f22shift
Flashlight Enthusiast
i've always wanted to make one of those stove with the aluminum beer bottle(aka stadium bottle?)
i can never find it though..
i can never find it though..
Way cool, ultra light weight camping stove
- Thread starter TranquillityBase
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TranquillityBase
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2005
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56 ounces of water
All-Clad pot
25 ~ 30 degrees ambient air temperature
88 minutes of burn (it took about 15 minutes for the burner to prime)...I didn't use a primer tray...Reflected heat from the pot did the trick. The water started to boil after 40 minutes.
I'm still scratching my head over this one...it just didn't seem possible that it could burn nearly an hour and a half (I tested it twice)...
All-Clad pot
25 ~ 30 degrees ambient air temperature
88 minutes of burn (it took about 15 minutes for the burner to prime)...I didn't use a primer tray...Reflected heat from the pot did the trick. The water started to boil after 40 minutes.
I'm still scratching my head over this one...it just didn't seem possible that it could burn nearly an hour and a half (I tested it twice)...
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I use a Mini Trangia for short 2 - 3 day trips and Trangia 27 UL HA for longer trips. I would consider myself a relatively lightweight backpacker but I do value performance and capability and I'm willing to take more weight if an item offers a lot of extra value. I'm not an "extreme" ultralighter that shaves the end of my toothbrush off to get an extra half ounce. 
Case in point, I like to cook. Even out in the wilderness. I love food. Dehydrated stuff isn't for me. I like to make soups, spaghetti, bake bread, omelettes, etc. I've tried a bunch of alcohol stoves and the Trangia stoves are the only alcohol stoves I can find that are versatile enough to cook a wide range of foods and they're bombproof (seeing as their made of brass). I also like that you can store fuel inside the stove so on shorter trips you don't even need to bring a fuel bottle.
Over time I've discovered how genius the Swedish Army is with their gear. Many of my favourite and most versatile equipment comes originally from that area including the Swedish firesteel, swiss army knife, and trangia stove. The military there has been using these stoves for over 50 years and I think that's saying something.
The Trangia 27 has a seriously hardcore windproofing system integrated and obviously adds weight. I've been on trips where nobody else was able to cook their dinners because we had extremely fierce winds but my Trangia plugged along just fine. It's called the "Stormcooker" for a reason. It obviously weighs way more than a pop can stove, but even a full kit with multiple pots is still lighter than any multi-fuel stove.
I love bombproof, indestructible gear.
For those of you using the pop can or trangia stoves you might want to look at the Vargo Titanium Wood Stove as an upgrade to your windscreen. The trangia fits inside it perfectly, it's super lightweight, and if you run out of fuel you can use the wood stove for its original purpose. Plus, both pots and even a Klean Kanteen can be used with it per this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7yBedWcetc
Case in point, I like to cook. Even out in the wilderness. I love food. Dehydrated stuff isn't for me. I like to make soups, spaghetti, bake bread, omelettes, etc. I've tried a bunch of alcohol stoves and the Trangia stoves are the only alcohol stoves I can find that are versatile enough to cook a wide range of foods and they're bombproof (seeing as their made of brass). I also like that you can store fuel inside the stove so on shorter trips you don't even need to bring a fuel bottle.
Over time I've discovered how genius the Swedish Army is with their gear. Many of my favourite and most versatile equipment comes originally from that area including the Swedish firesteel, swiss army knife, and trangia stove. The military there has been using these stoves for over 50 years and I think that's saying something.
The Trangia 27 has a seriously hardcore windproofing system integrated and obviously adds weight. I've been on trips where nobody else was able to cook their dinners because we had extremely fierce winds but my Trangia plugged along just fine. It's called the "Stormcooker" for a reason. It obviously weighs way more than a pop can stove, but even a full kit with multiple pots is still lighter than any multi-fuel stove.
I love bombproof, indestructible gear.
For those of you using the pop can or trangia stoves you might want to look at the Vargo Titanium Wood Stove as an upgrade to your windscreen. The trangia fits inside it perfectly, it's super lightweight, and if you run out of fuel you can use the wood stove for its original purpose. Plus, both pots and even a Klean Kanteen can be used with it per this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7yBedWcetc
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carrot
Flashaholic
Looking good TB... but what's with that huge pot and where's your Ti kettle?
