Alcohol Stoves

[Curtis C]

I keep an alcohol stove and cup in my daypack for making a warm drink on day trips.

C

 

[Bozone]

Try the Evernew Ti Alcohol stove - light is right.

I have been an avid MSR PocketRocket user for years, and for cold/late season hunts, canister stoves are less finicky and easier to get to a boil faster than alcohol stoves.
But, for early season hunts (September) especially here in MT, the weather is typically nice, even hot during the day, so the super light alcohol stoves are a great option.
I recently picked up the Evernew stove, along with the DX stand. See it here: http://www.evernewamerica.com/EBY255.htm

It is all titanium, and allows you to burn 1 or 2 oz of AL, and the DX stand incorporates a nice windscreen and pot stand, all in one. Total weight for the stove and stand is right at 3 oz. Very well made, and it all fits in my cook pot.
Boil times for 16 oz of water clocks in at around 6 to 7 minutes, using 1.5 oz of fuel. A day's worth of boiling (breakfast and dinner) requires about 3 oz of fuel, so for a 5 day hunt, 15 oz of alcohol, plus the pot and stove/stand is all you need. total weight: 1.8 lbs. Every day your kit gets lighter, as you burn fuel. Storing fuel is easy: a plastic soda bottle is all you need! (one important note: rubbing alcohol is not the right fuel for these stoves -- you must use methyl alcohol, or even Heet to get a good, hot burn.)

I enjoy looking for ways to lighten the load, as it allows me to go farther and if I knock something down, my first carry out load can be the full 'camp' plus a quarter or boned out meat bag. My goal this fall is to incorporate more ultralight backpacking systems and gear (superlight tarp/tent combo, multi-use gear, alcohol stove, etc.) and get the base weight down for a 5 day hunt, minus water at 30 pounds. That is everything: shelter, sleeping system, cook system, food, essential gear.
Anyone else use some of the other AL stoves? Brasslite and the Caldera Cone are some other great options--here is one other great thing about these stoves, especially the Evernew with the DX stand: they are truly multi-fuel, meaning, you can burn esbit tabs in a pinch, or even use it as a small woodstove; this thing is sweet!

 

[bearguide]

cool stove

 

[herdbull]

This guy here makes some killer alcohol stoves.

https://www.minibulldesign.com/productcart/pc/home.asp

I've got a couple of the aluminum beer bottle (BIOS 1) stoves and have used them at 12k+. They might be a little slower than some other stoves but at 29 grams how can you go wrong. An aluminum windscreen is a must though.

 

[larryschwartz]

MJ from OR, I think that the 30 degrees might have been the deciding factor in your experience. After all, the alchohol does have to turn to fumes for it to really get going.

 

[herdbull]

It slipped my tiny little brain at the time of my post above but I did use this stove on top of Quandary last summer while waiting for the sun to rise. Temps in the upper 20's with high winds at over 14K and it did the job for a nice warm cup of coffee.

What I've noticed with the alcohol stoves is that if you can keep the wind from getting at them they are like little jet engines. The downside is there is no "off" on these simple stoves. It runs until the fuel runs out so it pays to plan ahead and know how much fuel you need to keep from wasting it.

 

[Lawnboi]

6+ mins for a boil? I barely have the patience for a 3min boil.

Id like to lighten the load for a stove. Im looking for something thats really light rather than the pocket rocket for when i take the parastove.

Are these stoves really that much lighter than my pocket rocket and ti kettle? Some of the weights listed are actually more then my current setup.

 

[herdbull]

LOL, geesshhzzzz, between you and Aron you guys would chew your arm off before waiting 6 mins to boil water.

The Bios can stove weighs in at a whopping 1.02294 oz. Lawnboi, we're not that far apart if you'd ever want to see one in action just let me know.

 

[Aron Snyder]

I get mad at my food!

 

[Matt Cashell]

Id like to lighten the load for a stove. Im looking for something thats really light rather than the pocket rocket for when i take the parastove.

Lawnboi, this may have been answered already, but why not just cook on the parastove, if you have it? I bet it could boil in around 6 minutes, too.

 

[Lawnboi]

Thats what i will end up using when iv got time to get wood and get it started. I was just looking for a good backup, i dont always eat at camp either, sometimes ill eat mid day if i feel like it. Just looking for something a little smaller and lighter to eat those mid-day meals

 

[Lawnboi]

The Bios can stove weighs in at a whopping 1.02294 oz. Lawnboi, we're not that far apart if you'd ever want to see one in action just let me know.

Ill keep that in mind, but seems like for the price i may as well just experiment on my own.

 

[Lawnboi]

One last question. How do these work in cold temps?

 

[Rizzy]

I will sometimes eat a MH or top ramen for lunch also, it is fast to set up a small iso burner and boil water. I use a Coleman that is similar to the pocket rocket but lighter.

My main reason for not using the alcohol burners is the chance that the fuel ends up leaking all over my gear in my pack. I don't see the need to chance it for minimal weight savings. I can easily offset the few ounces by using the water purification tablets instead of a water filter.

 

[>>>---WW---->]

Even if it does spill, that would probably be because it wasn't packed right in the first place. Also, the denatured alcohol would evaporate very quickly and there would be no odor and most likely no damage to any equipment.

 

[herdbull]

I've only used my Bios down into the upper 20's. It seemed to work ok. When I bought mine they $15 a piece, so I bought 2. I'll admit, some of his other stoves are quite pricey but for a no frills, gotta boil water heat source, $20 ain't bad. Use the thing a couple times and you save half of that in fuel over a canister stove.

That brings up the point of alcohol stoves and the readiness of fuel. It's everywhere and no need to pack it on a trip that requires flying. Which could be an issue. Also there's no moving parts to break or that need cleaning. Fill, light, boil.

While it would be a freak accident, any canister stove could leak. I would always just transfer my fuel into a MSR bottle anyway.

 

[TJ]

Do any of you alchohol stove guys use a caldera cone?

 

[herdbull]

Never used one, quite honestly I had to google it. I do use a windscreen not shown in the pic above. A windscreen is a must for one of these stoves out in the open.

 

[Lukem]

86 grams, 29 grams, I thought this was the ultralight sub-forum? How about 6.7 grams? Build it yourself in about 10 minutes for about 3$. Boil time of about 4:30. Worked great at 10,000' this past fall.

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

 

[RockChucker30]

I've got a caldera cone. It combines pot stand and windscreen into one unit. It is sized to fit a single pot. In my testing I boil 2 cups in 4:30 using 1/2 oz of heet. 4 cups takes just over 9 minutes with just over 1 oz of heet using an ever new UL 1300 ml pot. Those burns were on a wire mesh picnic table. I dont know if having a solid base to hold in more heat will decrease boil times or not So far I really like it.

Caldera cone also makes a ti-tri system that can be used with esbit, alcohol, or convert to a wood burner. I want one.

Lawnboi, for super light you need to pick up a minibull stove, windscreen, pot stand, and then get a fosters or Heineken large beer can converted over to a cooking pot.