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- Jun 4, 2010
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Every time I see another thread about stoves I keep thinking I should put up a few pics of mine. Its nothing too fancy, but it works great. Nothing more than a pop-can alcohol stove (denatured alcohol from Home Depot paint dept) and an adjustable windscreen. Windscreen is sheet aluminum and rolls up into my trowel (a hogged-out and unfolded length of aluminum pipe). It doubles as a twig stove, though outside of backyard testing I have never used it in that mode - the slot for the pot handle doubles as a port to drop the twig fuel. 8" high, 8" across the base, and 6" aross the top when unrolled - two small springs screwed into holes at the top and bottom of the seam hold it together. The springs hold the pot support stakes in a bundle when the thing is stowed. For a simmer the pot goes across the top, for a boil it goes inside the screen, and to use my shallow bowl for a frypan it goes on top, all resting on the stakes either pushed through the midline vent holes or laid across small divits around the top rim. Distance from the top of the stove to the bottom of the pot when in boil mode is 1 and a half inches. The pot is a Texsport aluminum percolator. Efficiency is very good - 1.5 oz of alcohol will burn for 20 minutes and in testing it heated 1 and a half quarts of 40 degree water (a mix of cold tapwater and ice cubes) to a boil in under 15 minutes. Field use is pretty consistent with these results. Filled to the top of the vent holes, the stove will take 2 oz and burn long enough to be a nuisance. I bring two stoves when camping (in case one gets crushed), and if in a hurry I'll put both under the pot and get it going in about half the time. Next time I go packing I'm going to leave my water pump home and just bring a little extra fuel. I hate pump-filtering water, I'll just strain it through a bandana and boil it. The extra fuel will weigh less than my MSR pump and no manual labor.
The stove by itself can work as a chimney or side-wall stove. Pretty sure the pattern (aside from the specific dimensions) are taken right from the Zenstove site. Last house I owned had an electric stove and when the power went out one fine Sunday morning I used this sidewall style to heat an entire stainless steel kettle using 2 oz fuel and no heat shield - it reached a full boil and held it there for about 5 minutes - that surprised me, didn't think my alcohol stove could heat a mass that large without a heat reflector.
For anyone interested in homemade alcohol stoves, Zenstoves is the place to go - lots of info on heat conductivity of different metals and how different designs function. IME the biggest thing is that you must have a windscreen and it should be capable of not only sheltering the flame, but providing good heat feedback to the stove. Also, any alcohol stove should be tested with the intended pots/pans, shield and stand to make sure they all work well together - these puppies can be very fussy when it comes to airflow and spacing.
The stove by itself can work as a chimney or side-wall stove. Pretty sure the pattern (aside from the specific dimensions) are taken right from the Zenstove site. Last house I owned had an electric stove and when the power went out one fine Sunday morning I used this sidewall style to heat an entire stainless steel kettle using 2 oz fuel and no heat shield - it reached a full boil and held it there for about 5 minutes - that surprised me, didn't think my alcohol stove could heat a mass that large without a heat reflector.
For anyone interested in homemade alcohol stoves, Zenstoves is the place to go - lots of info on heat conductivity of different metals and how different designs function. IME the biggest thing is that you must have a windscreen and it should be capable of not only sheltering the flame, but providing good heat feedback to the stove. Also, any alcohol stove should be tested with the intended pots/pans, shield and stand to make sure they all work well together - these puppies can be very fussy when it comes to airflow and spacing.
