Alcohol stoves.

[bushrunner]

These homemade alcohol stoves seem interesting to me. Has anyone here made or used one? If so, which one and what were the results? Has anyone used a commercially available one and if so, was it any good?

If I get around to making one myself I will post my results.

Cheers.

[Franco]

Maybe you should join the weight reduction forum so as not to upset the Trangia guys with their 2kg set ups..
(just kidding)

Start here :
http://zenstoves.net/LowPressure.htm

Warning
Before I started playing with stove I was almost normal. So don't blame me if you turn into a nerd.
Franco

[bushrunner]

Thanks for the link Franco. There seems to be some great info on that site. I can certainly see the risk of becoming a little obsessed.
Cheers.

[Lizzy]

Hey Bushrunner,
I have made a couple of Super Cats- catfood tin stoves. They weigh less than 10 grams are easy to make, no working bits- perfect. I saw it on the web, punched a couple of rows of holes out of the tin, pour metho in, light (and prime for 30sec), pot on and it works a treat. I took one hiking in NZ when I was doing the routeburn & Caples hikes- The Routeburn has gas stoves in huts but the Caples does not. So it was super handy for 1 night to have the little Super Cat and a small juice bottle of metho. I even gave it away to a guy travelling in the reverse direction as he didn't have a stove. They could be a bit of a problem in the wind and a little unstable but I haven't had any problems. I use my MSR windshield around it. You can even make & take a couple for that weight and have one with less holes for simmering.
As you can see I am sold- less than $1 and a hole punch! Purrfect
Cheers
Lizzy

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[flatfoot]

Maybe you should join the weight reduction forum so as not to upset the Trangia guys with their 2kg set ups..
(just kidding)

That would be adding fuel to the fire

[bushrunner]

Maybe you should join the weight reduction forum so as not to upset the Trangia guys with their 2kg set ups..
(just kidding)

That would be adding fuel to the fire

Keep up the good work Flatfoot. Your puns give me a grin.

[flatfoot]

Maybe you should join the weight reduction forum so as not to upset the Trangia guys with their 2kg set ups..
(just kidding)

That would be adding fuel to the fire

Keep up the good work Flatfoot. Your puns give me a grin.

Happy to oblige. They're less appreciated at work (but the people there have put up with them for many years)

[Tony]

Hi Bushrunner,

These homemade alcohol stoves seem interesting to me. Has anyone here made or used one? If so, which one and what were the results? Has anyone used a commercially available one and if so, was it any good?

If I get around to making one myself I will post my results.

Cheers.

I have played around with myog alcohol stoves a bit and I have few commercial cottage industry alcohol stoves and I have done a lot of tests on a lot of stoves.

Below is a list of some that I have.

Alcohol stoves commercial

Trangia 27-1 23 hole burner (very old and my first stove)
Trangia mini 24 hole burner

Alcohol stoves commercial/cottage industry

White Box
Gram Weenie
Trail Designs Caldera Cone for BPL 550 pot

Alcohol stoves Cottage industry

StarLyte
Furylite

Home made Alcohol stoves

Volcano (my own UL very efficient design)
Side burner cat can stove (called blast furnace)
Open Top burner
3,5-gram side burner + very light pot 28-gram total
Tealite candle stove, this is a sub 1g burner and is surprisingly good.
Various other alcohol stoves, to many to mention.

The Trangia is a very good all round stove and it is one of the very few alcohol stoves that can simmer, It also has the ability to save unused fuel, but it is heavy, actually very heavy.

All of my other stoves are only suitable for boiling water and are suitable for cooking in a bag style of cooking.

Some advantages of myog alcohol stoves

Very light
You can take only the amount of fuel needed
More fragile

Some disadvantages
You can fill with too little alcohol so having to refill or too much alcohol which is a waste.
Must have windshield, Caldera Cone is very good in windy conditions.
Not the best in cold.

Whilst I have these alcohol stoves, I use canister gas stoves as I mostly cook gourmet meals which requires simmering.

Tony

[eddie the eagle]

Bushrunner,

"has anyone used a commercially available one"

I'm pretty sure that you know the basics, but I'm answering the question at face value, for what it's worth.

I've used a trangia for a number of years. I went this way when set up an outdoor programme for teenagers as well. It is slower than a gas stove, but is quick enough and far safer, providing that you don't attempt a refuel when the thing's still alight. A fuel leak is best avoided, but looking at risk, I'd rather have a metho bottle leak than a gas bottle or a petrol/shellite bottle. (and yes, I've had a metho bottle leak in my pack - once. The aftertaste was enough to convince me to double bag the bottle away from the food. A petrol leak would have been far more disastrous for clothing, food, sleeping equipment and tent. Leaking gas cylinder - depends if it goes boom, I suppose?)

If you meant "has anyone used a commercially available lightweight metho burner/stove," then no, but Franco's link certainly looks interesting and has me thinking. Being a former process and combustion engineer, the wind shielding looks to be the key to how well this would work.

