Alcohol stove: Open top or pressurized?

[Martijn Landzaat]

I’m looking for a new alcohol stove to replace my not so perfect Pepsican-stove.
Can anyone tell me the pro’s and con’s of both systems.
Or maybe some suggestions on what stove to get?
I’m looking for medium to low fuel consumption, long(10-15 min) burning time and a stable design.

Kind regards,

Martijn

[Glenn Roberts]

it does meet your other criteria: medium fuel consumption, long burn time, and stable design. I’m talking about the Clikstand (www.clikstand.com) with the Trangia burner. It’s a little heavy (with .9L Evernew titanium uncoated pot you’ll be at 10 – 12 ounces; add a couple more for a larger pot), but the stand design is completely stable, keeps the stove at the proper distance below the pot, and does the best job of blocking the wind (and using it to enhance performance) of any I’ve seen. The Trangia burner is simple to use, and can be turned off with a snuffer-cap when you’re done cooking (as opposed to having to let it burn out) and unused fuel can be stored in the stove. If you’re only cooking freeze-dried meals once a day, you may be able to fill the stove at home, and not take a fuel bottle for a two-night weekend.

It’s a really nice product. (Caveat: I keep switching my allegiance between alcohol and canister stoves. However, in alcohol-stove mode, this is my stove of choice.)

[Douglas Frick]

>Can anyone tell me the pro’s and con’s of both systems.

In general open-top stoves can be lit by touching a flame to the inside of the stove, and they are generally a bit harder to blow out. Pressurized stoves usually require priming to get started, and the priming flame can usually be blown out easily. (A wick may be a bit harder to blow out; don’t know.)

I find open-top stoves to burn a bit more yellow than pressurized stoves (less efficient?). One compromise is an open-top stove on which you set your pot (a side-burner), thus converting it to somewhat more of a pressurized design. However, I think side-burners don’t heat as well (at least the designs I’ve tested).

I still like my Pepsi-can stove, but the Penny stove is a good pressurized stove that is easily made. The Cobra is also easy to make, especially from Red Bull cans (since it’s pressurized, diameter isn’t as important).

http://www.csun.edu/~mjurey/penny.html

http://www.boblog.org/at/cobrastove.htm

I recommend making both of these and comparing them to your Pepsi-can stove. Try lighting the stoves in the wind.

Tinny at Mini Bull Designs has fiberglass wick for sale.

http://www.minibulldesign.com/

I was surprised at the amount of heat that Tinny’s stoves put out (I have an ION precursor). Concentrating the flame on the screw makes my MBD alcohol stove hiss like a canister stove!

[Martijn Landzaat]

The problem with my Pepsican stove is that it’s using a lot of fuel.
And I feel like it’s not that fuel-efficient as other stoves.

I have been looking at Minibull stoves and like the reputation and design a lot.
I’m now thinking to order a Minibull Stealth II and/or a Elite II just try out what suits me best.
Nice that they are cheap so you can get a few designs just to try.

I use an MSR Ti Kettle mostly so they can’t be that big.
With my current Pepsican stove the flames tend to “hug the pot” just a bit to much due to the smaller diameter of the kettle.
Or maybe I should get a 0.9ltr. pot that has a bit bigger diameter to.

Thanks for the info I got so far!

[Author]

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