Camp Stoves

Earlier this year, Mrs and I decided to do a last minute overnight camping trip to The Berkshires in Western Massachusetts.  It was as spontaneous as she and I can get.  The post covering that trip can be found at this link.  Just prior to the trip, we purchased a few pieces of gear including this Jetboil Zip stove kit from our local Eastern Mountain Sports.  I had wanted a new commercial backpacking stove for some time, so this seemed to be the right time to get one.  The kit is light and compact.  Everything including one can of fuel fits inside the pot and is held in by the lid.  Though the description on the EMS website reads that the ignition is 'push-button', it is actually a manual start, meaning that you have to turn on the fuel and light it with a match or lighter.  This really does not bother me as I figure it is something else that could break or wear out and eventually become useless.

The stove is fairly light and compact.  Good for backpacking, but not necessarily for someone into lightweight or ultralight backpacking.  This is a great little stove.  It heats water very quickly.  There is a bit of an odd taste that comes off of the pot, but I'm thinking that will dissipate in time with use.  There is a larger fuel canister available for the Jetboil as well, which would not fit in the pot.  I suppose this would be good to have on an extended backpack trip or even for a car camping excursion.  The kit comes with a nifty pot support/tripod that attaches over the flame for non-Jetboil pots as well.


I started watching Youtube videos sometime this summer by a guy who goes by the name of 'Cragdwella'.  I came across his channel after Mrs and I went on the Berkshires trip.  I don't recall why exactly I had done a search of the Greylock area, but it has turned out to be a fun thing.  He also has made videos of gear reviews as well as hikes in The White Mountains of New Hampshire and The Green Mountains of Vermont.

In one of the videos I watched he showed a homemade alcohol stove that he got from another Youtube guy, John from IntenseAngler.  John makes these stoves out of aluminum Budweiser bottles that are pretty neat.  They burn denatured alcohol and are extremely lightweight.  I had to have one.  I ordered two.  The bonus is that they are $5.95!
 

This is the stove.  Yep.  That's all there is to it.  You can see the small drilled out holes in the stove that act as the flame ports.  You fill the stove to a little bit below the holes and then light it.

After burning for a few moments, the flames 'bloom' from the holes in the side of the stove.  As you can see from the picture above, the bottle is rolled down into itself.  The holes are not drilled though and through, but rather only in the outer layer.  The alcohol is drawn up between the inner and outer wall of the stove and creates a perfect flame pattern.

The pot I am using is part of my old cook kit from the 1980s.  I ditched the old stove that came with it, but kept the pot hoping to use it with a coffee can stove I had made.  You can view that stove at this link.  I never got to use that stove in the field, and really I think that would be good in a pinch, but not something I would want to deal with on a backpacking trip.

The Bud bottle stove works awesome and rips out a rolling boil of 12 or so ounces of water in about 5 or 6 minutes.  The first time I used it though I had overfilled it slightly with alcohol and had a bit of a boil over with flames a bit out of control  Lesson learned.  Denatured alcohol is highly flammable, so a good bit of caution needs to be exercised when using it as a fuel.  It is also very hard to see the flame even in normal daylight conditions, so a dark background is helpful when lighting to be certain it is working properly.

After watching more of Cragdwella's videos, I saw that John from IntenseAngler had sent him another, smaller stove that would work better with his GSI Minimalist pot.  I had to have one!  This little stove is even smaller than the Bud bottle stove, and infact fits perfectly inside the Bud stove.  Amazingly small and lightweight.

The picture above shows a 32 ounce Nalgene bottle that I usually carry my water in, the Bud Bottle, and my current cook kit in the blue bag.

Inside the blue bag is the entire cook kit.  I had forgotten to put my lighter back in there, but it does fit as well.

Here is the kit with the top off.  The three small bottles contain enough alcohol for 8 or so firings.  There is also a windscreen I made out of a Brooklyn Beer can, a piece of foil to act as a cover for the pot, a smaller piece of foil that I use as a primer pan of sorts, a small waterproof container with waterproof matches, pot handle, the stove and a pot scrubber for cleaning if needed.

Here is everything taken out of the pot.  The small, white container is the stove.  I would not bring all of this alcohol for a single overnight.  Maybe just the larger, 4 ounce bottle.

Here is the Bud Bottle Stove and the Mini Bottle Stove side by side.  The new stove is SO tiny and light.

I add alcohol to just below the flame ports, and a little splash of alcohol on the foil primer pan.  And then light it with the lighter.

Once the flame has bloomed and stove is going (it takes just a few moments), I put the pot with about 12 ounces of water on the stove.  This stove has three little crimps in the top that help keep the pot just up high enough to provide some airflow.  I also put the wind screen in place.  Unfortunately I could not get a good shot of the flame pattern given the brightness of the day, but I assure you it is going strong in this image.

An alternative to using the foil as a cover which speeds up the boiling process, I can also use the other pot.

In just a few minutes we have a beautiful, rolling boil going and ready for use.

I removed the pot and took a shot of the inside of the stove.  There are small bubbles on the bottom which is the remaining alcohol being brought up to the flame ports.  It is still burning in this shot though it cannot be seen.

I didn't get any chance to use these stoves this year, but plan to in the spring.  I am hoping to get a GSI Minimalist cook kit before the next camping/hiking season.  This would make the kit insanely light.  I would ditch the 'spork' that comes with it, and get a longer spoon, preferably one that folds, to allow for easier access into dehydrated meal bags.  I have a couple 'sporks' already, which are good, but the longer one is a little cleaner and easier to stir the meals while they are re-hydrating.  Something like this MSR Folding Spoon or this one by Sea to Summit.  Hopefully I'll be able to post about in the field use of these great little stoves next season.

I'm hoping, too to add what is called an Esbit Stove to my little collection.  Esbit Stoves are cheap, small and very light weight and burn small Esbit cubes.  these are better in cooler weather, and if the cube is not enough to handle the water heating needs completely, small bits of wood can be added to finish the job.