Hey, Ed, You may remember seeing the following photos before, here at CCS, but I thought I'd post them again, as they are on topic. I got my first popcan stove from Bill Ballowe, of White Box Stoves, Great Falls, MT. Can't remember what I paid, but it wasn't much. Of the three popcan stoves I now have, this one is, by far, the very best of them! It weights just 8/10's of an ounce, and boils water like crazy!! Here's what I have done with mine, and you may find this somewhat enticing. I've combined it with my Trangia setups, and it's a fantastic addition! Here is is in the Trangia 25. I just fits into the Trangia windscreen, and one filling will boil a quart, or more, in the Trangia setup, in a very short time. Here's what it looks like in use. Then, in about 8 minutes, when the water has boiled, and the stove has burned out, I replace it with a regular Trangia burner, with the simmering slide almost all the way closed. Guess what? It will simmer that way for at least one whole hour!! This combination obviates one of the problems I, and others, have had with the Trangia kit, which is a short burn time. Since the Trangia burner doesn't have to boil the water, it can use it's fuel in a much more efficient manner, and simmer as long as you'd like. This is a great combo, and one that is worth considering. By themselves, I don't have much use for the popcan stoves, even my very nice one from White Box Stoves! But, in conjunction with a wonderful Trangia kit, now you're talking about something fun, effective, and worth exploring!! As it's completely silent, it goes right along with the quiet Trangia ethic, too. Might be worth considering.... Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Yes, I've looked at biodeisel. The reason is MONEY. I am poor. I heat with kerosene because it would cost three times as much to use natural gas here in Colorado. We have a gas furnace and it would cost 300.00 per month to use it. I can keep warm with one or two kerosun space heaters for about 120. per month. I am unemployed and had a heart attack nine months ago. http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html It uses methanol, but titratrion doesn't require what I would view as large amounts. Next, you can make it WITHOUT methanol by using ethanol instead. The reason I am looking at biodeisel is cost, and the ability to make it myself. I am also looking at getting a small four wheel drive truck that runs on deisel.
I started out with pop can stoves many years ago . A great thing when you are a kid. I remember clearly raiding moms refrigerator and the rubbing alcohol to cook and eat hamburgers under the Front porch. Last year I cooked 10 hamburgers on a pressurized Pepsi can stove for five people at work in 40 minutes. Two at a time , 4 minutes each side , medium or better. And won 5 bucks betting someone the day before I could cook hamburgers on a Pepsi can. They get hot . And will melt windshields. And turn steel red. Or bend pans. Theyre incredibly useful on the trail in summer. And very light. And there's so many different kinds that burn so differently. They will cook big meals if you get a big enough pan or pot. They are great fun when you start messing with heights and hole sizes. Or start pressurizing them. The thing is you have to make a system. Get a pot and windshield, or a pot holder . A priming pan that works together. If you just try and throw one on a rock . Its not going to work well . Sometimes the setup is too hot. I tried a pressurized one in a trangia setup. And i couldnt grab the pot of of it . But a normal one works great. But the pressurized one works fantastic under a 12" skillet with an aluminum foil windshield . They rule the Appalacian trail for reliability and lightness.
I'm not a gram weenie. I do recognize the need to keep my load as light as practical, while still brining the necessities. I went on a trip in the Adirondaks where i carried my 111t up a 1000ft rise over 1 mile then a matching descent on the other side. Not fun. I decided I needed something lighter. The nova fits the bill VERY WELL!!! You could go further, but not without sacrificing performance. Alcohol stoves are lighter, slower and require more fuel. You could get into the calculations and discover how long a trip would be before you are carrying more weight in fuel than you save in the stove... My inclination is to choose a light, efficient, durable stove. and just use it all the time. As far as the swedish kits... Swedsh Kits @ Sportsman's Guide They are heavy though.
Matukat I sympathize with your situation, I just don't think the economics of burning biodeisel for heat are in your favor unless you can get the methanol or ethanol free or at a steep discount. Either one typically costs about 4x what you will pay for bulk kerosene. You need to use ~0.25 vol of methanol (more than that if you use ethanol) per vol of oil. So you start with 4 gallon of waste oil treated with alkali and 1 gal of ethanol/methanol (~$14), dispose of 1 or 2 gallons of waste glycerin and have 3 to 4 gallons of biodeisel. Or you can buy 4 gal of kerosene ($3.5/gal x 4 = $14). I am all for bio-fuel, but I call it fire wood.
