White Box Alcohol Stove

[Laurie Ann March]

Recently I had the opportunity to test a stove called the White Box Stove made by a fellow named Bill in MT.

First thing the struck me with this stove was the price. $10 US and it comes with a windscreen. When the box arrived and I took out the stove I was pleasantly surprised at the workmanship and how extremely light this model was.

So now the field test. I use white gas stoves normally (MSR Dragonfly and the like) so this was the first time I'd be cooking solely on an alcohol stove.

I like that this stove is extremely light and compact. I also found that the WB Stove holds a larger pot without sacrificing stability. The water boiled fairly fast (just over 5 mins).

The only thing I would recommend with any alcohol stove is the use of a primer pad.

My favorite thing about this stove aside from the high quality of the workmanship… is that it is silent.

July 2008 – edited to add…

I've had the chance to test Bill's updated rivetless design with the "cope roll" sealed edge. This stove works as well, if not better, than the original model I tested. I also liked that the stove now includes a maximum fill line. It is still a great stove!

[mark henley]

This little stove ROCKS!

I'm in agreement that it needs a primer pan, but other than that, I actually melted my windscreen when it got too close to the cup.

It's like firing up a blowtorch to cook with.

I've made a number of alcohol stoves and usually it's a challenge to wait for it to boil, and I end up using the water at the first sign of bubbles.

This stove had my snowpeak 600 mug, with two cups of water, boiling so hard it almost fell over in about 5 minutes with 50 degree water and an ounce of alcohol.

Gossamer Gear started carrying these stoves as well …. and it's a good thing. This little stove is a constant part of my above freezing kit.

[Chad Mason]

I have two of these stoves and they work very well. I sent one of them to Tinny in Maine (www.minibulldesign.com) to have him add a wick. The difference is amazing. Where my un-wicked version takes about a minute and a half to blossom, the wicked version heats and blossoms in roughly 20 seconds. The stove itself is very well made and it seems nearly bullet-proof. Add to that the facts that it burns very hot and you have a nice little stove for the price.

[Andy Howell]

This is a fantastic piece of kit, well put together and beautifully finished. It has a greater fuel capacity than the Vargo stove I've been using; it is ideal for two people.

The stove is simplicity itself to light. Once the burners come on line the amount of hear generated is very impressive indeed. It boils water far quicker than the Vargo,

If I have one criticism it is that the stove is not the most efficient – a fair amount is needed to prime the stove. But we're talking minute amounts of fuel here anyway and the ease of use more than makes up for it.

I think I'll be using this stove for many years to come.

[John M. Addleman]

This is the only alcohol stove I own and I too got it for $10 before the price was raised. This thing boils fast compared to other alcohol stoves and it's great that I don't have to bring along a pot stand. I agree that it takes too long to prime, but my main problem is that I can't get the boil times other people are claiming.

It takes me 1.5 oz of fuel to get it boiling 2 cups (16 oz) in 6-7 minutes with a 1-liter aluminum pot and a tinfoil lid with windscreen. I'm going to try using a primer pad and I'm sure that will help. Overall a very solid choice if you're about speed (some alcohol stoves can take 10+ min to boil 2 cups I hear) and not efficiency.

[Scott Lukkason]

I have used this stove for cooking during backpacks and hunting. It performs flawlessly, is well made and I highly recommend it.

[Jonathan Ryan]

The WB is the only alcohol cooker that I have used that can boil an entire MSR kettle of cold water in about 6 minutes. I also like the fact that it is a very sturdy piece of equipment that I can see lasting for many years. The only downside I have noticed is the fact that in some conditions the flames go up the side of the pot making it rather difficult to remove from the stove. The MSR pot holder was an easy 1 ounce fix for that. Keeping in mind that one stove is not perfect for all conditions I give this one a 5 for what it is.

PS. I am planning on adding a wick via instructions from Tinny's youtube video but this would probably be a good thing to have standard on the stove.

[Charles Ruefenacht]

I've made a few pop can stoves, purchase a couple. They all worked but . . . Enter White Box. Takes about a minute to get going but then it really heats the water up. Used to Whisperlite but stove and fuel for a week weighs what the Whisperlite does alone. Used it on mid-June 50-miler. First day, couple of dad's needed a late afternoon pickmeup. In 3 minutes, had the hot cider in them. No muss, no fuss. Impressed everyone else too. Hope they make a bigger model for group cooking.

