White Box Alky Stove Review

B

brians

Joined
Apr 22, 2006
Messages
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Had a chance to take my new alcohol stove out for a January day hike. $20 bucks gave me the sturdy stove, windscreen and heatshield:

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Conditions were 18 degrees F, little wind. Used an MSR Titan Kettle to boil water in three minutes using methyl hydrate:

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Results: Great compact little stove - sturdy - easy to light, Snacks were served immediately afterwards. All nested into the Kettle. Alcohol also good for cleaning wounds. Cheers :)

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Ok Brians, stop with the cool gear pics! I mean it!! LOL! I have been eyeing alcohol stoves on ebay...even made a few pop can ones myself! Where did you find this lil guy?
 
Rockywolf said:
Ok Brians, stop with the cool gear pics! I mean it!! LOL! I have been eyeing alcohol stoves on ebay...even made a few pop can ones myself! Where did you find this lil guy?
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Gear whore for sure. It sure is fun finding and using decent gear for 20 bones. Look for "white Box alcohol stove" on ebay - made in Montana - much sturdier than convention ones - better than my Varga as well. Cool, light kit.
 
Yes, the White Box stove is like a little blowtorch. I also have the similar but much smaller, Gram Weenie stove. I love them both. The whole idea of alcohol stoves is just amazing. I've owned some pretty heavy white gas backpacking stoves. While not as potent as a gas stove, an alcohol stove weighs an ounce or two. And they're cheap or free for the making.
 
They call it the "white box stove" because it arrives in a little white box. The owner was a great guy to deal with.
 
Thanks for the review, brians. I've been looking at alcohol stoves and just ordered a couple to try out.
 
Got the stoves yesterday and they seem to be a pretty nice package. The guy on YouTube, Tinny from MiniBull Designs, gives these a very good review. Considering he makes alcohol stoves himself and WB is a competitor, that says something.

These sure take up less room in the pack than the little MSR iso/butane stoves and weigh a lot less considering you don't need to carry cannisters.
 
brians said:
..... Alcohol also good for cleaning wounds....
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Everclear might be okay, but the denatured alcohol off the hardware store shelf has a high percentage of methanol, which is poisonous. I wouldn't.
 
DaleW said:
Everclear might be okay, but the denatured alcohol off the hardware store shelf has a high percentage of methanol, which is poisonous. I wouldn't.
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I use methyl hydrate, not denatured alcohol, and I don't plan on drinking it :)
 
I've been making alcohol stoves for about 4 months now. just experimenting with different sizes, types etc...
Anyway...I'm really hooked on alcohol wick stoves now. The 2 that I've made can be sealed up after use and the alcohol won't leak out. With a wick stove, you don't have to worry about explosions either! Yes, alcohol will POP! I've blown up a stove or 2 in my experimenting.
Check out the below link to a video I just happened to make tonight about my latest alcohol stove. The best thing about this stove is that you can simmer with it!
You can make it for about $10 also. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9KR2sbacnA
 
I just got mine a couple of days ago. After testing with Denatured Alcohol , I have come to the conclusion that this is an amazing stove. I highly recommend it. Also, like it was previously stated the owner is great to deal with.
 
I was at the local surplus store the other day and opened up a german mess kit. It had in it what I only recognized from some other posts recently as a alcohol stove. The store worker told me it used rubbing alcohol. Tried it to no avail. then i read this post and tried denatured , it worked great. there was a plastic bottle in there as well to transfer the alcohol into. Very efficient and works incredibly well. It is very zen, the epitome of simplicity. It was a very happy find. i love those type of finds that only happen every so often. You guys know what I mean. i guess I am preaching to the quoir.
 
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