Stove for AT

[Singto]

Nobody is talking about it but I believe it has been proven that the lightest practical cooking fuel/system is the Esbit/solid fuel cooking system. I'd do strictly Esbit if I knew it were readily available along the AT. There seems to be some contradictory information as to it's availability. I carry 2 tablets as a secondary cooking fuel in the case my primary should ever fail. It's also a very good fire starter and unused portions can be extinguished and re-lit.
The new folding Titanium Esbit stove (with pot stand) is .4 ounces, homemade foil windscreen .15 ounces and an Esbit tablet (enough to boil 2 cups of water) is .5 ounces. If you read a little, you'll find tips on how to extend the use of the tablets and keep clean up minimal. Buying in bulk and placing in your mail drops is a way to mitigate the cost. But then again, I don't believe cost has been introduced into the equation here as a major consideration.

[Parrott65]

I'm looking at doing a 2016 SOBO on the AT (~early July through late Oct) and I'd like some advice on what I should use as a stove on the AT. It seems that alcohol stoves are the by far the lightest, so that's what I'd like to use. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it also seems that yellow HEET is the easiest alcohol fuel to find (being in gas stations and whatnot) other than isopropyl. I'm not opposed to making my own stove, but I want it to be very reliable. What are some stoves (or just diy designs) recommended that burn yellow HEET or isopropyl that would be appropriate for use on the AT?


I found this stove, which cleanly burns isopropyl alcohol, but it costs money (unlike diy stoves) so I've held off on it. Have any of you used it? Do you like it? I think if it works well and is reliable then it's the best choice as far as fuel availability goes, and weighs only 33g (1.16 oz)
(http://www.flatcatgear.com/shop/iso-25-stove/)

Check out the Rucas Alcohol Stove on ebay. It is a really good stove and it's only $20.

[zelph]

Nobody is talking about it but I believe it has been proven that the lightest practical cooking fuel/system is the Esbit/solid fuel cooking system. I'd do strictly Esbit if I knew it were readily available along the AT. There seems to be some contradictory information as to it's availability. I carry 2 tablets as a secondary cooking fuel in the case my primary should ever fail. It's also a very good fire starter and unused portions can be extinguished and re-lit.
The new folding Titanium Esbit stove (with pot stand) is .4 ounces, homemade foil windscreen .15 ounces and an Esbit tablet (enough to boil 2 cups of water) is .5 ounces. If you read a little, you'll find tips on how to extend the use of the tablets and keep clean up minimal. Buying in bulk and placing in your mail drops is a way to mitigate the cost. But then again, I don't believe cost has been introduced into the equation here as a major consideration.

Esbit is more efficient if a Brian Green Esbit tray is used to support the cube:

http://www.woodgaz-stove.com/brian-green-esbit-tray.php

[Another Kevin]

Nobody is talking about it but I believe it has been proven that the lightest practical cooking fuel/system is the Esbit/solid fuel cooking system.

The fumes of Esbit really bother me. The dead fish smell is bad enough, but I get a headache and nausea and wind up not able to eat the food that I just cooked. I'll stick with methanol.

[BirdBrain]

Personally, I think a Jetboil is about as good as it gets. I like creating. I like having my fingerprints on things. Therefore, I build as many things as I can. The alcohol stove system is just one of those things. Second choice is to have things built by some other human (not mass produced). Because I have given away so many of my stoves, I have received many custom items in return. My 2 favorite are my TrafficJam sleeping hat and my ShellieShuttle survival bracelet.

[bullseye]

I second zelph on the Fancy Feast. Good little stove that's east to make.

[Venchka]

Just for grins & giggles I fired up my Primus Himalayan MFS Sunday night. I had the flame low, but probably not at the absolute minimum. The fuel was Coleman brand, French made 220 gram iso-butane canister. The stove boiled 1 cup of water in 6 minutes and burned 1 gram of iso-butane per minute.
How does that compare with alcohol?
For my next test I'll use white gas in the Primus MFS, Svea 123 and Coleman Peak 1 Apex stoves. That should be fun.
I also learned that my aluminum Optimus 124 .88 liter cook pot & lid is lighter than a Snow Peak .88 liter titanium pot & lid. That cured my titanium envy.

Wayne

[Odd Man Out]

Just for grins & giggles I fired up my Primus Himalayan MFS Sunday night. I had the flame low, but probably not at the absolute minimum. The fuel was Coleman brand, French made 220 gram iso-butane canister. The stove boiled 1 cup of water in 6 minutes and burned 1 gram of iso-butane per minute.
How does that compare with alcohol?...

It is important to remember that alcohol stoves are widely divergent and that the performance of an alcohol stove is quite variable depending on the whole system (pot, pot stand, wind screen). The last boil test I did with my alcohol system I boiled 2 cups of water in just under 4 min with 13 mL of methanol/ethanol (50/50). So I would expect to boil one cup in just under 2 min with half as much fuel which would be about 5.2 g when converting to mass instead of volume. I believe this to be about the best efficiency you can get with an alcohol stove. Many alcohol systems will be less efficient. Gas (liquid and iso-butane both) has a much higher energy density than alcohol so typically the mass of fuel burned per boil is more for alcohol. However the great differences in the weight of the stove and fuel containers, amount of fuel carried, etc... makes direct comparisons of the whole system very complex.

