes to boil water, you can't simmer, and the fuel is heavy, poisonous and prone to leaking on your stuff.

In the end, I wound up buying a Jetboil, which was just as light as my best alky kit whith none of the disadvantages, and cheaper than the three ti-ware pots I bought while searching for the optimum alky kit.

But don't let me spoil the fun!

[tammons]

I don't really agree with all that above about not being that light and too expensive.

My entire cook and stove kit weighs 5 oz less the alcohol bottle and fuel and its not expensive.

The best all around for the effort vs wt vs cooktime/efficiency IMO is the stove I use now which is sort of tealight type cup made from the bottom of a red bull can. The pot holder is a top of a 12 oz Heineken can with the top cut off with air holes punched top and bottom.

For a pot I use a cut down 24 oz fosters can to make it about 18 oz.
I use the top of a 24 oz Heineken can for the top part (bigger in diam so it slips over) and epoxy it on. Also put a bail handle on it.

Have a foil wind screen cut out of a disposable pizza pan.

Small spoon of some sort. I have a $5 titanium folder.
That goes in a short country time lemonade container that acts as a coffee cup,
water measure, crush proof container etc.

I carry a tiny measuring cup for alcohol that weighs nothing. Already had it.
Instead of a cup, you could carry a large syringe base. They sell those at drug stores for baby meds. Those also double as a way to wash out woulds which is good.

I also carry 1/2 microfiber wash cloth from publics that is very light.

I use this rig to bag cook, so the prepped freezer bag o food goes into the container with the edge turned over, then I fill the bag with boiling water and put the lid on. The country time lemonade container is thick enough it does not really need a cozy.

The actual stove/cup, pot support, windscreen and alcohol measuring cup
weighs 0.4 oz

[Harrison Bergeron]

I don't really agree with all that above about not being that light and too expensive.

My entire cook and stove kit weighs 5 oz less the alcohol bottle and fuel and its not expensive.

The best all around for the effort vs wt vs cooktime/efficiency IMO is the stove I use now which is sort of tealight type cup made from the bottom of a red bull can. The pot holder is a top of a 12 oz Heineken can with the top cut off with air holes punched top and bottom.

For a pot I use a cut down 24 oz fosters can to make it about 18 oz.
I use the top of a 24 oz Heineken can for the top part (bigger in diam so it slips over) and epoxy it on. Also put a bail handle on it.

Have a foil wind screen cut out of a disposable pizza pan.

Small spoon of some sort. I have a $5 titanium folder.
That goes in a short country time lemonade container that acts as a coffee cup,
water measure, crush proof container etc.

I carry a tiny measuring cup for alcohol that weighs nothing. Already had it.
Instead of a cup, you could carry a large syringe base. They sell those at drug stores for baby meds. Those also double as a way to wash out woulds which is good.

I also carry 1/2 microfiber wash cloth from publics that is very light.

I use this rig to bag cook, so the prepped freezer bag o food goes into the container with the edge turned over, then I fill the bag with boiling water and put the lid on. The country time lemonade container is thick enough it does not really need a cozy.

The actual stove/cup, pot support, windscreen and alcohol measuring cup
weighs 0.4 oz

So even with though you're eating out a bear can, your total kit is 5 oz plus 12 for the fuel -- 17 oz. A Jetboil weighs 15.5 oz, plus 5.5 for the fuel, which lasts longer than 12 oz of alcohol, especially if you don't use a cozy, which apparently you don't.

You're eating out of a bear can to save 4 ounces!

[mister krabs]

Whether you use a beer can, grease pot, or aluminum mug, there's no need for titanium. Resupply every 3-5 days, there's no need for 12 oz of fuel except maybe in wintertime when you want lots of hot drinks. Of course in cold weather alcohol has advantages over butane/propane as well.

Cheap, simple, light, easy to come by, pride of self made ownership, all of these things are advantages to alcohol.

The biggest one for me is the pride of "I made that"

[Bags4266]

Not to mention Jet boil $100. Alky cat stove .35 cents. Not to mention what those fuel cans must cost along the trail. But whatever makes you happy is what counts!

