[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[pct-l] Homemade stove test results and comparisons



Hey all, i've been in the works of dropping AOL and switching to a local
provider, so I'll be needing to re-apply for this chat room. how do I do that?
I forgot.

Anyway, real info.
I have not used the Tablet fuel before, but I tried sending a report on the
list 2 weeks ago on my home made stove and it got botched somewhere and didn't
make it.
So here's the basic cut and dry facts of the stove that Bob Betz and i made
while at the Gorge last summer, nearing the end of our long summer's hike.

Requirements:
Denatured or Isopropyl Alcohol (Denatured is superior to rubbing alcohol, and
can be mailed legally, available in hardware stores and pharmacies--cheaper at
hardware stores)
Contained safely in a nalgene poly bottle, with a squirt top helps a bunch
half an hershey's syrup can-holds up to 2.5 ounces when cut in half-through
you won't need to fill it to the brim with the alcohol.
Half a bean can, a 32 ounce one, i think
3 stiff wires or nails that can be bent and punched through the larger can's
walls to support the pot
maybe a tuna can lid, helps to put out the flame if the fuel hasn't burned
off.
OK, my homemade stove, pot stand, mini-bic lighter-which got me from Mex to
Can and is still quite full,...plastic pot scraper for cleaning and licking
the leftovers, tuna lid extinguisher, p-51 can opener and lightweight stow bag
all amounted to a whopping 3 ounces!  Compare that to a whisperheavy. I takes
up a little less room, too, and more so if you can create a less bulky pot
stand, which is what I'm working on now.
Test Scenario and results
Coldest tap water available
one pint/16 ounces
cooked in my well used and painted black .8 or .9 liter titanium pot
modified MSR windscreen to shield the wind
Air temp about 48-50 degrees F
Lid was semi-tight, and was lifted occasionally throughout the test
Elevation, my house is about 200' above Lake Union here in Seattle
one pint to boil in breezy conditions onmy porch was 8:30 +/-

I then did the same test with the Trangia Westwind, of which MSR distributes
in the US,from Sweden.
It's an alcohol stove that I switched from the MSR International in Tahoe
while on the trail.
It's a brass cup that can contain 3 ounces of fuel, it burns, i think, a bit
more efficiently, and Ron and Karen Forest hiked the entire trail with one of
these stoves. Their Whisperbomb blew up on them while on a Europe trek and
bought the Trangia then and have never looked back.
Here's that stoves results:
Same conditions but
a tad bit cooler, the pot lid fit better, and maybe a bit more breezy
Pint to boil, 11:30+/-, I couldn't believe it myself either.
Oh, the Trangia retails for about $20 if you can find it by itself-REI sells
it with an alluminum pot and a worthless wind screen.
The cool thing about the Trangia is it's collapsable stand, 3 thin alluminum
legs which lock in to eachother to support both the stove and the pot in one
happy family.

Since my homemade pot stand, the half baked bean can, is a bit bulky, it
limits the amount of powdered milk or energy bars or whatevers that i can
stuff inside my cookpot. So i did a test with using my hershey can for the
fuel, centered in the middle of the Trangia's pot stand legs. Doing this put
the flame much lower than the pot, i'm not sure how much that affected the
boil time. I may make my own legs that are shorter and try it again. anyway,
that burn time was 8:00, so that was the fastest of all 3 scenarios.

hope this helps
Jeremy
PCT-'97
* From the Pacific Crest Trail Email List | For info http://www.hack.net/lists *

==============================================================================