rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Feb 9, 2016 8:34:12 GMT -8
I don't really see the appeal of alcohol. Possibilities for the OOC aside, the simple answer to this, for me, is weight. My alky stove set-up is simply lighter than a canister stove, and way the heck lighter than my old Whisperlite, which was both heavy and noisy (by comparison). I admit I also like the inability to have anything break or fail. I can remember a couple of epic fails with the Whisperlite, though happily the one on the trail we got fixed. The burst fuel line was at least on a car trip, and we had cold sandwiches for dinner. I was able eventually to get coffee the next morning, though it wasn't pretty for a while! Fuel weight for the alky stove may be more than with other options, but as I recall, not until a trip is approaching 7 days. And that was calculating for a family of 4 (though it was also for the Whisperlite, which is significantly heavier than the modern canister options, so that edge is a lot smaller now). I think last summer I took about 32 oz for 4 adults, 7 days (more than was needed, but I do like the option of making more tea etc. if weather is cold). Since the fuel bottles weigh next to nothing (I use bottle-water bottles, though for better durability you can use gatorade or similar; I've only once had any problem with the flimsy bottles), that made stove and fuel together weigh only about 33 or 34 oz for a week. I don't actually know how that compares with canisters, and some of the stoves are pretty light. But somewhere along the line the weight equalizes, especially if you've had to carry more canisters than you need, since it's a lot harder to measure the exact fuel needed. That said, I have my eye on a Pocket Rocket or similar for times when, as AlmostThere notes, you can't use an open flame. |
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jay
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Post by jay on Feb 9, 2016 8:35:31 GMT -8
Not really had a chance to read through all the other replies yet, will respond to the original post on this: I use a Primus Yellowstone Classic stove and am very pleased with it. It's not too expensive and very dependable, based on my own experiences. The canisters are small and easily stored and will last for several hours of common sense use.
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idahobob
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many are cold, but few are frozen
Posts: 198
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Post by idahobob on Feb 9, 2016 9:16:40 GMT -8
If you simmer with a canister stove, it sucks up fuel like crazy. I was on a 7 day trip where we had several kinds of canister stoves and my Caldera cone alcohol stove. For boiling water, Jetboil is the most fuel efficient, no doubt. For frying fish, they suck. If you could take exactly the right amount of compressed gas fuel, it would weigh a bit less than alcohol, but if you simmer, alcohol uses way less fuel. I measure the alcohol fuel I take on trips, and take what I need plus 3 oz extra. I can also burn wood in the titanium cone of the Caldera Cone, so I have an automatic backup fuel. With the Outback oven, I make pizza, biscuits, bread, and cornbread, which you can't do with a stove attached directly to a canister. You can cook those with a remote canister, but it sucks up the fuel at simmer. On the 7 day trip: Compared to the Jetboil, the Caldera and fuel was 8 oz heavier at the start of the trip, and 2 oz lighter at the end of the trip, due to the weight of the empty gas canister of the Jetboil. If a person took an additional small fuel canister for backup for the JetBoil, the Caldera would be the lighter stove setup. The Caldera was just a hair lighter than a Pocket Rocket setup if used with the same pot. The Caldera was definitely slower to boil water, but much more versatile at cooking a variety of foods. The Jetboil is hard to beat for just boiling water. The fuel weight shown for the Caldera stove is the fuel to just boil water, so it could be compared straight across with the other stoves. For a menu that included baking, toasting bagels for breakfast, cooking pasta and rice, we used 27 oz of fuel, with 3 oz left over. Link to stove comparison. We had one fuel canister wasted by a guy who didn't fully shut the valve off, and it drained off. That doesn't happen with alcohol. We had one pot of boiling water tipped over from a Pocket Rocket being so top heavy. With the Caldera Cone that wound not happen. e had one stove being unusable in high wind, which didn't affect the Caldera or the Jet Boil. |
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almostthere
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putting on my hiking shoes....
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Post by almostthere on Feb 9, 2016 9:24:25 GMT -8
Some of the best stoves for simmering that I have used were alcohol stoves. My Featherfire stove will burn on a low setting for nearly an hour on an ounce of fuel. It's near perfect for steam baking muffins. You can make a version of the cat can stove with fewer holes and have a simmer cat. And some like the Trangia come with a simmer ring.
I fried an egg over the White Box, too, by holding it off the stove but over the flame.
Alcohol stoves weigh so very little that it's easy to bring two or more of them. Boil the water over a cat can stove, then light the simmer version and transfer to that one - with a large titanium pot and a smaller one that does double duty as your mug, it's easy to get water boiled and the corn bread baked at the same time.
I've used alcohol stoves when the wind was so gusty it blew out my buddy's JetBoil, repeatedly. A few rocks to stabilize the windscreen and block some of the vent holes were all it took.
