Alcohol stoves - Appalachian Trail

imported
#1

Now that I have my Pepsi Can Stove and the Trangia WestWind and The Tin Can Man Stove and the Cat Stove there are questions.
Has anyone used any of these alc. stoves on a long hike? I am used to my Optimus 111B, Svea 123 and the MSR Whisperlite. All worked great in both summer and winter.
I will be cooking a potato or rice based dinner with mix vegys, gravy and tuna/chicken. It should take about 10 minutes to complete the cooking. My experience at home says there is sufficient time with a 2+ oz fill of the Pepsi Can Stove.
Can anyone add to this limited experience?

tumbleweed

#2

I guess you know these links:
http://www.fulton-net.com/~sgraber/stove.htm
http://members.home.net/d.h.j/stove/HighPerfAlcoholStove.html
http://wings.interfree.it/html/Plumber.html

At Sgt Rock’s site he does a comparison of homebuilt stoves

  • Mike

Mike Horowitz

#3

all depends on the pot and fuel. denatured w/ thin aluminum should heat and boil w/ 2oz of fuel for about 10min. isopropyl with a thick stainless would probably just bring to a boil. in all reality if your going to need a simmer/10 min boil time your gonna want a white gas or cannister fueled stove.

~scruff

scruffy sleeper

#4

I made several new Pepsi Can stoves this week. Tested them today.

2 ounces of D.alcohol the differences were the size of the burner holes and number of holes,

reults ranged from 18 minutes from lighting to flame extinguishing. Quite good considering my menu requires some time for simmering. Any one have an idea on how to simmer with the Pepsi Can stove? I tried the obvious methods but did not change the burn time appreciatably.

tumbleweed

tumbleweed

#5

well…i experimented some myself, and the best way to do it reliably it to raise the pot higher above the flame. you can do this with tent stakes (easy since you probably already have them. you can try to restrict airflow somehow, but thats just a bit more complex and weighty than id like to deal with. ive also had good luck with the yellow HEET fuel line stuff. 63cents/12oz. it burns just as hot (toasted my thumb to a crisp) and doesnt smell as bad.

~scruffy sleeper

Scruffy Sleeper

#6

I have been playing aound with the Pepsi can stoves, and others. To this date, I find no significant advantage of Sterno or the surplus military canned fuel which is alcohol. Comments

Trailblazer75

#7

basically sterno is gelled alcohol. burning the liquid is cheaper and more available. it doesnt carry as well as sterno…but ya gotta live with it.

~scruffy sleeper

scruffy sleeper