Is This Alcohol Stove Setup Actually Lighter Than A Canister Stove?
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Published 2023-04-06
This is just a look through my overall thought process going into this setup as well as when it will save me weight, and when it won't. Any advice related to this setup or alcohol stoves is always appreciated.
Also, I know my math got messed up on my list. I was only adding the wind screen and stove itself and completely forgot the alcohol container. Overall for short trips, this setup should still save me quite a bit of weight. You know, if you think in ultralight terms and think that tenths of ounces is a lot of weight!
I have no affiliation with any product or company in this video.
All Comments (20)
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Great analysis!! Craig is a grumpy bear until he gets his coffee in the morning. We better stick with the faster option š!
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Excellent presentation, that graph is savageā¦ really putting things into perspective. Thanks mate šš»
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So, you're telling me my pocket rocket is a luxury item on overnight trips?! š Awesome breakdown. I appreciate the knowledge, amigo!
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Great rundown! Hi, I'm Kerry and I'm an alcoholic. Switched to alcohol years ago and I doubt I'll go back to a canister. Someone above mentioned about how quiet alcohol stoves are over canister, and I'd have to say that's probably my favorite part. Have you looked into the Caldera Cone system? They're very efficient and with the Kojin Stove, there's no need to measure. Fill the non-spillable stove to the top, light it and once the water boils, just blow it out and put the cap on, saving the remaining fuel for later. It's pretty cool. Great video!
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Another thing to consider is how likely you would be to be watching the canister fuel closely enough to stop the stove the second the water comes to a boil. With alcohol you put a set amount of fuel in and it just burns itself out when itās done. So there is a probably going to be a significant fudge-factor (especially when getting down to the gram of weight), unless youāre watching the pot on the canister stove like a hawk and have good reflexes.
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Great analysis thank you! I switched to alcohol stoves a few years back and haven't found any reason to go back. Can't stand the noise of cannister stoves first thing in an otherwise peaceful morning tbh. My set up for the last couple of years is the Trail Designs Sidewinder Caldera Cone with their Kojin stove. Super ultralight, it all nests in my 600ml pot and its consistently a half ounce of fuel to boil 2 cups of water. And though i haven't timed it in awhile I'm quite sure its not more than 3 minutes. Highly recommend the system. It's the one part of my load out i don't think I'll ever change.
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Overall the analysis is pretty good. Another major benefit of alcohol is that you can measure exactly how much fuel you will be using on your trip and only take that amount. To measure the fuel I use a graduated syringe to fill my fuel bottle and a medicine measuring cup (like you get with cold medicine syrup) to measure the fuel into the stove. It is possible to do this with a canister refuel adapter, but it requires more effort and the adapter.
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Good stuff, I'm an esbit guy but had to move to fuel since coming to Texas. Haven't seen any posts in a while, hope all is well!
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2:19 for the gram weenies counting at home Dutchwear Gear states that that stove (the gram weenie pro with the cold weather wrap) is 22.11 grams (which is actually 0.78 ounces). For the record a typical redbull homemade stove is under 8 grams.
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It's funny this came out today. I have had my stoves out deciding which to take on a bicycle tour I'm starting next week. I have 2 cups of coffee every morning and maybe oatmeal, and I almost always cook my supper wherever I camp so I go through a small gas canister pretty quick. I tend to like my DIY soda can stove because I use HEAT in the yellow bottle and I can get that anywhere versus not always being able to find gas canisters on my long trips since I try to avoid large cities. I can also use denatured alcohol (most hardware stores) or 90% rubbing alcohol in a pinch (any small town Dollar General) although I prefer not to use either of those 2. Good analysis Cameron.
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Very cool. The chart helps a lot when deciding if you're saving weight over the days. I'm kind of paranoid with spillage so sacrificed weight by using a Trangia and fuel bottle. I just wish I could even use it. It's restricted in California.
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Excellent! I need to get back to using alcohol. I got away from it due to the burn bans the last several years. Thanks for reminding me.
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Nice comparisionšš»
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good info!
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Excellent Video! 5oz saving ā¦thats a hard call for sure.. love the analyst thoughā¤ thats always been my turn off cause of the fuel weight and burn efficiency .. you can get Soto WindMaster or Amicus and get even better efficiency . boils no matter the weather. I guess my fear would be the alcohol leaking all in my bag and fuel is gone. Same with the BRS 3000 UL stove the lack of efficiency isnāt worth 2oz of savings.
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I must have 15 or more of the gram weenie pro laying around that I made myself
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Great video! Iāve been thinking about using my alcohol stove more actually. I donāt mind the increased boil times, and they are so peaceful and quiet vs. the jet engine sound of canister stoves heh-heh. What will you use for fuel? Heet? Everclear? Something else?
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5:32 I can very easily get 1 cup of water to boil with 20 mL of alcohol. Alcohol has a density of 0.789 gram per mL. So the amount of fuel needed to boil one cup of water is 15.78 grams which is 0.557 ounces of fuel to boil one cup of water. So you can effectively halve the weight of the back-of-the-napkin calculation depicted here.
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What a cute voice ā¤
