choosing an alcohol stove

[Ryan Linn]

I get the feeling this is a question that gets asked all too often, but here we go:

After playing with making my own stoves for a year, I've decided I want to try out one that someone else makes. I took a quick look at minibulldesigns, antigravity gear, packafeather, etc, and I don't know which suits my needs best. I want something that is very simple, light (obviously), and reasonably efficient. I cook in a MSR Titan Kettle, usually 2-3 cups of water per meal (my recent dinners have been Near East rice pilaf and similar things). Anybody have any specific suggestions?

Thanks for any advice…

[Jay Wilkerson]

Check out Trail Designs Caldera stove systems. It really boils your water fast and is lightweight too! I think they have a Caldera that will fit the MSR Titan. BPL sells them -Goodluck.

[Michael Davis]

I'll second Jay's recommendation for the Caldera Cone. Although alcohol stoves are light, I was frustrated with the fiddle factor caused mostly by the instability of most stoves, pot stands and wind screens. The Caldera has solved all those problems and taken camp cooking from being a stressful moment requiring full attention to a casual task. The only significant penalty I notice is the increased pack volume.

[Brad Groves]

Same as above. Caldera Cone wins by a landslide; I don't see myself using another stove unless I'm planning on melting snow. For added versatility try the Ti-Tri; it's the same thing but in Titanium so you have the option of burning wood. I do have a Featherfire XL that is great for some flame control, but I haven't decided whether to use that or the standard 12-10 stove with my cones. Drat. More field testing! Seriously, you can't begin to beat the ease of use and fuel efficiency of the Trail Designs stoves. Awesome stability. Get one!

[Max R]

Brad, I've been thinking about buying the Caldera Ti-Tri and to use the Featherfire XL with it for allowing some simmering.

I know you said you needed more field test, but im curious about how, so far, you find the Featherfire XL while using it with the Cone ?

Anybody else have some experience with that combination ?

Also Ryan, it seems like the Ion stove is very efficient, light and not bulky; but if you plan on cooking (more than deshydrated meals) you might wanna past.

[Ryan Linn]

I don't know why I hadn't even looked at those. The only downside I see on the caldera seems to be the large windscreen that won't fit in my kettle, but… if it's getting reviews like this, I guess I can't turn it down.

What's causing me to want to get a "commercial" stove is that I've wasted more money on alcohol and cans just testing various designs than I think I'd ever save by making my own stuff. Time to go with something that's tried and true.

[Denis Hazlewood]

Brad,
I'd go with the Featherfire XL. With that stove you get the adjustable flame control. And, you can snuff it to reclaim unused fuel.

[Nathan Baker]

I have a Caldera for my MSR Ti Kettle and it works great. AAG is now including a plastic holder for the cone that seems to work out pretty well. It is made of food grade plastic so you can use it as a bowl or for water. The Caldera cone setup (screen, stove and holder) weighs in at 124 grams (the holder alone is 75 grams). Just make sure to let AAG know if you have the old style kettle or the new one (lid has coated handles).

[Brad Groves]

Max, the FF XL works great in the cones. I think the 12-10 stove heats up a little faster. I haven't done enough side-by-side to figure out for-sure which is more fuel efficient, though I think the XL wins there. The 12-10 stove is an ounce lighter. I'm not completely sold on true simmer capability w/the XL, but there is some flame control, and the stove is snuffable so you can recover alcohol if wanted…

For Ryan, I've boiled a pint on less than 0.5 ounce of alcohol… The caddy the stoves come with is bombproof easy storage and the whole kit nests nicely in there (along with fuel bottle, tent stakes for Ti-Tri). The caddy is about the same weight as the stove, but in my mind well worth the ease it brings. Cheers-

EDIT: Oops, sorry, looks like some overlap on posts…

[Nathan Baker]

On a side note the this post had me thinking about the holder and what it was capable of so I called up George at AGG with a few questions. I wanted to see if the holder wuld accept boiling water and not just warm water. Well he didnt have an answer so he told me he would call me back after he played around with it for a bit. He called back (in 10 min!) and told me that the plastic is rated to withstand 250-270 degree water and he had just made himself a cup of coffee with boiling water and there was no distortion when he poured it into the top of the cone holder. George also made a suggestion to make a cozy for the top to use as an insulated mug.
Just another example of the great service that I have experienced in my dealings with AGG.

[Unknown abc]

If you're using a farily big pot like the MSR Titan Kettle, a cat can stove might fit the bill. They are :

1.Easy to make
2.Durable.
3.only .5 oz. (depending on how you make it)
4.relativily effieciant, takes about .5-.75 fl. oz. of fuel to boil 2 cups of H2O.
5.Beeeeuuutttiiiffffuuullll flames with an MSR Titan Kettle.
6.Cheap

heres the link to the supercat also :

http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html

-Evan

[Dana S]

+1 for the Caldera Cone.

I have one for my Snow Peak 600 Ti Mug and it's the most efficient thing i've ever used.

Now if only i had a Fissure… :P

– Dana

[Nick Gatel]

I have probably owned just about every stove known.

A good friend of mine thru-hiked the PCT with an Esbit stove. Based on his observations of other thru-hikers, he switch to a cat can stove and really has pushed me to try alcohol. He really emphasized the availability of fuel no matter where you are.

I really don't have the time to build and test my own. So I did a lot of research, and decided that the Caldera was the way to go. Since I already had a Snow Peak 28 oz Ti pot, I got one to fit it. So far, I am thrilled.

If you want to save extra weight you might want to consider a Cone with the beer can kettle.

I am not concerned with simmering. I usually just boil water.

Highly recommended. I will probably use this stove on 90% of my trips. If you want to melt snow for water, then a white gas with a large pot is best. If you need to cook, simmer and get fancy, then I like the GigaStove for this.

[Mark Verber]

You won't go wrong with the Caldera cone. It's my standard recommendation. It's easy to use, reasonably fuel efficent, handles wind well, stable, and has reasonable fast boil times. The three downsides are that it doesn't fully nest inside a pot so it will take a bit more volume in your pack, it is not the most fuel efficent stove (though it's pretty good), and it doesn't simmer (use a pot cozy).

I have used the Caldera cone, but I continue to use my Ion stove becauase is lighter, more compact (completely nests inside a 600ml mug with 4day fuel supply), and is more fuel efficent… though painfully slow.

–mark

[Lynn Tramper]

For maximum fuel efficiency versus weight, you can use the 12-10 stove in the cone AND snuff it to recover the unused alcohol. You can make a snuff cap pretty easily. A snuff cap will work with any centre burning (open) stove.

[Dave Weston]

I got the caldera cone keg kit and it works great.

[Barry P]

If you want everything to fit in your titan kettle, take less volume and be lower cost than the c cone, I find this to be fast and efficient: the open jet burner. This is the setup I use the most. Mechanic Mike on eBay makes excellent stoves (such as # 220362720160). Just make your own pot stand w/ hardware cloth and make a windscreen that fits in your titan kettle.

To keep things even more simple, the White Box stove works great for a little more weight.

-Barry

[Ray Dunham]

Another really good option that works well with a Titan is the make a super cat stove. Simple to make, very efficient and everything easily fits into the pot.

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