alternative fuel camp stoves

i dont know why i didnt look at that. out of my price range right, but that thing is sweet.

tested using 1/2 oz of alcohol.

silver one 7:19
short one 8:27

not sure why, im sure theres a lot of factors in play. but i figured the short one would have heated up and vaporized the alcohol faster. both were made exactly the same, except i reamed out the fill hole too much on the short one and cant use a thumb screw, have to use a coin to block the fill hole

edit: temp is now 32, so maybe thats one factor for the longer run time

I spent almost a month in iceland this summer, cycling and wildcamping most of the time. I wanted to travel ultralight and on a budget, so the homemade stove was a must, and it really paid off. No moving parts, no fancy things, therefore extremely reliable. Mine got a lot of bumps but it survived and still working. It is the model made of heineken cans, but since it’s so light (under 20 grs.), I took a smaller one as backup, made with redbull cans. Another advantage is that they’re so small i could pack them inside the steel mugs we used for eating and drinking. Had i used a wood one, i’d be dead from starvation… :wink: I don’t like gas burners either, because they’re bulkier, and have higher fail rates (and it’s not always easy to know calculate how much fuel is left, or to find spare cartridges depending on where you are.
Ethanol is my choice for fuel . less soot than other stuff i used. Plus, you only need to carry a tiny amount of fuel if you’re travelling alone or for a short time. Plus, once you make the first one, you are able to make a new one on the track, using just a multitool, or knife and those cans that lay around. Plus… i love it!
:bigsmile:

any links to homemade alcohol can stove instructions?
using a multi-tool to convert a can to stove sounds interesting.

oh, I see the alu bottle link now…

check out that link too.

I did a lot of research and the best and most comprehensive page i found is this one: http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/

just got my trangia mini kit, very slightly used for $25 shipped… this thing burns good. puts all the ones i made to shame.
boiled some water on it already, and think ill heat some beans and fry an egg on it later. know these alcohol stoves are mainly for boiling water… but gotta try it

The homemade pop can stoves are great fun to build for sure (also made several with mixed results) but since they are less fuel efficient than a traniga they will burn off the weight difference rather quickly. You get lowered reliability and have to carry more fuel … thats why I never really saw the point in using them. A titanium version of the trangia stove would be the best of two worlds, but they are a bit too pricy to save 70 or so grams in the backpack

the evernew burner is titanium, and pretty damn close to a trangia clone. doesnt have a cap though. like you said, it is pricey. i think i have seen them on ebay for a bit under $50, for just the burner

Alcohol as a fuel is good all around, and dont forget that they are not limited to denatured camping alcohol. I mainly burn 96% medical alcohol in them, a lot easier to find in off grid countries, and a lot cheaper. Trangias are useful for more than boiling water as well, it is possible to use them as your single means for preparing food.

i dug out my 1975 coleman 425E stove yesterday while i was at my dads. the generator and all was gummed/clogged up. so i drained the years old fuel, filled it with acetone, and pressured it up and ran it through the system. to my surprise it ran on it. i ran it about 10 mins on acetone. it actually ran pretty decent on it, and it actually ran much better afterwards.

but if it will run on acetone, i imagine it will run on alcohol. not sure how the seals, pacing and all will like it, but i may have to try.

Did you get the simmering ring in your kit? I got mine used on ebay minus the ring so I haven’t actually used one. It looks handy and seems to work from everything I’ve heard.

I did, but haven’t used it yet. Only thing wrong with my kit is on the aluminum pot stand, it has 4 tabs that bend, one was broken off. I think they are just to hold the burner in center, and not really needed

kind of off topic, but oh well :Sp

in the past few days ive been haggling on an optimus 8r in working condition. the case needs some attention on the rust though. got this one for $20
and today i scored a NIB coleman 424 dual fuel, just got to go pick it up saturday… pretty much cant believe i got it for the price i did… less than a new generator and valve assembly for my 425e

You can ckeck out the efficiency here:

I would specify, though, what kind of eficciency we are talking about. If we’re just talking about fuel calorific output, or the burner itself or the efficiency of the whole system. I think that’s the important point, because the most burning-efficient stove might be not the best one to meet our needs (number or people, days, weight to be carried, availability of fuel, wather and temp conditions, style of food prep…). Alcohol stoves are very reliable (no piezo is gonna break, less sealing problems or moving parts…). Of course, not the best one to prepare a 4 lbs steak, but i never had that chance when backpacking/ biking anyway :cry: You can carry alcohol in virtually any container, no matter if it’s plastic, aluminum….), you can start it with the flint, you can easily calculate how much fuel you need per meal, and see how much fuel is left. With gas… well, people end carrying spar cartridges because they’re not sure) and repair kits. It works almost at any altitude (Reinhold Messner could prepare tea at 7000 m thanks to it)… and, if you want to use for hexamine, just drop it on top. Or you might find alcohol (bioethanol is my choice) useful to start a fire with not so dry wood to warm you up…

And, I know some might find it stupid but for me it’s really important, they are more environmental-friendly, both the stove and the fuel.

Aw man, It has been ages since I got a good deal on a caming stove.

Hope you have fun with yours! If you enjoy and collect stoves, you might like this forum. Very good information on restoring an repairing all kinds of camping stoves.

They also have a modding subforum (called Fettling Masterclass), visible only to members. I have to say, modding is much more scary when a mistake can lead to fireballs.

i have ended up there a few times and CCS too. both have alot of info. but i try not to join too many forums.
but im sure once i get into it more ill be joining

edit: just realized, they are the same forum :zipper_mouth_face:

i tried to make a deal on a optimus svea, newer one. hat the pump and a rebuild kit new in package and the stove was only used on one trip. he was firm at $100, a fair price for it all, but too high for me. where im broke, im not going to buy one unless i know ill be able to double my money on it… not that i want to, but atleast i know it was money well spent

Wait, the optional accessory pump for the svea 123? I thought they don’t make that any more! At least I couldn’t find it anywhere. 100 $ is a steep price for 100 year old technology, but those things work forever. I would really like to have one, but i have to be content for now with what I could get off ebay for much less money. Have two Primus 71, several Enders stoves (german manufacturer), and a handful old blowtorches (also fun to play around with).

Haha I’ve been looking at the blow torches also… But I already have new age ones, so I can’t explain how I need one to misses