Backpacking stoves change and evolve, as do gear preferences. People can spend hours wading through mountains of information about burn times, fuel delivery, treehugging-ness, and of course, price. I know people who change stoves more than they change underwear. To each his own, but here’s where I ended up.
I used a MSR Whisperlight International for years, but it was way overkill for 95% of what I end up doing. Still, that thing was a blowtorch if you kept the fuel clean and jet unclogged. It was the first stove I used when I really got back into backpacking during college. Many meals were cooked, and many eyebrows singed, using that stove over about ten years.
I started a southbound thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2000 with another person, using solid fuel esbit stove. Slow and simple, but barely usable for a couple. I hacked out an alcohol stove from a refried bean can in North Woodstock, NH and carried it for the next 4 months for some 1,300 miles or so till I reached Georgia. The stove lasted longer than the partnership I’m afraid.
Went back to grad school, led a bunch of wilderness trips, and used either that same alcohol stove, a MSR Pocketrocket, or one of the school’s MSR Whisperlights. I think I’m about done with Whisperlights now, mainly because it’s too much weight and hassle just to boil a few cups of water at a time. The Pocketrocket is a simple, light canister stove and worked fine, but I’ve never spilled more meals off any stove. It’s a little top-heavy with a quart of water for my tastes, but man it’s very controllable. Great little stove for the most part, but not for my clumsy self.
We went down the Mississippi River with a cheap single-burner propane stove, and I developed an irrational hatred to it on several different levels. Man that was a mistake. Very top heavy, bulky, and horrible in the wind. The picture of misery sometimes. Missed my little alky stove almost everyday on the river, but was too pig-headed to change.
Now, I’m back to using that same little homemade stove I made some eight years ago. It’s a little beat up, but that just gives it character. I know it’s quirks, and have hiked probably 1,700 miles with it by now. It’s slow, but completely silent. I mix up my dinner with some water, put a splash of fuel in the stove, light it, then let it do it’s thing while putting up the tarp or putzing around.
He’s been a good buddy, and I especially like using it with a homemade pot cozy now. In short, I love this little guy, and it’s the perfect stove for me.
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Great story!
Are there any tutorials out there on making your own stove like that?
See you tomorrow morning
G
John,
Hey man. I met you on the AT up near grayson highlands this summer and you gave me a few pointers. One question:
- what sort of alcohol do you use with this thing?
- Ben
Ben,
Good to hear from you. Always use Denatured Alcohol in any alcohol stove. You pick up a quart at any hardware store, or just buy the yellow bottles of HEET at a gas station. They come in 12 oz bottles, and that’s generally what I use. The red bottles of HEET are mostly isopropyl (“rubbing”) alcohol, and don’t burn nearly as well (not as hot, smokey, etc). You can use rubbing alcohol in a pinch, but I’d rather just use a fire for a couple of days if I had to go that route.
Take it easy,
-John
John,
I’ve located what I think is a good can for making this thing – 1 Café du Monde tin.
You got any tips for constructing it? Especially for cutting and placing the holes in the sides?
Thanks
- Ben
Ben,
If you’re planning on making and alcohol stove, you’ll probably want something a bit smaller. The one I have pictured is a Frito Lays Refried Bean can, and that size (about 3″ across) has worked well for me.
Here’s a great link for a stone-cold simple stove to make: The Super Cat Stove. All you’ll need is a cat food can (or similar) and a plain hole punch. These stoves work great. http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html
John,
I made a Super Cat Stove today and cooked some pasta for supper in my kitchen. It works great. Thanks for keeping this website up. It’s very helpful.
I’m going to make another one of these for my girlfriend, then try my hand on some Super Cat accessories and a pot cozy.
Awesome – the more you play with these things, the easier they are to make. You might want to carry another can that’s a little bigger than that catfood can so you can snuff out the flame if need be.
Been thru the same stove series except the esbit. My wife and I always hike together, so always cooking for two. We have hot beverage in morning, and a freeze dried meal at night, so always doing two boils a day, 1 liter each time. We put the pot with the boiled water in a pot cozy immediately, and it stays hot till the 2nd cup of coffee, tea, etc.
Both kerosene, white gas and isobutane put out more heat per ounce than alcohol, but they require a heavier carrying container. We carry the alcohol in a small plastic soda bottle.
Which stove you use depends on how many days between fuel resupplies. For the two of us, the breakeven point is between 2 and 3 days. For that short distance alcohol is better, anything longer the canister stove means less weight carried including fuel. I still use the whisperlite, but only for snow camping, where you are using enormous amounts of fuel to melt snow.
We’ve pretty much settled down to just using alcohol for everything. We even used a one-burner propane stove when we paddled the Mississippi (never, ever again! That stove was a complete, top-heavy pain in the butt). If we end up going down another big river, we’ll likely use something like a Trangia 27 set with the full windscreen setup. Backpacking trips, we still use that little alcohol stove I carved out of refried bean can almost ten years ago!
$2.00 / 10 years = one really, really cheap stove!