Alcohol Stove Recommendations?

[thelightinside]

I was planning to use a canister stove for my '11 thru but have started looking into alcohol stoves. I've never used one before...is there anything specific I should keep in mind when purchasing one? How does cooking with alcohol compare to cooking with canister fuel? Any recommendations on a good stove? Thanks.

[Doc Mike]

Supercat stove takes 3 minutes to make and cost 50 cents. I bought several but making them is way more fun and they work just as well.

pic of supercat in my gallery
Doc Mike

[Mtn Scout]

if you ever attempt to make one you better build a shop. i have went mad making them!!!!!

[beas]

Lots of options. make your own,(look on youtube for hundreds on videos and types) brasslite is a good one, minibull designs makes really cool ones some cheap some very exspensive.
All kinds out there just do a good bit of homework and remember that that mostly it is just a way of burning alochol most efficiently.

BEAS

[Roche]

I like my Vargo Triad - fast and light. Two things I learned about cooking with alcohol: 1) it is quiet and 2) the flame can be difficult to see. Luckily I learned this by trying it out in the backyard.

[mweinstone]

zelph stoveworks if your light
trangia if your heavy
the difinitive ultra cool stove is a zelph stove. his craftmenship is unrivaled whilst his designs be da dope.the starlite is my fav. it gets oos and ahhs cause its almost massless yet a workhorse.
a trangia burnner in a clickstand is the xgk of alcohol. nothing bacons and pancakes better.i ger 45 min out of 3 oz on simmer low. the range of this rig is astounding. it is designed to be flipped over in the clickstand to burn esbit at the propper height.to make a three burner stove for a wilderness feast:

remove burner from clickstand and place three rocks ,twiggs stakes etc around it to hold pot one.

remove rubber o ring from burnner lid. place lid with fuel in three more rocks etc to make catcan burrner and stand for pot two.

now build twiggy fire in clickstand for pot three. this ability seperates me and my cooking from everyone else and is a pro setup capable of exstravegant meals.

[Pioneer Spirit]

I recently built a Supercat style stove using the templates. I used a spam can which fits snugly in the bottom of the heineken pot. A Lay's cheese dip can fits snugly on the outside of the pot. It can be converted into a windscreen or used as a stand in the snow or rough ground. It's also useful as a snuffer.

I came upon the Lay's can while searching for a stove that would hold a Heineken can without tipping over. It has many possibilties which I'll add to the photos later.

Located in my photos section.

[mweinstone]

the hiny can has a high fun factor and great weight but in reality food cools too fast in it and its hard to handle and dents too east.a lip and hand frendlyer pot is what works best. calories arent the only source of heat energy. hot food eaten conserves the food energys mpc.(miles per calorie)

theres another word i clame stake too. i made that up quick yo.

[hillsanddales3]

Hey Lightinside. I've used several, including my MYOG models. My fav was built by AGG's George Andrews, aka Tin Man. It's a 2 piece Caldera Cone. The whole kit (stove, wind screen, matches, fuel cup, and spoon) fits inside my 600 ml Evernew pot, total 6 oz. Very lightweight and small, just what I was looking for. Key points: It takes a little bit longer (5 min) to boil water (no problem as you'll be multi-tasking.) As with all fuel, remember to warm it up. Consider freezer bag cooking; then you won't have any dished to do! Have fun and happy trails!

[hillsanddales3]

(Sorry, typo. That's no DISHES to do.) AGG is Anti Gravity Gear. George is great to work with, too. If you have any questions, he's always had the answers. He was at Trail Days in Damascus last year. Good luck GAME 2011!

[Pioneer Spirit]

I bought a commerical Etowah alcohol stove that worked fine in a test but on the trail I used up the recomended alcohol and could still stick my fingers in the water. I ended up setting the Titanium pot on some rocks and lit a fire. That was on a 90 degree TN day and I though maybe the Snow peak titanium pot was a heat sink.

I usually just boil 3 cups of water, two for the food and one for tea.

I have a fondue heater in the workshop I'm going to try before spring.

Both are found on this page: http://art.simon.tripod.com/Stoves/

[hillsanddales3]

Pioneer, not sure what happened in your case. Usually boil 16oz water at a time with 15 ml of fuel. Were you trying to heat 3 cups at a time, maybe 24oz? Windscreen?

[nitegaunt]

Just made my first Supercat the other day. Too simple and works too great to not try. And it only takes about a minute.

[Pioneer Spirit]

Pioneer, not sure what happened in your case. Usually boil 16oz water at a time with 15 ml of fuel. Were you trying to heat 3 cups at a time, maybe 24oz? Windscreen?


I think it was only two cups for a Mountain house and I was starving. I had the full wind screen set up and everything, nice flame but water would not boil. I switched to a Whisperlite international and then back down to a Pocket Rocket.
I suspected that the stove was too small in diameter and the titanium pot was radiating heat away to fast and I've since been spoiled by the whisperlite.
Next stop: a Hobo stove.

[hillsanddales3]

Nothing like a half baked dinner! Last time I was at Shawnee State Forest I enjoyed some rather crunchy MSG laden noodles. Guess I picked up the wrong fuel can. Funny, things just taste better outdoors!
Lightinside, hope you're learning from us who have made an error or two. Actually, it's all part of the fun. Anytime you're on the trail, you're making memories.

[scope]

Anybody got experience with the OES set? I'm not a DIY guy and this looks like a good "system" purchase.

[lori]

I was planning to use a canister stove for my '11 thru but have started looking into alcohol stoves. I've never used one before...is there anything specific I should keep in mind when purchasing one? How does cooking with alcohol compare to cooking with canister fuel? Any recommendations on a good stove? Thanks.

