Author Topic: Backpacking Stove? (Read 24265 times)

MillCreek · « **Reply #25 on:** April 28, 2009, 11:42:42 AM »

I have had an Optimus Omnifuel stove for many years now. It burns just about any liquid fuel and can also take butane canisters. A great piece of kit.

cfabe · « **Reply #26 on:** April 28, 2009, 11:47:17 AM »

I dislike the stoves that use propriatery gas fuel canisters because they are expensive and I'm concerned I may not be able to find them when needed. I have used some of the butane stoves and they work well but I understand they won't work in very cold temps.

I have two stoves. One is a 20 year old MSR whisperlite international. Very nice stove that has served me well. With liquid fuel if you have a spill or leak during operation it can get real interesting. I melted the pump once when I had a missing/bad o-ring and had the thing catch on fire. All the metal parts were fine though. Can run gasoline, K-1, diesel or white gas "coleman fuel." Priming can be a little tricky at low temps but once you get the generator warmed up it works just fine.

I also have a cheap propane single burner stove that screws onto the top of a 1lb canister. This is handy for short trips where I don't want to mess with the liquid fuel and one canister will be enough gas. It is a heavier solution though so probably not well suited for long treks.

K Frame · « **Reply #27 on:** April 28, 2009, 12:06:32 PM »

My scoutmaster had a Svea stove, which he bought in the middle 1950s not long after they came out.

Nice stove, but my biggest gripes against them was that with the small base they would tend to get a little unstable if you didn't center your pot absolutely perfect.

I had one for awhile that was very similar to the Optimus Hiker, but which was surplus military.

I bought it used, and it eventually developed a leak in one of the seams in the tank. At the point I noticed it was shooting gas out of the seam as I pressurized it, I decided I'd be cooking over sterno that trip.

Now I have a Coleman white gas stove that I've not used in some years.

I also made, just for grins and giggles, a Pepsi can self-pressurizing alcohol stove, which actually works fairly well, even if it is a bit of a pain to get started.

charby · « **Reply #28 on:** April 28, 2009, 12:24:54 PM »

Quote from: Mike Irwin on April 28, 2009, 12:06:32 PM

I also made, just for grins and giggles, a Pepsi can self-pressurizing alcohol stove, which actually works fairly well, even if it is a bit of a pain to get started.

http://antigravitygear.com/alcoholstoveinst.html

I've been thinking about trying that myself.

Racehorse · « **Reply #29 on:** April 28, 2009, 01:15:39 PM »

Quote from: Mike Irwin on April 28, 2009, 12:06:32 PM

My scoutmaster had a Svea stove, which he bought in the middle 1950s not long after they came out.

Nice stove, but my biggest gripes against them was that with the small base they would tend to get a little unstable if you didn't center your pot absolutely perfect.

That's what I wondered looking at the pictures. Seems like it would be hard to use unless it was on a perfectly flat surface.

Tuco · « **Reply #30 on:** April 28, 2009, 01:49:17 PM »

It's not as bad as it looks.

Every time I use it I think the same thing - "This is gonna tip"... but in 20 years of use I canot recall a spill.

What you lose in ergonomics is made up 10fold in reliability and durability. I've got friends that I do outings with.. Every few years they have a new stove; Primus, MSR, Coleman.

The 123 keeps going.

bk425 · « **Reply #31 on:** April 28, 2009, 02:44:42 PM »

Quote from: Mike Irwin on April 27, 2009, 04:55:30 PM

MSR.
The ones I've used have been bullet proof.
Fast, easy to use, reliable as hell.
I dislike the stoves that run off of speciality bottles of butane.

Ditto. The canisters look easy but... if you may ever be at altitude any stove is going to have to have pressurized fuel. Do you want that pressure vessel of energy to be -disposable-? Or perhaps do you want it to be a refillable thing you've paid some good money for? I have an MSR multi fuel that I really like.

K Frame · « **Reply #32 on:** April 28, 2009, 03:04:23 PM »

I can recall two spills, both morning coffee on camping trips and one very pissed off scout master. :D

K Frame · « **Reply #33 on:** April 28, 2009, 03:09:20 PM »

Quote from: charby on April 28, 2009, 12:24:54 PM

http://antigravitygear.com/alcoholstoveinst.html

I've been thinking about trying that myself.

It's fairly easy in concept, but it takes a couple of tries to get the details down to where you'll actually get a good result.

The biggest problem I had early on was making the burner holes WAY too big.

I finally got it down to where I could use a push pin to make the same size holes (mostly) all the time.

Had I really wanted to be anal about it I could have gotten a No. 64 drill bit.

I've cooked on mine several times just for grins and giggles. It will boil a Boy Scout mess kit soup can of water in about 5 to 7 minutes, and it will cook eggs about as quick as a any other stove I've used, but it won't burn them to the pan nearly as quickly.

Bogie · « **Reply #34 on:** April 28, 2009, 03:09:45 PM »

Uh...

