Alcohol stove newbie

Some variation / configuration of a starlyte stove. The no-spill factor is a big deal to me.

normally I’d say go with a caldera cone around it–love the stability—but for just a hot drink a homemade foil wind screen is sufficient.

i use Everclear, because I can in OR. In any old plastic soda bottle.

Sure that you’ll be able to use alcohol? The brs-3000t stove is an ounce in it’s sack and 110 canister would give you the 12 boils with a bit left over. Foolproof and inexpensive.

Alcohol comes in two major types to use as fuels, methanol and ethanol. Methanol is usually used fairly straight (near 95-100% because it is produced from industrial sources) and has around 9200BTU/lb. Often sold as HEET, or other fuel line anti-freeze. Ethanol (ethyl alcohol, Moonshine, etc…) is the drinking kind and has about 12000BTU/lb. You can often buy this as Everclear in liqueur stores, but, because it is distilled, you can only get around 95% or 190proof. SLX is denatured fuel and is a mix of around 50/50 methanol/ethanol. Look for denatured alcohol than says marine fuel on the label. Others don’t burn cleanly. Basically, alcohols burn about the same in most stoves. There is almost no difference in how they burn in open topped stoves, chimney burners, or pressurized stoves. However, enough oxygen needs to be supplied to the stove to mix with the vaporized alcohol. Methanol can be considered as partially combusted methane (common house gas.) Same for ethane and ethanol.

The biggest thing is heat recovery after burning. Cones, wind screens, etc are the most important for this. Then pot shapes, types. Then a host of other things. Heat Exchangers(HE pots) only work on EXCESS heat. Small burners are more efficient than large ones. ~8-10 minutes to boil 2 cups is about the most efficient depending on the ambient temp. Boiling off alcohol before burning it can lead to fumes and strong smells and loss of efficiency. A clearish, blueish flame is the cleanest and hottest. Yellow flames are not good and produce soot…hence loss of efficiency…usually due to lack of oxygen. This can produce all sorts of strange compounds, CO being one problem.

Have fun! These are fun to play with.

Having a “spout” dispensing mechanism is nice for pouring. You can bring a water bottle with two caps–it’s regular cap for storage, and an identical cap with a small hole poked in it to use as your “spout” mechanism. I use a Vargo Decagon with an aluminum foil windscreen, a Toaks 850ml pot, and denatured alcohol, and find that 1oz/2cups works well. As others said, it varies with conditions and set-up but in general that amount is a good bet. All I do is boil water–no meals made in the pot. Of course, a cat food stove is cheapest and lightest, which is part of what you were alluding to in your OP.

I’ve used a bottle like this.  Flip-top is good for pouring/squirting accurately: http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-20573/Bottles/Clear-Cylinder-Bottles-8-oz-Flip-Top-Cap.  I put it in a ziplock for extra insurance

One thing that’s tricky is seeing when the alcohol stove is out of fuel since the flame is colorless. I always stick my hand deep in there and make sure it’s cool to the touch, because you don’t want to add fuel while it’s burning.

I moved to an alcohol stove last year and it performs super well. I purchased the Mini Trangia 28-T, which includes the burner, a windscreen, boiling pot, and plate totaling 5.6 ounces. It’s small and packs easy. The windscreen is not that effective so I made my own from some thin, lightweight aluminum.  The cap seals tight so you don’t have to worry about unused fuel, it stays right inside the stove until you need it later.  I use it only for heating water for must-have coffee (16 oz each morning and evening), oatmeal for breakfasts, and dehydrated foods for dinners.  I use marine stove alcohol.  12 oz was more than enough for my wife and I on 5 full days (breakfasts and dinners), so 10 days for an individual, and it sounds as if you’ll be heating much less water than we did, so 12 oz will last a long time.  Hope this helps.