Alcohol stoves are less intense, boil slower, quieter... the tradeoff for that is that you can use windscreen of foil, and it won't melt, so your kitchen kit is automatically going to be lighter from the get-go. Most have one setting - on. Handy thing tho, you can simply make a stove with fewer jets and take it too, and have simmer and boil.

There is one alcohol stove on the market that has an adjustment knob. The FeatherFire is a fuel miser - I steam baked muffins in a titanium pot with great success, got a nice long 40 minute burn out of two ounces with fuel left over. Caveats: it's fragile, must be packed carefully, and must have an eyedropper or squeeze bottle to get leftover fuel out. But you can snuff/turn it off, turn it low or high, and bake/simmer. Packafeather.com has those. I rarely cook so rarely use this one.

Most often I use a supercat, or the Minibull Mini Atomic if using a narrower pot. I also have the Whitebox which I use with a larger capacity pot if boiling for two people, a MiniBull Choke Hazard which ended up being little more than a toy, and a box of DIY hockey pucks that loosely resemble stoves.

Look at zenstoves.net for lots and lots of info on different kinds of alcohol stoves, patterns, etc.

I've not had the supercat fail to light, it takes seconds to "prime" (some stoves need a primer pan or a few seconds to blossom, aka the Whitebox) and you don't need a pot stand. I've boiled water in the cold, at altitude, and pretty much anywhere with it. Pretty cool little stove. And my cat likes when I make another one. :)

[thelightinside]

Thanks for all the replies..very helpful!


Hey Lightinside. I've used several, including my MYOG models. My fav was built by AGG's George Andrews, aka Tin Man. It's a 2 piece Caldera Cone. The whole kit (stove, wind screen, matches, fuel cup, and spoon) fits inside my 600 ml Evernew pot, total 6 oz. Very lightweight and small, just what I was looking for. Key points: It takes a little bit longer (5 min) to boil water (no problem as you'll be multi-tasking.) As with all fuel, remember to warm it up. Consider freezer bag cooking; then you won't have any dished to do! Have fun and happy trails!

I checked out the Caldera Cone...looks like a neat little system. The windscreen fits into your pot as well? I want something that will pack together nicely; maybe this is what I've been looking for!

[Black Wolf]

I was planning to use a canister stove for my '11 thru but have started looking into alcohol stoves. I've never used one before...is there anything specific I should keep in mind when purchasing one? How does cooking with alcohol compare to cooking with canister fuel? Any recommendations on a good stove? Thanks.

Making your own isn't very difficult,,,I'm not fond of a cat stove.. albeit it;s as light and simple as one can get...I just prefer a double wall stove {pressurized}, more efficient, works better in with a wind, caldera wind screen/pot stands have leveled the field ...anyway...they're cheap to make..and you'll gain irreplaceable hands-on knowledge of how they work...but most important...is.. that anywhere you can scrounge up a can...or two...you can have a working stove in a matter of minutes..knowing how to be self-reliant will help you succeed in your thru..I have used a "penny stove" that lasted 3 years until someone "scrounged " it...see if you look in the right place you won't even have to make one...kidding..I like this design best..[Mark Jurey's Penny Stove]...it has a simmer ring, a built in pressure relief valve <the penny> and a primer bowl on top, no need to waste fuel or burn picnic tables...

so the Caldera is next on my list...but I've been eye-ballin' this stove..((PackaFeather))...not sure if I can make one...there's a few YouTube vids out...here's a few links that'll solve almost any riddle you might have ..as well as the link that I built my '' penny stove '' from...

///// but be warned /////...making stoves is addictive...

http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/

http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm

http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html

http://packafeather.com/index.html

[FatherTime09]

No real new info here but, fyi, I built a primitive form of the penny stove (linked above by Black Wolf), just two can bottoms pushed together, popped a couple holes in it, done! I did find I needed a bottom plate for priming, so I cut another can bottom (just the rim, so it holds some alcohol) and that worked just fine. I would fill the stove (how much, I have no idea) put a little in the primer pan, set the stove offset on the pan so the alcohol's exposed, light it, and once the stove's alcohol's ignited, tap the stove over so it sits snugly in the primer pan. I used a piece of aluminum with some holes as a combo pot stand/windscreen.
Again, this was pretty primitive and not the best setup but I used it for my month and a half on the trail with no problems. Just wanted to show that you can make something pretty easily and whatever you make, it'll probably work.

[hillsanddales3]

Hi Lightinside. Regarding the Caldera Cone: yes, the windscreen fits inside my 600ml Evernew pot. It's a 2 piece wind screen (picture the cone, only cut in half along the horizontal) that snaps together. One of my favorite pieces of gear, I always get comments on it. The great thing is my whole kitchen is contained in just my drinking cup! And UL, too. If you decide to pursue it, I would call George Andrews at Anti Gravity Gear (910-794-3308.) Tell him what you're looking for. He'll get you fixed up. PS My apologies if this sounds like a commercial. Some pieces of gear are just awesome, so whoever made it gets my cudo's. And like I said, he's usually at Trail Days in Damascus. Happy Trails!

[zelph]

a MiniBull Choke Hazard which ended up being little more than a toy, and a box of DIY hockey pucks that loosely resemble stoves.

Look at zenstoves.net for lots and lots of info on different kinds of alcohol stoves, patterns, etc.
:)


zenstoves is a great source for stove making.

[mister krabs]

Go see zelph's stoves at bplite.com

[russb]

Go see zelph's stoves at bplite.com

This is the truth.

[vamelungeon]

I like Trangia.