If you has a Svea, you need a nice big coffee can... With holes cut out to provide vents... Your pan or whatever will sit on it nicely. Just put the Svea up on a something so that it's at the right height, and you're good...

K Frame · « **Reply #35 on:** April 28, 2009, 03:14:44 PM »

WHOA! HOLY CRAP!

Charby, the instructions you posted for that alcohol stove?

About 9 trillion steps and VERY complicated!

FAR more complicated that it needs to be!

Try this one! http://www.instructables.com/id/Pepsi_can_stove/

It is far simpler, and is the basic model I made. This one uses a quarter to seal the fill hole, but mine uses a machine screw. Either will work.

charby · « **Reply #36 on:** April 28, 2009, 03:19:03 PM »

Quote from: Mike Irwin on April 28, 2009, 03:14:44 PM

WHOA! HOLY CRAP!

Charby, the instructions you posted for that alcohol stove?

About 9 trillion steps and VERY complicated!

FAR more complicated that it needs to be!

Try this one! http://www.instructables.com/id/Pepsi_can_stove/

It is far simpler, and is the basic model I made. This one uses a quarter to seal the fill hole, but mine uses a machine screw. Either will work.

I figured you'd say something like that. :) It took me 15 minutes to find the most complicated set of instructions I could find.

K Frame · « **Reply #37 on:** April 28, 2009, 03:29:12 PM »

Congratulations.

You were successful.

charby · « **Reply #38 on:** April 28, 2009, 03:30:00 PM »

Quote from: Mike Irwin on April 28, 2009, 03:29:12 PM

Congratulations.

You were successful.

Kan I haz Kookie?

Tuco · « **Reply #39 on:** April 28, 2009, 04:35:51 PM »

Quote from: Bogie on April 28, 2009, 03:09:45 PM

Uh...

If you has a Svea, you need a nice big coffee can... With holes cut out to provide vents... Your pan or whatever will sit on it nicely. Just put the Svea up on a something so that it's at the right height, and you're good...

Here. Look at this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSWuvevaMWE&feature=related

mtnbkr · « **Reply #40 on:** April 28, 2009, 05:15:51 PM »

Quote from: charby on April 28, 2009, 03:30:00 PM

Kan I haz Kookie?

No. I eated it.

Chris

charby · « **Reply #41 on:** April 28, 2009, 05:32:24 PM »

Quote from: mtnbkr on April 28, 2009, 05:15:51 PM

No. I eated it.

Chris

Bastage

Bogie · « **Reply #42 on:** April 28, 2009, 05:36:13 PM »

Uh... Was anyone else at the Knob Creek a year or three ago when Bubba decided that he needed to add some fuel to his Coleman stove?

It was a rather impressive mushroom fireball, and Bubba was drunk enough (with third degree burns) that he tried to refuse the medevac.

charby · « **Reply #43 on:** April 28, 2009, 05:43:39 PM »

http://cgi.ebay.com/BACKPACKING-STOVES-COLEMAN-PEAK-1-GAZ-PROPANE-BUTANE_W0QQitemZ200336857893QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item200336857893&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

cassandra and sara's daddy · « **Reply #44 on:** April 28, 2009, 05:46:08 PM »

was bubba inside or outside his tent?

K Frame · « **Reply #45 on:** April 28, 2009, 06:54:41 PM »

The only problem with the Colemans is that they tend to be very heavy.

never_retreat · « **Reply #46 on:** April 28, 2009, 08:19:38 PM »

Are you backpacking with or without pack mules? If you have mules I recommend the following.

and this

Bogie · « **Reply #47 on:** April 28, 2009, 08:47:46 PM »

I think it was on a tailgate... And was one of the big "red tank on the front" models.

All in all, it was rather impressive. I own three of the suitcases (makes cooking for larger groups a cinch), and the propane adapters and a tree to feed them come in quite handy.

Declaration Day · « **Reply #48 on:** April 28, 2009, 09:10:46 PM »

I just made two of the Pepsi can stoves using the easy method listed above.

I didn't have any denatured alcohol, but the instructions said that nail polish remover would work. Well, it didn't. Maybe the dollar store crap we have is missing something.

So I decided to try aerosol automotive starter fluid. I filled the stove, capped off the fuel filler and tried to light it, but nothing happened initially. After priming the stove by applying a flame to the side, the burner lit up. After a minute, the flame was too high, but not out of control. So I made a second stove with only eight holes, these much smaller than the first. I filled it with starter fluid and lit it, letting this one burn for about fifteen minutes. Success!

One lesson learned, since I intend to make more of these, is that miniscule differences in the size of the burner holes make a big difference in the height of the flame out of each hole. I'll use a small drill bit (instead of a hammer and nail point) from now on for uniform hole size, and thus uniform flame height.

Ron · « **Reply #49 on:** April 28, 2009, 09:16:39 PM »

Alcohol doesn't have nearly the btu's of white gas.

A white gas stove will be more efficient especially as the temp drops or the altitude goes up.

News:

Author Topic: Backpacking Stove? (Read 24265 times)