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alcohol stoves


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Great Site!

Thanks.

It covers just about everything in making and using them.

 

In mine, most of the time I use good old 'rubbing alcohol' (cheap) but you have to watch it as the flame is hard to see. Sometime you don't know if it is lite or not?

 

I keep a block of wood handy to cover mine with to put it out when done- You CAN"T 'blow' out the flame like a candle or oil lamp!

 

AND wait until it cools down before picking it up .................................. trust me I KNOW!

:AmishMichael2:

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  • 2 months later...
  • 6 months later...

Currently my husband is playing with 2 types of lightweight alcohol stoves - the SuperCat (made from cat food cans) http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/ and one made from pop cans http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/

 

He has used heet for both and likes the SuperCat best because it's more durable.

 

He uses the small white bottles from the 5 hr energy or bottled vitamin drinks and labels it "HEET for stoves". There's enough for 1 stove burn to heat up something or boil water.

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  • 5 months later...

Just bought my husband one of these because his pop cans are mostly one-shot deals.

 

It's the Vargo Decagon Titanium alcohol stove. You can use HEET or other alcohols. I've seen people in combat boots kick these around and then use them to boil water for coffee. They're amazing and virtually weightless, not to mention indestructible. ;0)

 

Here's the link to Amazon. We got a coupon at a local outdoor store (REI) that was cheaper than buying online, and cheaper than shipping!

 

http://www.amazon.com/Vargo-Outdoors-Titanium-Decagon-Stove/dp/B001G61KLU

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  • 1 month later...

My husband tried the SuperCat stove as well (the cat food tin) and the Vargas was based on it. He's a gadget guy and wanted something that would not bend, no matter what.

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  • 8 months later...

Like you Ambergis...not fond of playing with fire....or fireworks. We like the sterno cans because we can set them under a chaffing-type dish and it will heat and keep heated, whatever is in the pan. The alcohol cannisters resemble candles in that the tops are sealed, you can't refill them etc. Again, restaurant quality.

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  • 7 months later...

I don't get to get to this forum very often any more. Here are the results of a test I did using one specific alcohol stove with various types of alcohol:

Note that denatured alcohol from the paint store and Everclear returned the best results.

 

 

Trangia Westwind Alcohol Stove Evaluation.

Short version:
IMNTBHO - This is a VERY GOOD BOB burner/stove. Using either Ever Clear grain alcohol or Denatured Alcohol from a paint store, it raised a quart of water from 69 degrees F to a rolling boil in 15 minutes. Packs light, small, and if using Ever Clear - you can drink the fuel.

Long Version:
Evaluation consists of Trangia alcohol burner and Westwind "stove".

Trangia burner is about 3 inches in diameter and is about 3 inches tall.

The "stove" is three flat shaped pieces of thin aluminum that hooks together to form a triangle that has a place to put the burner and put a pot on top of.

Evaluated
http://hitthetrailnewnanga.stores.yahoo.net/westwind.html

May be a better "stove" - uses the same burner
http://hitthetrailnewnanga.stores.yahoo.net/minitrangia.html

Military surplus contains Trangia burner with Swedish military messkit
http://www.omahas.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=363

Testing conditions:
1 1/2 quart covered pot, slightly wider than tall - at room temperature.
1 quart of water - temperature measured after sitting in the pot for 5 minutes. Pot was covered during heating tests except for 30 seconds every 5 minutes for temperature check.
3 oz of alcohol in trangia burner positioned in Westwind stove.
Time check - to fully vaporized flame and then
Every 5 minutes until 30 minutes or rolling boil

Tested fuel
70 % Isopropyl Alcohol - purchased at a local Walgreens
70 % Ethyl Alcohol (ETOH) - purchased at a local Walgreens
Denatured Alcohol - purchased at a local Paint store
190 proof Ever Clear - purchased at a local liquor store

Test Results

Time to heat stove before a fully vaporized flame appeared varied from 10+ minutes with the isopropyl alcohol to 8 minutes with the ETOH to less than a minute with either one of the other two.

Isopropyl Alcohol - 30 minutes - 69 degrees to 197 degrees. Significantly noticeable fume smell
ETOH - 30 minutes - 70 degrees to rolling boil. 25 minutes to 197 degrees. Significantly noticeable fume smell

Denatured Alcohol - Ever Clear - identical results. No real noticeable fume smell
5 minutes from 70 degrees to 100 degrees.
10 minutes went from 100 degrees to 150 degrees
15 minutes rolling boil.

The Westwind triangle is not a good wind break. To effectively heat/cook with the burner, you'll need to provide a wind break or a lot of heat will blow away.

Why do I think it should be in the BOB?
1. In wet or cold or wet/cold weather the ability to have a warm to hot cup of water/tea/soup/whatever could be the difference between just being miserable and dead. Plus the occasional hot drink/food is a significant moral booster.
2. It packs small and light.
3. Most any alcohol will work in it - including whiskey/vodka/rum. It takes longer to get a fully vaporized flame but as it's getting going, you can too with the same alcohol.
One "advangtage" the Everclear has over any of the rest - if it leaks onto your food, it does not poison the food.
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Found a really neat, single burner, fold up stove that used the really, really small propane cyclinders. The cylinder will probably only last long enough to cook one or two pots, but it's aweful nifty to our way of thinking, if you're in the bush and need to cook "something" to eat. The chinese restaurants (and golden corral's) use them when they're cooking omelets etc. while you wait.

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Has anyone run across anyone with vision difficulties using them and getting burned more easily than using propane or wood fires stoves ( because I am wondering about that as I have vision difficulties and alcohol flame is nearly invisible isn't it? )

I am just wondering about that and have not invested in any of these alcohol stoves but would use a make do one , like old coffee can and toilet paper roll soaked with rubbing alcohol or vodka if i had to and had nothing else I guess.

I have to be careful of using alcohol like rubbing alcohol because I would rather keep it for medicinal topical usage if need arises and dont have a great budget , or room to store cases of such when there are natural materials outside, like plenty of wood even though it burns clean and thats good.

But not being able to see the flame is what bothers me the most as a safety factor.

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