Stove experiments

Went to perform another experiment and realized I'd used an Evernew Ti stove and not the Trangia. Should have had the lights on in the garage. Oh well, back to carrying the pot support.

Hi, John: You didn’t mention the starting temperature of the water, but looking at my notes from tests of the Evernew Ti it is not the most efficient alcohol stove… although I never set a pot directly on the burner.

In my testing of a few alky stoves, the most promising one from the fuel-efficiency/weight standpoint is the Starlyte Stove with the built-in pot support. I’m something of a “hot-water hog” and can report that it brings a liter (33.8 oz) of 52-deg water to a full boil using 28ml of alcohol in about 11 minutes, using a 1350ml Toaks Ti pot and cut-down MSR windscreen. I like my coffee with dinner, and I also rehydrate food for my dog. One ounce for me is perfect.

So this is my 3-season kit of choice. Far from the lightest, but plenty light enough for me with no compromises.

You know, I didn't think to measure the water temp before starting. Something forgotten.

One of the big problems of objective testing… the number of variables can be quite large, and any one of them can have a significant effect on the results.

The only alcohol stove I have is the evernew which I use primarily with the ti cross pot stand and wind screen. Traditionally sitting the pot on the stove itself is going to reduce the flame by 1/2 and consequently some have promoted it as a simmer option.

With both rings of burners going I for sure can get 2 cups boiling less than 13 minutes, more like 5 (but I'd like to run some more controlled tests).

can get 2 cups boiling less than 13 minutes, more like 5

IIRC from all my testing last spring/summer, the Evernew Ti is a lot quicker than 13 minutes (and very unlikely as quick as 5), although not as efficient (fuel use) as the Starlyte and 12-10 stoves, and not nearly as light in weight.

I'm not familiar with burn times for 2 cups because I always heat at least a liter to boiling and therefore based my testing upon that volume. However, the Starlyte and 12-10 with "average" (ambiguous, I admit) starting and ambient temperatures would typically boil a liter in about 11 minutes using about 28ml of fuel using a Toaks 1350ml pot.

After my testing, I settled upon the Starlyte with built-in pot stand. Most Joules per gram as far as I can tell, with the 1350 Toaks and an aluminum windscreen.

I use the caldera cone and a pepsi can stove. I know the caldera cone is a bulky item, but I just roll it up and stuff it into my plastic coffee mug. The coffee mug is also a bulky non-essential but since I'm not a thru-hiker anymore so I'm not in a huge rush, I do allow myself to linger over some coffee in the morning. It's a delight. The whole stove and cooking thing is a big unnecessary bulk anyway since stoveless cooking can be just as good.