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idahobob
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many are cold, but few are frozen
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Post by idahobob on Feb 10, 2016 10:54:35 GMT -8
Trail Designs sells a simmer ring which chokes the flame down on their stove. It lets the stove run with a low flame for 30-35 minutes, which is enough to bake bread. |
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korey
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Post by korey on Feb 13, 2016 6:48:05 GMT -8
I'm personally partial to my Primus ETA Lite stove. It's a fully integrated system (pot, stove, stand,) but can be turned into a general purpose stove and used with pots other than the supplied one. It's ridiculously efficient and boils water in no time. It's also much cheaper than similar stoves- $100 full retail, but I've seen them on sale for around $70 pretty consistently.
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Post by paula53 on Feb 14, 2016 16:58:33 GMT -8
I also use a canister stove, a Soto. My son who backpacks uses a gigapower. I am interested in the White Box stove but because of the fire bans, have not purchased one. The canister stoves are almost bombproof in reliability, and are so easy to use.
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almostthere
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putting on my hiking shoes....
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Post by almostthere on Feb 14, 2016 20:50:18 GMT -8
I also use a canister stove, a Soto. My son who backpacks uses a gigapower. I am interested in the White Box stove but because of the fire bans, have not purchased one. The canister stoves are almost bombproof in reliability, and are so easy to use. Also easy to mis-use.... You can't turn an alcohol stove into a bomb. But you can turn a canister stove into one. One of the most terrifying moments of my life was that time the guy failed to screw the stove down tightly on the canister, hit the piezo, and turned it into a massive fireball with flames shooting out all directions from the top of the canister. When the pressurized gas canister overheats, the indentation on the bottom pops outward and the stove and anything on it goes up like a rocket. I have seen the back window on a car shattered after someone picked up some stuff at REI and left that pressurized can in the bag in the backseat on a summer day. BOOM. It's a lot of force. I have found an alcohol stove to be the epitome of simplicity. Add fuel and light it. No piezo to fail. Not a single moving part. You can stand on a White Box and not damage it. A piece of aluminum under it to keep the ground from sucking the heat out and a windscreen to focus the flame on the bottom of the pot, and a stove -- weighs less than the lightest canister stove. My Gigapower, as dead simple as a canister stove can be, once stopped working for three days when it was caught out in the rain -- had it been the White Box it would have been easy to shake out drops of water, add alcohol, and light it up. |
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Post by rodwha on Feb 18, 2016 14:19:21 GMT -8
We chose the Soto Micro Regulator as it's designed to work well at higher elevations/colder temps.
The fellow next to use was using a Pocket Rocket with less water and a lid, and our brought 30 oz of water w/o a lid to boil much faster. It's a great stove!
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daveb
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Post by daveb on Feb 19, 2016 7:49:52 GMT -8
I just ordered the Whitebox Stove "Next Generation" from the white box ebay listing from the user billinmt2. $22.95 for the stove, screen and shipping. Quick service too as far as getting it to me.
Just an FYI.
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jj
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Post by jj on Feb 27, 2016 20:58:34 GMT -8
About 1-1/2 yr ago, we upgraded from an old school dual fuel Coleman single burner stove (Eric still loves it) that is 20 years old & heavy but works like a charm. To the Jetboil Mini-Mo's, we love them! If you buy MSR canisters they have markings to show how much fuel is left by floating in water. Eric takes his to the jobsite and uses it nearly everyday for warm drinks in the fall, winter, & spring. We use every weekend in the summer hiking & camping. We recently bought another for our boys to share hiking with us.
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Post by Crockett on Feb 28, 2016 6:31:45 GMT -8
an old school dual fuel Coleman single burner stove I have a few of those. What model do you have? Just curious. |
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Post by hikerchick395 on Feb 28, 2016 9:14:18 GMT -8
I haven't upgraded our stove since the first couple of years of backpacking. I still use a Hank Roberts mini and will do so until I exhaust my fuel canister supply. (30 plus years of use...like it...no reason to change...)
I do have a little Coors light can alky stove that I made years ago. I've not tried it on the trail.
In the throngs of photographers that were viewing the Horsetail Falls in Yosemite, there were two other stars of the show. First was a bald eagle that perched nearby for hours. Then there was the guy with a Jet Boil stove...I think it was some kind of single model...who almost instantly cooked up a batch of ramen. Folks were nearly more amazed at that equipment as all of the fancy cameras. The guy had to take moments between bites to explain how it worked to many admirers.
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jj
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Post by jj on Feb 28, 2016 10:46:32 GMT -8
an old school dual fuel Coleman single burner stove I have a few of those. What model do you have? Just curious. Model 440  |
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Post by Crockett on Feb 28, 2016 12:54:47 GMT -8
Sweet. Those old stoves are addictive. My latest acquisition was a 400A701 dated 09/88  In case you are unaware, the date your's was manufactured should be stamped on the metal bracket above the tank. |
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