TranquillityBase
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2005
- Messages
- 3,741
Hang tight brotha (pics to follow)...new stoves have been built
Smaller of the two is a V8 stove (easier build...with slightly less fuel capacity)
Standard soda/beer model with an easy-fill port. Stainless steel screw with SS washer as a finger grip (I wanted to tig weld both sides of the washer, however...I quit while I was ahead (it has been eons since I last fired up the tig welder)...I'm pretty 'rusty' on that front).
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f22shift
Flashlight Enthusiast
the supercat is so easy to make and it works. i think it's a great one if you are not sure if you are going to cook anything. it weighs next to nothing.
the trangia is bulletproof and heavier by comparison.
man i love this thread and people's ingeniuity
kramer5150
Flashaholic
Post pics of your mess-kit...
Potential stupid thread warning!! LOL Have we done this one before? I know a lot of you are into outdoor activities and backpacking etc. Heres mine, light duty camping...
My larger stove
Mess kit
Small stove
Stove action:thumbsup:
Potential stupid thread warning!! LOL Have we done this one before? I know a lot of you are into outdoor activities and backpacking etc. Heres mine, light duty camping...
My larger stove
Mess kit
Small stove
Stove action:thumbsup:
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Ian2381
Enlightened
Re: Post pics of your mess-kit...
how did you made that stove? i'm interested.
how did you made that stove? i'm interested.
kramer5150
Flashaholic
Re: Post pics of your mess-kit...
Some great vids on youtube... search "penny stove" or "coke can stove".
Or google search too
On mine I use a cut-down coffee can as a primer pan and a rack to hold my food. I could place the pan/pot directly on the can stove, but its not very stable.
Some great vids on youtube... search "penny stove" or "coke can stove".
Or google search too
On mine I use a cut-down coffee can as a primer pan and a rack to hold my food. I could place the pan/pot directly on the can stove, but its not very stable.
Ian2381
Enlightened
Re: Post pics of your mess-kit...
Thanks, going to buy two coke and isoprophyl alcohol now, I really gonna try this.
Thanks, going to buy two coke and isoprophyl alcohol now, I really gonna try this.
Re: Post pics of your mess-kit...
Mine consists of a G.I. cup with folding handles, a stove shaped like the G.I. cup that the cup fits into, and a plastic lid in the shape of . . . yup, you guessed it. The lid goes over the cup. Inside the cup I can toss in some tinder, some larger tinder sticks and a mini-Bic lighter. Or, I can leave the lid off and put one of my two G.I. plastic canteens in the cup.
I bought the stove from The Canteen Shop. A specialized item that the troops never got to enjoy. Then just add in a thick, plastic spoon from Wendy's to round things out.
Mine consists of a G.I. cup with folding handles, a stove shaped like the G.I. cup that the cup fits into, and a plastic lid in the shape of . . . yup, you guessed it. The lid goes over the cup. Inside the cup I can toss in some tinder, some larger tinder sticks and a mini-Bic lighter. Or, I can leave the lid off and put one of my two G.I. plastic canteens in the cup.
I bought the stove from The Canteen Shop. A specialized item that the troops never got to enjoy. Then just add in a thick, plastic spoon from Wendy's to round things out.
Dirty Bob
Newly Enlightened
Here's a belated pic of my Penny Stove, soon after lighting. You can see the jets of flame in the dim light.
To the left of the stove is the Olicamp cup, with lid made from aluminum flashing (from Home Depot). I used the crimping tool in the second photo to shape the lid.
Above the cup and stove is the windscreen / pot support. It's also made of flashing metal, with a pair of spring clips to hold it together in use. The pot supports are stainless steel bike spokes. Note the rows of holes in the bottom for ventilation. The windscreen fits inside the cup (barely), along with the stove. The spokes are slipped under the velcro straps that encircle the bottle of alcohol at the top of the pic.
Here's the homemade crimping tool used to make pot lids. I work the tool around the edge of a disk of flashing metal, making a corrugated crimp that can easily be bent down to form the lid. The piece of copper wire makes it a heckuva lot easier to lift off the cover.
All my best,
Dirty Bob
To the left of the stove is the Olicamp cup, with lid made from aluminum flashing (from Home Depot). I used the crimping tool in the second photo to shape the lid.
