Recently, I pulled out a number of my stoves and did a little boil time comparison. All of these tests were conducted on the same day in about a 2 hour window. The weather conditions didnt change too much during the event, allowing me to have a pretty level playing field for the stoves used.
I welcome others to post up their stove boil times/reviews here, too.
General weather conditions for these events: Cloudy, 45°-51° F air temp, winds calm to light steady breeze, and a little light rain towards the end of the session.
Time of day was 08:40 am to about 11:00 am.
I used these 1 liter stainless steel pots for all my initial tests, in an attempt to level the playing field:
I used the same cold tap water load (16 oz.) for all test. I was unable to measure the temp of the tap water, but by touch/feel it was comparable to the air temp toward the end of the session. I estimate the water temp was in the low- to mid-50° range.
Also, after each boil test, the pots were cooled down with cold tap water, and the pot exteriors were dried. All of the water used was reclaimed in one way or another, with all the boiled water going towards tea and dish washing.
Regarding boil times: Because I was tending to the cats that were outside at the time, and because I was also preparing/conducting other stove tests, not all the boil times are exact. Because I was trying to multitask while conducting the test, I missed the exact moment of boil for a number of the stoves. So, not all boil times are exact. Some boil times stated may be +10 to +20 seconds. Boil times that have a ~ preceding them were caught during multitasking. Boil times without the squggle were caught and are rounded up to the nearest :10 second mark.
OK, here we go.
First up was my Super Cat alcohol stove variation. This stove is made from a Fancy Feast cat food can, and is on a larger cat food can that serves as a stand.
Stove: Super Cat Alcohol Stove variation
Fuel: 1.5oz of denatured alcohol
Wind: Calm
Air Temp: 45°
Pot: 1 liter stainless steel with lid
Water amount: 16 oz
Boil time: ~12 minutes
Stove: Markill Hot Shot canister stove
Fuel: Snow Peak Gigapower
Wind: Calm
Air temp: 46°
Pot: 1 liter stainless steel with lid
Water amount: 16 oz
Boil time: 2 minutes 40 seconds
Stove: MSR Pocket Rocket canister stove
Fuel: MSR
Wind: Calm
Air Temp: 47°
Pot: 1 liter stainless steel with lid
Water amount: 16 oz
Boil time: 2 minutes 20 seconds
Here are the Hot Shot and Pocket Rocket, with the different fuel canisters, for comparison:
Stove: Jetboil equipped with pot stand
Wind: Light breezes
Air temp: 48°
Pot: 1 liter stainless steel with lid
Water amount: 16 oz
Boil time: 4 minutes, 15 seconds
Comments: I was surprised at the poor performance of the Jetboil with pot stand. Typically, canister stoves tend to lag performance-wise as the ambient temp drops, but the other two canister stoves easily out performed the Jetboil. Was it the light winds that affected its performance? Was it the fuel? I do not know. Because this intrigued me, I let the stove cool for a while, and then I conducted a test with the Jetboil pot. Ill post that up later.
I welcome others to post up their stove boil times/reviews here, too.
General weather conditions for these events: Cloudy, 45°-51° F air temp, winds calm to light steady breeze, and a little light rain towards the end of the session.
Time of day was 08:40 am to about 11:00 am.
I used these 1 liter stainless steel pots for all my initial tests, in an attempt to level the playing field:
I used the same cold tap water load (16 oz.) for all test. I was unable to measure the temp of the tap water, but by touch/feel it was comparable to the air temp toward the end of the session. I estimate the water temp was in the low- to mid-50° range.
Also, after each boil test, the pots were cooled down with cold tap water, and the pot exteriors were dried. All of the water used was reclaimed in one way or another, with all the boiled water going towards tea and dish washing.
Regarding boil times: Because I was tending to the cats that were outside at the time, and because I was also preparing/conducting other stove tests, not all the boil times are exact. Because I was trying to multitask while conducting the test, I missed the exact moment of boil for a number of the stoves. So, not all boil times are exact. Some boil times stated may be +10 to +20 seconds. Boil times that have a ~ preceding them were caught during multitasking. Boil times without the squggle were caught and are rounded up to the nearest :10 second mark.
OK, here we go.
First up was my Super Cat alcohol stove variation. This stove is made from a Fancy Feast cat food can, and is on a larger cat food can that serves as a stand.
Stove: Super Cat Alcohol Stove variation
Fuel: 1.5oz of denatured alcohol
Wind: Calm
Air Temp: 45°
Pot: 1 liter stainless steel with lid
Water amount: 16 oz
Boil time: ~12 minutes
Stove: Markill Hot Shot canister stove
Fuel: Snow Peak Gigapower
Wind: Calm
Air temp: 46°
Pot: 1 liter stainless steel with lid
Water amount: 16 oz
Boil time: 2 minutes 40 seconds
Stove: MSR Pocket Rocket canister stove
Fuel: MSR
Wind: Calm
Air Temp: 47°
Pot: 1 liter stainless steel with lid
Water amount: 16 oz
Boil time: 2 minutes 20 seconds
Here are the Hot Shot and Pocket Rocket, with the different fuel canisters, for comparison:
Stove: Jetboil equipped with pot stand
Wind: Light breezes
Air temp: 48°
Pot: 1 liter stainless steel with lid
Water amount: 16 oz
Boil time: 4 minutes, 15 seconds
Comments: I was surprised at the poor performance of the Jetboil with pot stand. Typically, canister stoves tend to lag performance-wise as the ambient temp drops, but the other two canister stoves easily out performed the Jetboil. Was it the light winds that affected its performance? Was it the fuel? I do not know. Because this intrigued me, I let the stove cool for a while, and then I conducted a test with the Jetboil pot. Ill post that up later.