The advantage of the trangia burner is that you can tip the unused metho back into the bottle once the flame's extinguished.

Cheers,

eddie

[Franco]

OK, on a slightly more serious vein...
If you want to cook, the Trangia is a very safe option.
If you want to go l/w, then you will switch to boil in the bag kind of meals so you have many options here.
I do my own but loads of ideas here : http://www.trailcooking.com/
My favourite system and the one I use now is the TiTri Caldera Cone.The 550ml version I re-hydrate the food in the Caddy.
http://www.titaniumgoat.com/TiTri.html.
The top of the caddy is also my drinking "mug"
I have made a "snuffer" for it (just shaped some aluminium foil over the stove) . That allows me to snuff the flame when the water is hot for coffee (a few bubbles...) or boiling for a meal. Then i pour the leftover fuel back into the fuel container.
Works very well in the wind.
Franco

[bushrunner]

Thanks very much for your responses everyone. I love the simplicity of your setup Lizzy.

I do like the safety aspect which has been mentioned. Sitting over a potentially explosive fuel bottle does not appeal to me all that much. I also dislike that gas canisters are not refillable. Alcohol stoves do seem to be a somewhat "greener" option which appeals to me also.

The mini-Trangia system looks like it might be nice. As a set it seems relatively lightweight. I think it is under 400grams for the burner, shield/stand and a pot and pan. I really like the simplicity of these systems. It seems like there is little which can really go wrong with them.

[Tony]

Hi Bushrunner,

The mini-Trangia system looks like it might be nice. As a set it seems relatively lightweight. I think it is under 400grams for the burner, shield/stand and a pot and pan. I really like the simplicity of these systems. It seems like there is little which can really go wrong with them.

The mini Trangia still needs a windshield and 400g is still very heavy, the MSR windshield cut down with a few holes on one side is a very good option.

Tony

[bushrunner]

Just found this burner by Tatonka. Looks great.
http://www.naturessecretlarder.co.uk/bu ... review.htm
Simple and effective. As you say Tony, I would also need to do something about a wind shield. Thanks for the tip.

[Tony]

Hi Bushrunner,

Just found this burner by Tatonka. Looks great.
http://www.naturessecretlarder.co.uk/bu ... review.htm
Simple and effective. As you say Tony, I would also need to do something about a wind shield. Thanks for the tip.

It is a step in the right direction, but there is a lot better, look into this stove http://www.whiteboxstoves.com/ the white box comes with a windscreen, the stove only weighs around 28g and 22g for the windscreen, the stove is the pot stand as well. The whitebox is a classic, I got mine from http://www.trailcooking.com/, it is on special for US$17 + postage at the moment and the service that I got from trail cooking was excellent.

Tony

[bushrunner]

Great tip. Thankyou Tony.

[ninjapuppet]

I had a trangia but sold it years ago due to unsatisfactory performance. This was when 32kg on my back didnt matter.
I'm in the process of going UL now and started looking back at these alcohol stoves. Trying to get my pack below 6kg for a 3 dayer, and my optimus crux is the next thing to go.
I made a coke can stove, but it doesnt seem to be able to boil 500ml of water even after 12 minutes.

Those white box stoves seem interesting, but reading the net forums, different manufacturers all seem to be bagging each other and spreading mistruth around. - I dont know who to believe.
Those ultralight compact (ULC) Ti Tri caldera systems seem to have a general concensus as being recommended. has any one used them yet? i think they're abit expensive for what they are, but if they're as good as they claim to be, then it might require consideration.

[Tony]

Hi ninjapuppet,

I had a trangia but sold it years ago due to unsatisfactory performance. This was when 32kg on my back didnt matter.
I'm in the process of going UL now and started looking back at these alcohol stoves. Trying to get my pack below 6kg for a 3 dayer, and my optimus crux is the next thing to go.
I made a coke can stove, but it doesnt seem to be able to boil 500ml of water even after 12 minutes.

Those white box stoves seem interesting, but reading the net forums, different manufacturers all seem to be bagging each other and spreading mistruth around. - I dont know who to believe.
Those ultralight compact (ULC) Ti Tri caldera systems seem to have a general concensus as being recommended. has any one used them yet? i think they're abit expensive for what they are, but if they're as good as they claim to be, then it might require consideration.

You have asked some very good questions.

I have a lot of the cottage alcohol stoves and have tested them, I have also made copies of some designs, some of the manufacturers do bicker a lot which p!sses me off as all of the stoves that I have tested are good stoves, some are faster than others some use more fuel, some pot stands are not as good as others, the White Box is a bit thirsty on fuel but gets the boil done quickly and can boil two or so liters in one go. The lightest alcohol stove that I have is a candle light stove, after years of searching I found a taller candle light at my local woolies of all places and it can boil 500ml of water and with a bird wire pot stand the total weight is around 5g, the burner weighs in at a massive 0.9g, many people in the US use these candle light stoves.