Above the cup and stove is the windscreen / pot support. It's also made of flashing metal, with a pair of spring clips to hold it together in use. The pot supports are stainless steel bike spokes. Note the rows of holes in the bottom for ventilation. The windscreen fits inside the cup (barely), along with the stove. The spokes are slipped under the velcro straps that encircle the bottle of alcohol at the top of the pic.
Here's the homemade crimping tool used to make pot lids. I work the tool around the edge of a disk of flashing metal, making a corrugated crimp that can easily be bent down to form the lid. The piece of copper wire makes it a heckuva lot easier to lift off the cover.
All my best,
Dirty Bob
Ian2381
Enlightened
Can't seem to find a 99% isopropyl alcohol so i tested a denatured alcohol but won't work. Do I really need 99% alcohol or are there any options?
Dirty Bob
Newly Enlightened
Isopropyl is alcohol and water, so the higher the %, the lower the amount of water you're trying to "burn" in your stove. Some stoves work fine on the better rubbing alcohol, but it tends to burn sooty and does not produce the heat of methanol.
Methanol (denatured alcohol) can be found in the paint section of hardware stores, or in the auto parts dept of store as YELLOW Heet. Make sure it's the yellow, only. It's much better than isopropyl, in my experience. I don't know why you had trouble. Perhaps you were using a design that has to be pre-heated? The Penny Stove, for example is a piece of cake to light, but it runs on denatured, not isopropyl.
All my best,
Dirty Bob
Methanol (denatured alcohol) can be found in the paint section of hardware stores, or in the auto parts dept of store as YELLOW Heet. Make sure it's the yellow, only. It's much better than isopropyl, in my experience. I don't know why you had trouble. Perhaps you were using a design that has to be pre-heated? The Penny Stove, for example is a piece of cake to light, but it runs on denatured, not isopropyl.
All my best,
Dirty Bob
Ian2381
Enlightened
I'm using denatured alcohol in my penny stove but it won't light, what do you mean by pre heated?
thanks for helping
Ian2381
Enlightened
Got it working now, definitely making another one. too cool. will bring it in my mt hiking trip.
Dirty Bob
Newly Enlightened
Some alcohol stoves can't be lit at the jets until the alcohol inside is warm and producing vapors that can burn. (Liquid alcohol does NOT burn, it's the vaporized alcohol on top of the liquid that burns). These stoves have a small dish, tray, lip or other arrangement for a small amount of alcohol to heat the stove. I have a pressurized stove that works this way. You place a tiny amount of alcohol in the preheat lip at the base of the stove after fueling. You then light the preheat alcohol, which warms the sides of the stove. When vapors reach the jets, they light, and cooking continues as normal.
One of the great things about the Penny Stove is that it is lit in the center, not at the jets. No preheat tray to carry or to fill. I also like that the cover/base is inverted and placed under the stove to insulate it from cold surfaces. If a stove rests directly on cold stone, cement, or frozen ground, performance can suffer. If you carry a small piece of thin plywood for insulation and to spread out the weight, you can even use an alcohol stove on packed snow.
I highly recommend testing and practicing with any new stove before depending on it for your cooking in the field.
All my best,
Dirty Bob
kramer5150
Flashaholic
Others have already commented, but I just use HEET in the yellow bottle/blue label. You can get it at walmart for $1.60. It burns SUPER clean, minimal smell and no soot/discoloration on your pots. The stove needs to be primed... heated enough so that the fuel inside starts to evaporate out the holes and mix with ambient air. I prime mine in the pictured coffee cans. Place the penny and fill the top reservoir. I always spill a little around the sides and into the coffee tin, even though I try not to. The burning fuel in the coffee can, that initially engulfs the stove helps bring up the temperature.
I brought the orange coffee can stove to the beach last weekend and brown-seared some hotdogs for the kids. From ice/cooler temperatures to HOT and ready in ~10 minutes. The Coffee can worked surprisingly well even in fairly windy conditions to concentrate the heat and block the wind. I have never used the stove in such windy conditions before.
I brought the orange coffee can stove to the beach last weekend and brown-seared some hotdogs for the kids. From ice/cooler temperatures to HOT and ready in ~10 minutes. The Coffee can worked surprisingly well even in fairly windy conditions to concentrate the heat and block the wind. I have never used the stove in such windy conditions before.