[Rob Smith]

This has got to be one of the best alcohol stoves ever made. I've used it for several months now with elevations over 12,000 feet and temperatures in the mid 30s. It has never failed to perform and I am expecting to you this stove for years to come. Mountain Bob52

[Margaret Snyder]

I've used this stove in damp NY and windy AZ now. The wind is definitely a factor. Even with the windscreen the flames dance about in desert "breezes" (gusts to the forested folk). It takes far less fuel to boil my MSR Titan in NY than AZ. The only gripe I have is that it was advertised to be well mated with the Titan, but the flames inefficiently lick over the sides of the pot on mine, even in the non-breezy kitchen of my apt. I really can't complain for what I paid, though.

[Walt Terhune]

I've recently been trying to lighten my pack weight. After doing some research I purchased several different alcohol stoves that look alike but are different sizes. From what I could find out the White Box Stove is an original design and all the others have copied the design.

I was looking for a stove that would boil enough water to handle a couple of freeze-dried meals at one time and maybe some hot water to drink or rinse in.

After a couple of test runs at home it was evident that the White Box stove was the best choice for what we had planned. We found it could boil large amounts of cold water in no time at all.

The White Box Stove did that perfectly on a recent backcountry ski trip. During a day of cross country skiing we stopped several times to cook hot soup or tea. The temps were in the mid twenties and we were at about 7000 feet elevation. The stove proved to be a real winner easily boiling at least 6 cups of water each time.

I know I won't leave home without this stove.

Wally T

[Lynn Tramper]

After my initial poor review, Bill sent me another stove to try (2 stoves actually!!). All three stoves performed poorly again, which made me suspicious about my fuel. When I finally got around to bringing home some pure lab grade methanol to burn, the stoves worked beautifully. I then tried a new bottle of meths and VOILA, the stove worked perfectly. I obviously had a bad batch of meths for my initial tests. Now it's a great little alky stove, light, robust, needs no pot support and is suited to decent sized pots. What more can you ask for 28 grams in your pack??

[Patrick Young]

Purchased the new design and tested it with my MSR Titan 2L pot and it work beautifully. Rolling boil in approx. 20 min. for 7 cups of water. The flame pattern is a perfect match for this pot as well.

Beautifully built and stable with a larger pot. The cope roll edge gives a better finish compared to the rivets on my Gram Weenie PRO.

Will be using this to replace a canister stove for family BP trips for 3 people where all we need is hot water.

UPDATE: Used it in RMNP when it was raining/high humidity and here at home during Monsoon Season and found that condensation created on the larger pots I have put the flame out and made it difficult to boil water. I have to hold the pot up over the flame while it primes and for a while after it blossoms to evaporate the condensation and then put it on the stove. Definitley a hassle factor.

[George Matthews]

Got one in July for when I want to use alcohol stove for 2 – 3 hikers. Bought the combo from BPL Shop.

The stove is made from 100% recycled aluminum bottles with walls 3 – 4 times thicker than a soda can stove.

It was designed for wide bottom pots.

Max burn time is about 20 min.

The combo included a windscreen ( 3.5”x24” soft aluminum) and a 3.5" sq. heat shield (you can use the shield as a primer plate).

The stoves weigh about 1 oz and is a little over 2 x 2 inches.

Max fuel is 2 oz.

I've mostly used my FireLite SUL-1100 Titanium Cookpot with it and boiled about 4 cups of water using 1.5 to <2 oz of fuel.

I use my 1100 pot with solid fuel tabs, too, so my White Box is now a Brown Box Stove (from the pot residue).

Always works well.

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Warning: Do not attempt the following at home (or in the wild, either)

On one early morning occasion, I accidently put the windscreen upside down around the stove. When the stove got going, the windscreen holes (which were at top) became a Bushbuddy-like burner. It took me a few seconds (really about 20) to figure out what was happening. I this could be called a supernova stove event!

[Brett Tucker]

The absence of a separate pot stand is an elegant little feat of stove engineering, and the design is marginally lighter than a pop can stove and stand (0.3 oz lighter than the Go-Torch by MoGoGear), but you pay a price:

– The all-in-one design isn't as stable as having a three-legged dedicated pot stand.

– You have to wait for the stove to prime (and thus a not-insignificant amount of fuel to be wasted) before placing a pot over it, otherwise it will snuff out. (And priming is slow on its own.)

– There's no practical way to simmer (regulate flame), since the cookpot sits directly atop the stove with the burner holes along the sides.

The last point here is the biggest obstacle for me. One of the coolest tricks of the UL trade is the muffin tin simmering solution for pop can stoves, which lets you extend boiling duration almost indefinitely with minimal use of fuel and ~no penalty in weight or bulk (a pop can stove nests inside the muffin tin for storage). For the hiker who needs more than just a quick water boil and who doesn't use a pot cozy (which adds back more weight than the WB stove cuts), better choices may lie elsewhere.

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