Fuman & Bedpan stated in their reply to "will i freeze if i start now " to ditch the alcohol stove for a winter thru hike. Any ideas why? I am planning on using my whisperlight for the first 2 months then switching to a pepsi can, I am doing it for reliability sake and I have not yet built the faith in the mighty alcohol stove. Yeah, no, maybe?
Ben Reuschel
I just made mine and haven’t had a chance to field test it yet. I know that the alcohol doesn’t burn as hot as white gas, so I assume the problem in winter is that you’re trying to heat up freezing cold water in a freezing cold pot and it just takes a whole lot more fuel. I want to say that Rocket used one last winter, though, so I don’t suppose it’s impossible. It would just take more fuel and more patience. I think the latter is what would be the biggest problem for me. 
I’m going to try mine out this weekend, but I’m in N.FL and the temp won’t be below freezing.
Ardsgaine
Basically, the alcohol has to heat up to cook efficiently. If your fuel is cold, this takes longer, and therefore more fuel. I carry my alcohol in an old hydrogen peroxide bottle. In winter I can carry that close to my body, say under my shirt, or even in my pants for the last hour of my hike, it works well. Just be sure to use a windscreen to keep the heat in close to the pot.
If, however, you are melting snow for water in your winter hiking, use a sturdier stove.
As far as reliability goes, an alcohol stove is way more reliable than a whisperlite. There are no moving parts, no priming, nothing to break. Heck, you can just pour the alcohol into a metal cup, or the bottom half of a soda can and cook just fine with that. (I did this for about 400 miles of my hike in 98, before the pepsi can stoves were popular. Takes more fuel, but highly reliable.
renaissanceman
Ditch the Whisperlight all together. My alcohol stove worked flawlessly during my thru-hike of the AT in the Smokies last year. There was snow/ice and temps hovering 10* and the stove worked great. A few suggestions: bring just a little more fuel (1-2 more ounces per meal), use a good lid on the pot, use a windscreen. Good luck.
guru
As renaissanceman said, if you keep your fuel even moderatly warmed up, it will work great in cold weather. If you let your alcohol get really cold, the stove might not start easily, but should work fine once it’s warmed up. You will need to use more fuel though because the meals you are warming up will be colder, and the air is (obviously) colder. Later!
Skittles
I tried using my alcohol stove when it was snowing and in the low 20s. It was hard to light and then took 20 minutes to boil enough water for a cup of coffee. I’ve heard some say to warm the alcohol by putting it in your sleeping bag at night (I wouldn’t want to do that) or warming it in your crotch, but that’s not for me.
My advice: Use a white gas stove until the low temps are above freezing. White gas is foolproof in winter, and you need something you can rely on.
steve hiker
The reason that alcohol stoves have problems in cold weather is basic physics: -Liquid- alcohol (like gasoline) doesn’t burn. What -does- burn is the evaporating vapor that rises off of the liquid. This is the reason that the liquid is not consumed in a sudden explosive flash. What you are basically doing is waiting for the liquid to change to vapor phase and combining that vapor with oxygen to produce a flame.
The problem is that the colder is gets, the harder it is for the liquid alcohol to change to vapor. Much of the heat energy is wasted in this phase change. You can get around this by keeping the alcohol bottle warm (ie. close to your body) until you are ready to use it.
Gasoline stoves all get around this by having a pre-heating tube that runs though the flame path. It’s the little brass tube just above the burner. This design exploits the flame to do the liquid-vapor conversion. You have to spill a bit of fuel into the priming cup, light it and wait for 20 seconds while the tube heats up. After the pre-heat, then you open the valve & get cooking.
The classic case of this is the first trips to the South Pole. They used Primus kerosene stoves & initially could not light them, as the kerosene would not change to vapor in the antarctic temperature.
“30-30”
GAME 94
GAME 04
“30-30”
Thanks, man, that is the most informative response I’ve read in a while. Thanks to all for the body proximity tip. I don’t think I’ll be using fuel much anymore, but when I do, that will be nice to know. Nothing beats a hot dinner on the trail. Well… almost nothing;)
Tha Wookie
I used a standard version of the homemade cat can stove for my entire trip. I started in the heart of winter and never had a problem and i never made extra effort to warm or preheat my fuel. Just thought Id chime in. Take it easy.
Peace
Rocket
Rocket03
do you folks set your pot onto your pepsi can stoves like i do mine? I know some folks seem to use something to hold the pot off the stove, but i recommend after the stove lights to let it ignite the pin hole fumes and then just set the pot on top of the stove. Mine is like natural gas at wide open on a GE stove. No you can’t simmer like this, but that is ok for my all or nothing personality!
burn
I am a bit of a pyro and I love making stoves. The newest design I make is self priming. I only make a small hole in the top can piece to pour fuel into. You can put a small amount of alcohol in the top indention after you fill the stove(throw a coin over the hole)and burn it off and this will heat the fuel in the stove. This is all it usually takes to light the stove. All of my stoves serve as their own pot stand.
Miss Janet
I used a brasslite on my thru and that stove got around the cold issue by being a pressurized design. There was a small ring on the bottom and around 5ml poured into it provided the priming to vaporize the fuel in the chamber. In colder weather you just had to hold the lighter over the priming ring a few seconds and that heated the vapor needed for it to take off. There are similiar designs you can constuct using various size cans and j-b weld or heat tape. Ditch the white gas stove unless you are figuring on true winter camping where you need to melt snow for h2o. For an AT Thru alcohol wins hands down.
yo-yo
I had 1 soda can stove that I used during my entire thru-hike. Worked like a charm, even in 15 degree temps. It may take longer but I never heated more than 1 liter of water at a time. If you use your stove twice when cooking - once for dinner and again for a hot drink it cuts down the chances of running out of fuel and having to restart if you are heating up a whole lot of water.
Also, it has been said that HEET burns much hotter than denatured alcohol. My only reccommendation is once you get the HEET bottle open, pour it into a soda bottle. I spilled fuel many times trying to get that HEET bottle open.
Blip
in 2000 I used a leprechaun v - 7 stove… Leprachaun was a thru hiker… I had model number 7 and the first of the v8 caN DESIGN. Never ever had a problem with it lighting. I also never warmed the alcohol… This year I will be using a Freighttrain designed Yuengling can stove…
PEACE
ASWAH
aswah