[JEBjr]

I had the alky addiction last winter. I made some beautiful stoves out of some beer cans, but ended up with an ugly cat stove as my go to stove. I used a cannister stove - pocket rocket for many years. The damn thing was correctly named, it sounded like I was sitting on the launching pad next to a rocket when I was using it.

My top reason for using the alky stove: if my cannister stove messed up while I was out hiking, there isn't a chance in the world I could fix it. But there seems to always be a empty can laying around I could punch some holes in. Probably wouldn't work as well as my cat, but it would boil water.

[Wise Old Owl]

Wow I thought Zelph started this thread, what a surprise.

[Bags4266]

Zelph is da King of alky stoves. I have made many stoves myself some using his ideas. But when I'm at a shelter and bust out his "Venom Stove" other hikers are in awe. It's truely a work of art. Then the best is when you show them the hole in the middle and they look confused as to where does the fuel go.

[tammons]

So even with though you're eating out a bear can, your total kit is 5 oz plus 12 for the fuel -- 17 oz. A Jetboil weighs 15.5 oz, plus 5.5 for the fuel, which lasts longer than 12 oz of alcohol, especially if you don't use a cozy, which apparently you don't.
You're eating out of a bear can to save 4 ounces!

That's one way to look at it but not very realistic.

Who says I have to carry 12 oz of heat or DNA anyway since I dont cook that much.

Besides if you have access to some moonshine it has some other uses and its non toxic in which case I would be carrying a jug.

I hardly ever carry more than 5 oz of fuel in a very light bottle
which weighs about an ounce. That will get me through 5 days in the summer since I dont do any simmering or boil a lot of water.
I carry 3 cubes of weber fire starter plus some extra in a survival pack for a backup and that will boil 6 more cups of H20 and weighs 1.2 oz. Smokes your pot though.

6 oz for the kit with the bottle and that includes a pot, a multiuse crush proof container with top for coffee, microfiber cloth, spork etc.
5.5 oz for the fuel and bottle and I don't have to pack out any half full fuel cans.
1.2 oz for the backup fire cubes.
12.7 oz total for 6-7 days in the summer.

If I were to take my same kit less the 1.4 oz for the alky stove and bottle and add a jetboil my weight would be....
4.6 oz for the cook kit
15.5 oz for the stove
5.5 oz for the fuel
25.6 total vs 12.7

So I am saving about 13 oz.

For the same 7 days with a jet boil I would burn about 1/2 - 2/3 the gas depending so I would still be lugging around a partially full gas bottle that weighs more than my alky stove and fuel bottle combined.

The difference would be more like a pound or more if I decided to compare it to my 900ml Ti pot and lid for real cooking (and washing up, soap etc), and a mug with a jetboil or the like.

I do have a compressed gas stove, but I just don't use it much any more and its just not weight.

Size too as my entire cook kit kit with fuel inside (as long as its everclear) is 3.5" in diameter and 5" high and that holds everything so its very compact.

Nothing wrong with a jetboil or any other of the compressed gas stove, and they do have their place.

If I had to melt snow for water I surely would not do it with a beer can and an alcohol stove.
If I was on a very long resupply and moving fast I would prefer something else since over long distances compressed gas wins out.
If I was at very high altitudes - big plus to pressurized or compressed gas stove.
If I was cooking large meals with a lot of simmer time - same

I dont eat out of a beer can. If you re-read my post you will see I bag cook, so I only boil water in the can. You can boil water in most anything.

I dont always cook on an alcohol stove either.
I actually prefer a fire but I just dont want to deal with the time for a fire like in the morning.

In this comparison, no matter what you will always carry 17+ ounces of stove and gas bottle, while I will carry about 1.4 oz of stove and alcohol bottle.

My pot cup and stove cost the price of a medium tang container, 1 12 oz Heineken can, 1 24 oz fosters can, 1 small red bull can. I drink Heineken and red bull occasionally so its not much