Good, cheap mess kit for your BOB

Most alcohols will work. I wouldn't try any other fuels. Gasoline, kerosene, diesel and the like all burn much faster than alcohol, and I wouldn't trust them to be safe.

Denatured alcohol from the hardware store is preferred. It's cheap and easy to find, and it burns hot and clean.

Isoprpyl (rubbing) alcohol works if you use a strong enough concentration. 70% is iffy, but anything 80% or higher usually works well enough. It makes a mess of the bottom of your pot. And it's a good deal less efficient. But if that's all you have...

I know of one guy who ran out of fuel on a week long trip on the AT. He bummed a splash of strong rum off of a fellow hiker and burned that in his stove. Apparently it worked alright. Said it smelled terrible, but still boiled a pot of water.

.

If you are interested in homemade camp stoves, see:

http://wings.interfree.it/html/main.html

Bob

Yup, alcohol vaporizes and goes through the ports. Catches fire outside once it mixes with air.

It turns out I have a friend as prone as I am to doing stupid things. He's not only built pop-can stoves, but he's tried other fuels in them. He says that white gas works, but makes much more flame than alcohol and burns too quickly. He says that kerosene works but is difficult to get going. He said he had to put a stick in the middle to act as a wick until the middle got going good, and it took another 5 minutes before the kerosene vaporized enough to get the burner going. He said it's very smoky but does burn a lot longer than alcohol and makes a lot of heat.

Disclaimer: Not only have I done many stupid things, but so have my friends. I wouldn't do this if I were you.

I checked today to see if the alcohol which I left in the stove on Thursday was still there or had evaporated. In the 3 days since I used it, the level of the alcohol had not dropped noticeably.

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Those Swedish stoves have a gasket in the lid, and you can safely carry them full. The soda can stoves, of course, have to be allowed to burn out.

Yes, but considering it was made in 1965, I didn't want to trust to luck.

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That stuff was made for gallant nordic warriors whose equipment is honed for perfection under the harshest conditions -- and who haven't fought a war in nearly 200 years and can't get out the front gate without a taxi.

Spurred on by this thread, I made a Pepsi Can Stove yesterday. Pretty neat gadget and really detailed instructions can be found here . I told my wife (she's a science teacher) that she should recommend this as a science project for a kid that needs something quick and easy to do. Of course some research in to how and why it works would help the grade. I put the 'stove' in with my SHTF gear. I just need to make a windscreen and pot support for it now.

Greg

This is odd. Earlier today I was cleaning out my trunk and found the one I made. I haven't seen it for two years and then I stumble across this thread. Very odd indeed.

I made mine out of soup cans. It's heavier and was harder to make, but I think it would hold up better than one made from aluminum cans. The inner strip was cut from a soda can and stapled into a ring though. Some cans of beef stew come in short fat cans. That's what I use to hold the pot. I drilled some air holes into its side. I like the coffee can idea. I'll have to get one (had to stop drinking coffee a few years ago).

mole

The beauty of the soda can approach is that it allows you to really cut weight from a pack -- a typical stove weighs anywhere from 2/3 of a pound on up. The soda can stove only weighs 0.4 ounces.

I know some serious backpackers who have a 4 lb basic pack limit. That is, pack, sleeping bag, cook kit, shelter and spare clothing all together cannot weight more than 4 lbs. Everything else is food, water or stove fuel.

The way I look at it, the stove is cheap (basically $0), so you can can spend more on other stuff. And light, so you can carry the other stuff.

In the interests of simplification, is there any alcohol that is particularly suitable both for stove use and personal consumption?

Everclear/pure grain stuff would probably work just fine. Kinda harsh to drink though.



Greg

In the interests of simplification, is there any alcohol that is particularly suitable both for stove use and personal consumption?

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Short answer, no.

You want at least 70% alcohol for reasonable efficiency. 100 proof bourbon is only 50%.

The higher the proof, the better. Grain alcohol or Everclear is probably as good as it gets, since that stuff is almost pure alcohol.

I know that fortified rum works in a pinch, which is about 150 proof (3/4 alcohol). That squares with my experiences using isopropyl alcohol - 70% to 80% is the minimum needed to get good results.

So I figure anything 150 to 160 proof or higher would work.

Go do some experimenting and let us know how it turns out.

So I figure anything 150 to 160 proof or higher would work.

Go do some experimenting and let us know how it turns out.

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We'll have to wait until the alka seltzer stops fizzing.

Grain alcohol or Everclear is probably as good as it gets, since that stuff is almost pure alcohol.

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And is sold in mason jars from the back of a hotrodded Mercury.

Yeah, on second thought...

Even if you do find something that works well in a stove, would you really want to drink it?

I'm kinda fond of my throat. But that's just me...

Even if you do find something that works well in a stove, would you really want to drink it?

I'm kinda fond of my throat. But that's just me...

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One of my boyhood heroes was Les Rutledge, the Robin Hood of Hutchinson Mountain, in Arkansas. Les made whiskey, had been in shootouts, killed a man in a feud -- and though he's long dead, stories abound about him.

One story is he invited a friend to a drink. The friend reached for the mason jar and Les stopped him. "That's sellin' whiskey. I keep the drinkin' whiskey around back."

I'm creating simple car kits for my two sisters-in-law, who live in Europe. I wanted something in cookware, and this thread got me thinking about mess kits, etc.

I finally opted for compactness (many European cars are somewhat small) and simplicity, and ordered a few stainless cups from campmor.com, that fit over the 1-quart Nalgene bottles. Along with homemade CAT stoves and windscreens/cup stands, as well as tea bags, dry soups, etc. and water, they'll be able to quickly warm up something if they get stuck somewhere, or while travelling. Alcohol stoves are -- I've been told -- fairly common in Europe, so fuel should be easy to obtain.

Olicamp cup:

(http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=9738452&memberId=12500226)

Regards,
Dirty Bob

Took me forever to find this thread...

Anywho, picked up one of the swedish stoves today for 7$. Definitly seems worth it.

Im using 91% isopropyl alchohol in it and it works just fine, burns for a long long time on a full stove.

Ill have to cook something in it after i get it washed. This is definitly going to replace my old stuff for hiking.

*Edit* Just boiled (rolling, not just small bubbles) a half-pot of water. Took about 10 minutes and man that stove is really turning out the heat! this shall prove far more effective than those hexamine fuel tabs.

Who is still selling those Swedish stoves with the burner? I want one, but the places I checked were out.

My army surplus depot had one.

This place has em

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/wj-enterprises/camstovkital.html

A little off topic, but I have a Whisperlite Backpacking stove. The regular one, not the International. Does anyone know if there is a retrofit kit to turn it into the International version so I could burn multiple fuels instaed of white gas? What are the differences between the two? I've asked at the local REI store and all I get is blank stares. Thanks.

Oh yeah, will the International burn 100LL avgas?