Thank you Paul for the link for the m40 mess kits! Great price!... I just find the term "gram weenie" makes me smile......kind of like "nanny nanny boo boo" it's so silly I get a grin from it. Reggas, If I owned my house, I would be burning wood too. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. My landlord has no problem with my kerosene heating. He might get upset if I start cutting holes in the roof for a stove though......Haven't explored making the ethanol as much as I have the biodeisel, and it's all just research so far, but where are you getting your numbers? From my research on biodeisel, the proportion for titration is about 8:1 or 12.5% to 13.5% methanol. After "washing" you reclaim some of the methanol. If you do serious research you will find you can make biodeisel for about 70 cents a gallon. The cheapest bulk kerosene in Denver is $3.65 a gallon, (dyed of course, I have to add several ounces of denatured alcohol to my heater to help keep the wick clear) I haven't explored purchasing pure ethanol, but e85 is about 2 bucks a gallon here and we now have about 10 place in Denver where you can pump it. I can pump biodeisel at a couple of places, but thanks to the big 5 AGRA companies, it is higher than regular petro deisel. Still, just to buy biodeisel at the pump is still 25 cents CHEAPER than kerosene. People here are already making their own for vehicles.
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_meth.html Here is a link to my source for the percentage of methanol required. From what I have read it amounts to about one bottle of "Heat" (methanol) per gallon or less. Up until recently you could get "Heat" on sale for a dollar a bottle. Now it's gone up. Last month I bought it for 1.50. Remember though that I do get methanol from the household chemical recycling program for free. It's hit or miss but I do get it. I know people are making it and using it in their deisel vehicles here. Check out the whole Journey to forever website, it's pretty interesting. I got there by looking at a biodeisel oil heater that was originally from the people at Mother Earth News.
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make2.html#methreclaim Yes, it can be recovered and used again!.....Now of course all this is based on the idea that you have more time than money, if I had the kind of job I usually had before my heart attack, 12 plus hour days would have sort of put the whole idea out of my mind...lol
I am guessing this has been posted here before, but on the pop can stove topic, this is one of THE most elegant ones out there: http://www.csun.edu/~mjurey/penny.html
I have to give a plug for the White Box stove I just picked up Two at the Local REI garage sale for $1 a piece and I think they are pretty cool! I have made Others in the past and have had pretty good luck with the penny burners, I am not a Gram Weiny however and I have not field tested any of my stoves but I think I would use them on a light weight down and dirty backpacking trip. This is a strange situation but I used one to boil water in a coleman lantern fount?? It had a mass of crud in the bottom that was not reacting to anything that I was throwing at it (vinegar, Acetone, laquer Thinner the usual caustics) So I filled it half full with water and added a packet of Clear Cool Aid (citric Acid) I put it over my Penny Burner and in 5-7 minutes had that sucker to a rolling boil ( the fount was completly stripped with no valve or checkvalve) It was a very nice nickel 242A and it came out so clean you could drink out of it. It did not damage the nickel and Did not get hot enough to hurt any of the seams. I thought it was a good idea and it worked very nice (althought I have not shared this with all my Coleman chums on Old Town Coleman)
Matukat: I agree about that "Penny Alcohol Stove". I made one last year and used it on a short hike on the Appalachian Trail. It worked way better than I hoped. I have since made a number of variations but the original, made from the Heinekin cans, is the best. The heavier weight of that can is a plus and the simmer ring works as advertised. Pete
Iv'e played around with them a bit. Penny stove is my favorite for a constant hot flame A something "lil " stove is a quick and easy water boiler which will hold a decent pot. Iv'e madecoke can ones when I travelled last cos the plane people didn't like me stoves. Trangia type. Now I carry small sizzors and a needle. When I fly and take some sort of pot mug pan setup with me. I gave up on anything that needs welding / goo etc. Too much hastle. I used to regaulary cook on a 10 inch fry pan a "Lil" stove made out of a cheap s/s mug $2 good flame coverage ..but you need a alfoil windrceen and a non flamable surface. Stabiltiy good. burn time least 1/2 or more. No simmer thou... They work and WILL do the deed if needed . By the way everyone seems to quote that it takes more metho to boil a litre etc. weight volume and all that shit but..... If you are only boiling say a litre then 20-25 ml metho most. 15 ml Kero + 5-10 ml metho prime. 18 ml Shellite + prime 3-5 ml.shellite Wheres all the benifits of the other fuels. Since no one seems to actually cook anymore wheres all the savings???? Barra
Went to look at the website now that I can afford to get one or two of 'em and the eight packs are sold out. We'll try to get a two pack, they aren't shown as sold out, but they don't specifically show the windscreen coming with them either.
The place with the swedish mess kit/ burners is out of them all. When I finally got 19 dollars together.....call the waahmbulance....waaaaaahh.....
I must confess.,I too made one of these last year and it worked great. These alcohol stoves are the reason i got into classic camp stoves. I decided to google alcohol stoves on my computer one day,this site popped up. I read,i got hooked and i joined the forum ...the rest is history. Take care