I have a small Caldera Cone for the BPL 550 pot and it is a great performer, it is the best stove system that I have tested in windy conditions and is one of the most efficient stove systems that I have tested, the Ti-Tri which seems the most popular cone system can be used with wood but the aluminium cones cannot.

On my three season walks I use a Kovea supalite gas stove as I usually cook for two and need to simmer and in winter (snow) where alcohol and upright canister stoves struggles I use a Colman Max and a JetBoil GCS pot both of these are not the lightest but perform very well in the cold.

Tony

[JAT]

How do people carry their fuel? 600ml plastic soft drink bottles seem pretty good to me, strong and a good seal (not to mention free).

[ninjapuppet]

Jason Klass recommends the eye contact cleaner bottles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN31kr7q ... re=channel

for 1-2 days: I just use a 60ml eagle creek container, or a 120ml nalgene container ($2.95 from camping stores)
They have a fold out spout thats more accurate than pouring out from a bottle.

for 3-5 days: I use cannisters or a shellite stove.

Tinny from minibull designs said in some forum that you can store alcohol in anything but not MSR aluminium cans because it says not to. On the other hand, he also said that he's had some alcohol in one aluminium bottle for 2 years now as an experiment and still theres no signs of it eating away the alum, so i guess its just mainly for legal protection.

I like the idea of those strong plastic bottles, but 600ml is abit too much for me.

[north-north-west]

I have a plain Sigg 1L aluminium bottle that's been used as a fuel container since 1980 (as far as I know - could be longer). It's still going strong, no hint of corrosion of any sort.

[Tony]

I have a plain Sigg 1L aluminium bottle that's been used as a fuel container since 1980 (as far as I know - could be longer). It's still going strong, no hint of corrosion of any sort.

I got my Sigg bottle in 1975 but only used it for alcohol for about 20 of those years, early it was used as drink bottle and more recently to hold shellite, it is still in good condition (to use that is).

Tony

[north-north-west]

Hmmmm . . . are you sure we aren't talking about the same bottle? They sure look alike . . .

I got this one in 1981. One of our rangers lent it to us for a walk, and somehow it never got back to him. I have no idea how long he had it, though.

[Tony]

Hi north-north-west,

Hmmmm . . . are you sure we aren't talking about the same bottle? They sure look alike . . .

I got this one in 1981. One of our rangers lent it to us for a walk, and somehow it never got back to him. I have no idea how long he had it, though.

I wonder if the still make them like they used to.

I got mine from Paddy Pallins Canberra when the shop was on Northbourne Avenue, I still have a tent, oily japara jacket wich was purchased from the same shop.

Tony

[wellsy]

I have made a 'stack' of meths burners out of Coca- Cola and similiarly shaped drink cans and have taught my Year 3 classes at Katoomba Public School (8 & 9 year olds) how to make them as a craft lesson. I've found the side burner models to be the most versatile. Top burner models necessitate using a pot stand. With side burner models you can rest/balance the billy on the burner itself after the jets light up (about 1 minute after lighting). They only need about 30ml of meths to bring 500ml of water to the boil and continue boiling for ??? minutes. (I must get 'round to timing it).
They work a treat. For simmering make a second burner with only 6 to 8 jets around the side. For instructions and photos on how to make one google the website: 'Bushwalking in the Upper Blue Mountains' then click on the 'Links' menu at the left and you'll find a title something like 'How to make a superlight drink can stove". You'll also find instructions on how to make a light windshield and potstand. Also try googling " Zen Stoves".
Over the years I've ended up with a number of stoves including Whisperlite, Trangia, Kovea etc. They rarely get used these days and then only when I'm car camping. Give me a fire or superlight Coke can stove any day, unless I'm going to be camping in the snow.

Regards,
wellsy

[timmy_pete]

...and have taught my Year 3 classes at Katoomba Public School (8 & 9 year olds) how to make them as a craft lesson.

That quote made me shudder for a second. But on second thoughts, I work in a primary school and figured that the average year 8-11 group with shellite stoves would be another matter completely! *shudders*

[johnw]

...For instructions and photos on how to make one google the website: 'Bushwalking in the Upper Blue Mountains' then click on the 'Links' menu at the left and you'll find a title something like 'How to make a superlight drink can stove". You'll also find instructions on how to make a light windshield and potstand. Also try googling " Zen Stoves"...

http://www.pnc.com.au/~wells/
http://zenstoves.net/

It now dawns on me why the name wellsy seems familiar. I've enjoyed your site for years and still have it bookmarked. Directly responsible for a trip to Dr Darks Cave last year, among other efforts. Thanks.

[dancier]

Hi north-north-west,

Hmmmm . . . are you sure we aren't talking about the same bottle? They sure look alike . . .

I got this one in 1981. One of our rangers lent it to us for a walk, and somehow it never got back to him. I have no idea how long he had it, though.

I wonder if the still make them like they used to.

I got mine from Paddy Pallins Canberra when the shop was on Northbourne Avenue, I still have a tent, oily japara jacket wich was purchased from the same shop.

Tony

I've got one as well, bought from Paddy's in Melbourne, early 80's.