[pct-l] simmer pepsi stove

[goforth at cio.net (Joanne Lennox)]

I made a Pika stove today and find the design very interesting, and it
burns well and fast, keeping the flame blue ( not spilling a yellow flame
around the pot and losing fuel efficiency which is the trouble that I was
having with my smaller pepsi can stove).  The Pika stove  however is more
involved and more time consuming to build.  I noted that the aluminium
stock of the 24 oz cans that I made my Mad Pika from were of heavier
aluminum that the pepsi stove, and  also much stronger.  The weight is
negligible.  The Pika got 2 cups of water to an audible boil in 7 minutes
with 2/3 film canister of alcohol (bubbles were rising in 5 minutes).

I had made a modification of a Pepsi stove which I tested also:  Instead of
cutting the entire inside of the rim on the top of the stove (I. E. it is
actually the bottom of the can, but the top of the stove); I cut a half
circle, and only put holes around that half of the rim. I put 5 cups of
water in my titanium pot which was filled to the rim.  On one film canister
of alcolhol, bubbles were rising in 7 minutes and the water was too hot to
keep your finger in for long, I could hear the sound of boiling (lid on) in
13 minutes and at 30 minutes I had a full roiling boil; It continued to
boil for another 4 minutes before going out. I tested the stove with 2 cups
of water and 2/3 container of alcohol, and got a bubbles rising in 6
minutes and an audible boil in 9 minutes; the roiling boil lasted from13 to
25 minutes.

I believe that is slower but much more fuel efficient than either the Pepsi
design with a larger central hole and also the Pika stove. I am more
concerned about fuel efficiency than speed for the most part as I eat
breakfast and dinner at camp and there is plenty to do while the stove is
heating  water.

Goforth