Stoves

It is confession time. I know nothing about stoves. I started backpacking when the big thing was Peak One. I opted for babies and could never afford one anyway. I always built a fire or carried a propane bottle. I need to know about these alcohol stoves. What are they, how do they work, where do I get one, which one do I want, what is the fuel, where can I get it, will I be able to find fuel anywhere close to Daingerfield?

If you want to make your own, google penny stove, pepsi can stove, beer can stove...any one of those will find you a plethora of info. Fuel is easy to come by as well. Most of the people who use alcohol stove recommend a gasoline additative call Heet. It is ethyl alcohol. It comes in a yellow bottle (don't buy the red bottle) and is used to prevent fuel lines from freezing in the winter. It's pretty cheap and readily available at Walmarts and convenience stores. There are guys out there selling home made stoves as well.
There's alot of videos on youtube, just search for anything I mentioned googling.

Sorry no links but the info is readily available. Other hiking forums have MYOG sections too.

I have a canister stove that screws into a premixed butane/propane mix. I have the MSR Pocket Rocket, but that is because I bought it used for $20. There are tons of canister stoves out there, and lots of companies that make canisters, but you really can only find fuel at backpacking stores. Some Wal Marts sell Coleman canisters and Coleman Canister stoves, but they are much heavier and not as effecient as other ones are.

I have an Alcohol stove as well that I more than likely will be taking with me on my upcoming trip. I use the Yellow Heet as well because it burns great and is easy to get, but you can use rubbing alcohol as well (I recommend the 90% stuff). Some use mineral spirits, or denatured alcohol too.

I like my canister because I usually hike with younger kids who always want to cook something, and the canister stoves are easy and fast. The Alcohol stoves are lighter and greatfor boiling water.

There lots of opinions when it comes to stoves and even alchol stoves. I started back in the 70's with white gas stoves. In fact last weekend when I was on the Viles Branch trail I wish that I had my Whisperlite with me! Freezing cold temps isn't good for canister stoves or alchol.

Back in the late 80's I had decided to get back into backpacking and I bought a Triangi stove kit with alchol burner. I never really made it back on the trails so it sat around not being used. Well I am now using it. I like it but it is a little on the heavy side.
Go here to see one for sale. They do have a advantage of being able to store fuel inside of the burner. i just replaced the o ring in mine but I have had it since around 88. Also they have a simmer ring.

One of the best sources on the net is Zen Stoves there is all kinds of info on how to build them here. I do have a pepsi can stove that I bought of ebay years ago. It works fine and you don't need a pot stand with it.

A great source if you don't want to build one is Mini Bull Designs and White Box Stoves.

Hope this helps you and I am sure the other guys will chime in with there favorite designs.

OH

bplite.com is all about stoves. There is a lot of good info and instructions.

Check out www.traildesigns.com. They make the Caldera Cone alcohol stove system for a lot of the titanium and aluminum pots on the market. Lew has one and it works great. I ordered one this evening to fit an Evernew 1.3 L titanium pot.
I think you would be happy with this kind of setup.
UL

I really like my JetBoil.

All Weather. All Purpose. Kick Butt. Take Names.

Wind is never a factor because it really works like a "jet", and those butane/propane fuel mixes work in pretty much any temperature I care to be out in.

I like how it packs inside itself for carrying, but I have to admit that it's still a little bulky.

The overall reliability and efficiency is worth it to me. I feel like I will always have a hot meal at night when I carry it into the wilderness; it's very confidence inspiring. I've never had a problem with mine.

It will boil 2 cups of water in 2 minutes, probably less.

I do freezer bag cooking, so I simply pour the just-boiled water into a 1-quart ziplock bag with the dehydrated food, then I seal the ziplock bag and close it up inside the cooking "mug" of my Jetboil, which I just used to boil the water. I put the lid on and wait 10 or 15 minutes for the food to rehydrate while insulated inside the mug.

Then, I open the ziplock bag (while still inside the insulated mug) and fold the edges of the bag over the lip of the mug. (Picture the way a trash bag fits over a trash can) That way, I can eat it straight out of the bag without wrestling with a hot flimsy ziplock bag all by itself. When I'm done, I just seal the ziplock bag and pull it out of the jetboil mug. Just like taking out the trash. No food touches anything but the inside of a ziplock bag and my spork. No clean-up at all.

So anyway, I like my Jetboil. (But it's heavy.)

Something to think about.

I just found this stove on YouTube. I plan on building one this week end and trying it out on my Heini pot. The stoves that I have really put out to much flame for my little 24oz pot. Any way check it out HERE.

OH

I would love to add some valuable comments to this discussion, but mainly everything is already here to get you started. I will say that zen stoves has as much info as you'll ever need, and more than I think I'll ever look at! I will say that making an alcohol stove is the way to go. They are so easy, and you can do it with 2 cans, some kind of knife, and a thumb tack. So simple.

As for fuel, I use the HEET in the yellow bottle. Denatured alcohol works very good too, but quality in some brands is a little suspect. I would shy away from rubbing alcohol, because most (all that I've ever seen) is Isopropl (sp?) alcohol. This kind doesn't burn as clean or efficent as other types of alcohol. HEET (again make sure you get the yellow bottle) can be found in almost any hardware or auto parts store. Walmart also sells it.

As stated earlier, these stoves are a little harder to use in cold weather, but I still do usually. Its all about heating the stove enough so the alcohol will vaporize. The only time I don't take an alcohol stove is when I'm on a trip that will cause me to carry to much alcohol (i.e. carrying a canister and canister stove or wood burning stove would weigh less than the alcohol I'd have to carry).

UL mentioned the Caldera Cones, and they are nice. I have just made my own, and it wasn't very hard. Just some basic math and you can get the shape figured out. However, a few days ago, I found someone on another forum talking about this video. It is much easier than trying to figure it all out on your own.

One more thing. There is a thread here about building a very easy (to make and build) wood burning stove.

Anyway, this is just rambling and opinion...hope it helps!

Thanks Kyle for the Caldera Video, I may have to build one for my up coming hike. I have really thought since it will just be me to take my Alchy stove.

UL:

What is the reason to put water in the base of the wick stove?

UL:

What is the reason to put water in the base of the wick stove?[/quote]

Dwight,
some wick stoves have a tendancy to overheat, thus they have a water jacket. At least that is what I have read. I plan on building one this weekend that will have a water jacket.

OH

I got my old soda can stove out today and tested it with just the 91% Rubbing Alcohol that I had here at the house. It did really well, except the rubbing alcohol smoked a lot and left a lot of soot on my pot.

My stove has rivets that keep it together instead of JB weld, but I didn't make it. It came in a set of SnowPeak Ti bowls that I paid $25 used.

I like the idea of a wick though, because you do not have to wait for the "jets" to start before you cook.