Suggestions for alcohol stove for Snow Peak 450 mug

Hi George, great picture!

Since you've noticed this post, I'll extend my cold water/weather question that was in my previous post, to you.

Travis, my use of the GW has been limited to warm weather SUL trips, including a 4 day in Maine where it was my only stove, and was used for 2 meals a day.

That being said, I have received numerous reports from those who have used it during winter, but that was primarily just for heating tea water, etc. B/c of it's small size it is very sensitive to temperature, so it's important to keep the stove and fuel warm before use and use a windscreen (resonably tight to keep the stove warm while it's lit), although that's SOP with any alky stove. Conversely,in summer a looser windscreen is better to prevent flaring.

Maybe some brave sole out there who's used one in winter can chime in?

Thanks George, I'll keep those tips in mind. I'm pretty sure I'll be outside in the cold and snow, doing some tests quite soon!

A good part of the allure to buying gear from cottage manufacturers is the ability to easily talk to the maker. Too bad all commerce isn't this great!

Similar topic – I have a GW pro – any qualms using it with a BPL Trapper's mug? I've been looking for a KISS mug setup.

Travis,
The tea light stove is just about perfect for the 450. Simple, light, and since you're boiling a smaller volume, you won't have to worry about fuel running our. If you want something more durable that works the same, get a travel sized bottle of shaving cream, empty the contents, and cut it down to size. That makes for a tea light stove on steroids.

-Jason

Thanks Jason.

BTW, what IS your alky stove count? Ben2World and I were hypothesizing….

So, the tea light needs a stand, no?

Hardware cloth is what its called. I stole this screenshot from one of Jason's videos.

I'll NEVER tell. If the true numbers were revealed, it would get me locked up forever.

HAHAAHAHA!!

test:

in the field:

Matt, I don't have a Trappers mug, but my guess is there would be a good bit of flame creep with the PRO. It would do the job, but probably not very efficiently.

BTW, the stove in the pic above (thanks John) is the elusive Super Gram Weenie, and I'm pretty certain that would have no issue boiling a Trappers Mug or 450 pot full of water.

George,
Is the SGW not made? Limited production? What are its specs compared to the GW?

So now, it's 'super' gram weenie, eh?

Travis, methinks you will be quite impressed with the tea light stove using denatured alcohol. I gave up mine because the 1/2 oz max capacity sometimes fails to bring 16oz. of water to a rolling boil — and it's a royal pain to add fuel midway. But with your smaller pot and water requirement, the tea light should work like a charm. And NOTHING can match the tea light in weight.

EDIT: I should add that the gram weenie does have more sex appeal — although there's a lot to be said about the tea light's DIY charm.

Travis, I generally make the SGW by request. It holds 3/4 ounce of fuel, so it is more than able to boil 16oz of water in a narrow pot. It's also a little taller which makes it a little more tippy. With this stove attention to detail is important (level surface, well centered pot). I think John Kay will attest to it's abilities – he was one of the 1st to get one and has some experience with it. If you'd like that model better I can make that happen. It's your call.

Yes, sorry George. I knew it was called "pro" or "super" or some other superlative. BTW the one in the picture, I believe is an earlier prototype of the SGW. I have a later one provided by George with a rolled edge on top eliminating the fastener.

Yeah, i still plan on messing with the tea light. I just couldn't help myself from getting that little stove from George. Many times I am my own Gear Enabler. But there actually was/is a Super Gram Weenie.

That's a mighty fine offer George…. Here's a question for ya:

I usually hike with my girlfriend who also uses the 450 mug. Could you get two mugs to boil (filled 10-12 ounces each)? Boil one and switch the mugs halfway through. Or am I just stretching limits now?

John, what is tied around your Super Gram Weenie? Sorry, not much better way to put that question!

Ben, even I have to admit the whole gram weenie name is a little silly. Kinda hard to change horses mid stream (or something like that). However, there'll be no Sexy Gram Weenie until I can find titanium micro bottles, LOL.

It looks like the rope wrapped around his SGW is a primer wick. As you experiment with alky stoves, you're going to see that most jetted stoves take some time before they "blossom." To speed up the process you prime the stove by either dropping alcohol on a priming wick (often flame retardent fiberglass, so that it can be reused over and over), and lighting it, or dropping drops of alcohol on a priming disk ( a disk that that your stove sits on, could be just a sheet of aluminum flashing, or an actual disk) and lighting that first. The flames from the priming wick/disk heat the whole stove up, helps vaporize the main alcohol supply in the stove, and in general speed up blossoming. The faster the blossom, the faster you can sit your pot on top of the stove, and the less fuel you consume overall

Hi Travis,

The SGW and similar stoves take a little too long to prime so a piece of wick tied around the stove will provide about as instant a blossom as you can get. This was a tip gleaned from Jason Klass's website.

I thought it might have something to do with that. John, could you boil two 10 ounce mugs with the super gram weenie?

George:

Methinks you should name your next sexy stove the HOT(!) Weenie.

At least it wasn't the "Teenie Weenie"

"Me thinks you should name your next sexy stove the HOT(!) Weenie"

"At least it wasn't the "Teenie Weenie""

Me thinks we all have too much time on our hands that doesn't involve walking,lol. At least I'm snowed in and I'm gonna run with that :).

Travis, the only way to answer your question was to try it, so off to the workshop I went. After a little digging around I found 2 pots with the same diameter as yours – an evernew 640ml "deep" series, and the evernew 700?ml pasta pot. The fact that have these tells me I have too many of probably too many things (I refuse to count tarps, sleeping bags, stoves, etc).

Anyway, I placed 12oz of cold tap water in each, and topped off the SGW (about 3/4+ ounces of HEET)- shop temp is about 62 degrees. I wasn't confident of a rolling boil for both since I would be heating two vessels of cold water so I went for bubbles. After the 1st pot started rising bubbles for about 1/2 minute I switched to the second, and got that to bubble for another minute or so. If you were doing 24oz in one shot that probably would have been able to come to a boil. I would say that both mugs were hot enough to heat a meal. I wouldn't expect these results in winter weather, but expect they could easily be duplicated in warmer months.

FWIW, Ben makes a good point about simplicity. The only downside to the tealight is adding the weight of a potstand which offsets the weight savings of the stove. Another true lesson in simplicity is the Super Cat stove (not to be confused with the "SEXY" Cat stove, heh heh). Costs $0.35 to make, super light, and just about no skill is needed to build one. The only downside is it's no good with narrow pots.