[Venchka]

Unless you believe as I do that alcohol is for drinking and hydrocarbons are to be used for fuel. Disclaimer. The petrochemical industry has been very good to me and my family. Oil funds my toys.

Wayne

[BirdBrain]

I am with OMO. Our systems are fairly similar. As I have said before, it is hard to beat a Jetboil. I prefer alcohol stoves for 2 reasons. 1) I like to build stuff. 2) my stove won't break down. I cannot count the times I have seen hikers fiddling with their isobutane whatever because something ain't working right. As an added bonus, it rivals or even beats the weight of the isobutane setup depending on length of trip. However, being honest again. I like the stoves I build. The are fun, effecient, and beautiful.

[Donde]

A snow peak ti-lite is pretty light and much faster easier and safer than an alchy. I haven't heard of any forest fires, and assorted lower extremity burns from ti-lite and pocket rockets. whereas vast swaths of California, and every picnic table (and most shelter floors) on the AT can attest to the volitility of alchy stoves.

[BirdBrain]

This is where I post my stove running in my hand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTr4kHkllzM

and Zelph posts his starlyte (I will do it)

http://www.woodgaz-stove.com/starlyte-stove.php

and someone posts an article about white gas stoves leaving burn marks everywhere.

I am not totally disagreeing with you. Alcohol stoves can present a problem. Just saying the problem is exaggerated and the burn marks are most often caused by another type of stove.

[Donde]

Undoubtedly there are idiots with other stoves, and safe experienced backpackers with alchys. What makes me cringe is inexperienced newbies worshiping at the UL altar getting gear they don't know how to use correctly. When this means putting 35LBs in their frameless CF pack its their problem. When it means setting **** on fire it is all of our problems. If you have to ask the internet what stove to use, then an alchy stove is not it. Later that might change.

[Odd Man Out]

I would be more worried about the people who are not asking for advice.

[zelph]

An experienced scoutmaster teaching our future backpackers:



It's all about user error, not the stoves we use. Some stoves are more safe than others. The StarLyte is one of the more safe due to non-spill feature.

[Berserker]

It seems that alcohol stoves are the by far the lightest, so that's what I'd like to use.

I've crunched the numbers, and I don't know if I'd say they are "by far the lightest". If you have to carry a significant amount of alcohol (i.e. between re-supplies), then they can actually end up being heavier. At any rate, almost all of my experience is with canister and alcohol stoves. The canister stove makes a lot of noise, but it is fast and simple to use. The alcohol stove is silent, slower and requires a bit more time to setup.

I've used a few different alcohol stove setups and my favorite is the Caldera Cone. It's just so dang easy to use and it's almost impervious to wind, which can be an issue with other stoves that require a separate wind screen.

[Odd Man Out]

I've crunched the numbers, and I don't know if I'd say they are "by far the lightest". If you have to carry a significant amount of alcohol (i.e. between re-supplies), then they can actually end up being heavier. At any rate, almost all of my experience is with canister and alcohol stoves. The canister stove makes a lot of noise, but it is fast and simple to use. The alcohol stove is silent, slower and requires a bit more time to setup.

I've used a few different alcohol stove setups and my favorite is the Caldera Cone. It's just so dang easy to use and it's almost impervious to wind, which can be an issue with other stoves that require a separate wind screen.

Yes, a lot of people have tried to compare the net weight of alcohol vs canister systems and there are just to many variable to make definitive conclusions.

[ChrisJackson]

image.jpg
Current setup: 20 oz Esbit pot, Trangia stove, DIY pot stand (19 gauge mesh). Works great but will start tinkering around with some cat cans soon. I love that Esbit pot. Perfect size for me.

[Odd Man Out]

Current setup: 20 oz Esbit pot, Trangia stove, DIY pot stand (19 gauge mesh). Works great but will start tinkering around with some cat cans soon. I love that Esbit pot. Perfect size for me.

What's the mesh size on that hardware cloth? I make the same kine of pot stands (not sure of the gauge though - it's a piece of galvanized steel hardware cloth with 1/2" squares I got at the store a while back). I found that I can cut out every other wire to turn it in to 1" square hardware cloth and it is plenty sturdy for my 1 L pot with as much food as I usually cook. I tried cutting out every all but every third wire and it got too flimsy, but cutting every other one works fine. this cuts the weight of the pot stand nearly in half. I prefer center burning stoves that require a pot stand over cat can stoves.

[ChrisJackson]

It's 1/4 inch squares. Home Depot. $12 for a roll. Have enough left over for gobs of stands!

EDIT: correction-> it is 1/2 inch squares. Just went down to check the packaging.