mechanic_mike
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white gas stoves
Homemade Alcohol stoves
Aluminum can Alcohol stove, the lightest stove there is. When I was first
told of the advantages of an alcohol stove I didn't believe anybody. Alcohol
stove to me meant sterno, which isn't much good for anything beyond keeping
something warm. Then I looked into the pepsi can alcohol stove. Made a few
and played around with them. Quickly found out that these are a long way
from sterno stoves and a whole heck of alot lighter than my MSR whisperlite
that I was planning on taking. Shoot the amount of alcohol I would need for
a week of backpacking weighed less than just the MSR stove without
fuel!Sounded like I had a permenant replacment for my old white gas stove
after all. Yes it was hard to let that old thing go. No more pumping it up,
no more priming/pre-heating the stove to get it to fire up, no more fuel
dripping from the hose after I was finished, no more of that god awful gas
smell on my equipment. I can't believe I hung on to that MSR as long as I
did, but we all know how we get attached to our equipment. I had spent alot
of money on that MSR stove and now I am replacing it with a couple of cut up
soda cans! But I couldn't be happier. Why am I telling you all this, because
it is my turn to convert die hards to alcohol stoves, just like I was
converted. If you are planning to go on a long hike and you are not using an
alcohol stove you really owe it to yourself to looking into these amazingly
simple, super lightweight,trouble free stoves. You can simply search the web
for lots of websites on how to make your own. There are many different
kinds. More people completing an AT thru-hike last year had some form of
alcohol stove than any other stove out there combined. I personally make 2
types of aluminum can alcohol stoves for those that don't wish to make their
own. The first is the classic open cup top jet style that will burn
virtually any type of alcohol and is the lightest one available (.3oz) but
needs a pot stand of some type.(3 tent stakes, 3 rocks, coat hanger, hog
wire). The second type is also open cup but has the jets on the side. This
design requires no pot stand. You simply place your pot right on top of the
stove, whcich at the same time covers the open cup, stopping alot of the
alcohol fumes from being wasted by forcing them out the side jet holes.This
type is a little finicky about the fuel used,and just like all pressure
alcohol stoves(varga titanium) you should only use Denatured alcohol or
"HEET" (METHYL ALCOHOL) in it. Isopropyl alcohol can be used but performance
is drastically reduced. Also when you don't have a smooth level surface to
set it up on it isn't very stable as a pot stand. My handcrafted and
perfectly made stoves, Open cup top jet aluminum can alcohol stove:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...me=STRK:MESE:IT
open cup side jet aluminum can alcohol stove:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...me=STRK:MESE:IT
Good pictures at both sites to see what they look like.
Hope this helps to shed a pound or more from fellow hikers.
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03-27-2005 10:18 AM
