forresterace

Recently, I have begun to advertise locally (MEC gear Swap), a large set of aluminum alcohol burners,pot sets and wind screens that I had built several years ago and then never used.
As a result of this ad I got several comments from people really liking them. Since initially I wanted to sell these sets locally (with no shipping), I thought touring cyclists here might like to see them.

Back about 4 or 5 years ago I entertained the idea of switching from credit card touring to fully loaded touring. That winter, the thought of cooksets and stoves suddenly became a new seasonal hobby.
I couldn't stop building aluminum can alcohol burners. It was fun and there were a million designs out there on Youtube. They all worked great. I also found some designs for potholders/wind-screens.
After building a couple of them (having bought two pot/kettle sets, next I put my mind to making some stands for the burners that disassembled.
At least two burners & stands fit in the pots that then slide inside the windshields and fit in the drawstring bag that the pots came in. The pot sets are Primus LITECH pot/kettle sets and the gold burner
in the middle is a Trangia with the simmer ring.

The following summer, circumstances changed and my brother and I did another week long CC tour. We did these every summer for about ten years. The urge to tour fully-loaded passed and I never did use
these cook sets. Every so often I would see them in the garage and think - I really should sell them! Last year at age 77, I decided I'd had enough touring and I sold my touring bike.

If I'm not able to sell them locally, I might list them on the Marketplace here

This was my 2015 fully-loaded touring set-up.

Hope you find it interesting
Doug

hilltowner

I switched from an MSR Whisperlite (which does anything but "whisper") to a Tin Man Anti-Gravity Gear aluminum can alcohol stove on a section hike on Vt.'s Long Trail. I'd seen other thru-hikers using alcohol stoves and thought it worth trying. For some reason it took me a couple of years to adopt the same stoves for cycle touring. Guess I thought weight was less of a penalty than in hiking. At any rate once I switched I've never looked back with regret. You can't cook the same way that you can with a gas stove. There is no "simmer" on an alcohol stove and though there are some workarounds that let you attempt to, I've never tried them because I never really felt it necessary. I use the stove to boil water, heat up soups and stews, etc. My main meal of the day is breakfast which I almost always try to find a "slow-food" location to buy, and throughout the remainder of the day use every stop at a convenience store to just keep filling the calorie hole I'm making with my riding. The end of the day meal, for which I use the stove, is, as I said, a can of something I need to heat up. I made my current stove (a mini-sideburner) using plans found here: https://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm

If you haven't tried alcohol stoves you should seriously consider it, unless you are a real campground chef who likes the ability to do the kinds of things you can do on a more controllable flame. They are superlight (mine weighs about 1 oz.) and compact (it fits inside a set of mini titanium pots, the whole group of which fits into the bag that used to contain just the burner for my Whisperlite.)

djb

Interesting Doug, I've used a basic trangia kit for a few years and been happy with it. Id be interested in your mug/mini pot and windscreen combos, I'm in Montreal, where are you?
I've tended to carry a small light aluminum pot, as well as an ancient MEC plastic mug that I've had for eons, but have looked into those metal mug things like you have, but never bought one.
get back if interested

mtnbud

FYI: Google cat can stove " ". I too got caught up experimenting with different alcohol stove designs. After testing many different designs including the venerable Heineken penny stove , I found the efficiency of all the different designs to be practically the same. I find the cat can stove to be the simplest to build and experiment with.

forresterace

Hi djb
I'm about an hour north of Toronto, almost to Lake Simcoe.
I want to be careful about trying to sell something on the regular forums - that's not what I'm trying to do. My sales ad for the set-up is on the Gear Swap section of the MEC website.
My posting of this equipment was just to show others what can be made yourself for very little money.

Zen and the Art of the Alcohol Stove
These are just a few links - do a search on Youtube under alcohol stoves
There are also plans for many designs of pot stands and windscreens

Doug

djb

understand Doug,
Looks like youi made some neat units there. I've been using an old windscreen from a super old Whisperlite set, those flexible thick aluminum pieces that you can fold, does the trick, but yours look like they would work much better in wind.
Like I always kid, at least this project kept you out of the pool halls for a while 10 years ago...
cheers
will check out the mec page

djb

ps, re the various homemade designs, what Ive found using the Trangia is that output very much depended on the fuel source. On some of my trips it was hard to find more pure alcohol and got what I could, and some of it burned dirtier/smellier and also seemed to put out less heat than good stuff.
Do you find a big difference in your various designs, or too small to really tell the difference?

andrewclaus

I've been an alky stove fan for many years. I made dozens of the Pepsi can design for friends and guests. I still have my old Whisperlite (neither of which is true) but haven't used it in 15 years.

In addition to the use limitations already noted, there are a few other issues. 1) Many land managers in the US West will not allow stoves that don't have a positive fuel shutoff (fire safety). 2) Small light stoves are unstable. I have personally witnessed two wildland fires started by alky stoves, caused when gusts of wind blew the stoves over. (I helped extinguish one at some personal risk.) And one member of my party narrowly avoided a nasty burn when she kicked one over. 3) The energy content of alcohol is lower than that of gasoline. If you're going to carry fuel for more than ten or so boils, the weight penalty of alcohol starts getting noticeable. They're best for limited use, say one hot meal a day for one person. They may not be so good for multiple stops for tea or coffee, melting lots of snow in winter, purifying by boiling, etc.

My current travel style is stoveless. That's how I finally got down to two panniers. (My old kitchen used to take up an entire front pannier.) It's not for everyone, but it works very well for me, for the last ten years or so. I will pack the alky stove with a few ounces of fuel for some base camp trips or an overnighter.

djb

Re spills, to the mini kit I have has a simple, wide and secure base that the trangia fits into, and the trangia ,being brass or whatever it is, is heavier than an aluminum version. I would always want to use some sort of base, the ones shown here look effective.
I've used mine generally for morning coffee, boiling water, on tile floors or anywhere where it was safest, in small hotel rooms throughout Latin America, using common sense, as well as outside my tent on the ground or on picnic tables.
Clearly accidental spills and potential fires are much more of an issue with these, and we have to be very responsible and attentive with them.

robow

I've used a cat can stove for years and use so little alcohol per use, it's hard for me to see it being a major fire hazard unless you're just not paying attention. Btw, when you can't find decent denatured alcohol, use a bottle of Heet that you can find at any gas station. I have found one little modification that came about by experimentation which really improves the efficacy of this stove. If you lay a pair of small wires or I use a couple 3" lengths of the thin metal bands that come off windshield wiper blades, across the top of the stove before placing on your pot, it creates a gap and allows the stove to breath so much better and therefore the flame and heat generated are greatly increased. The wire only has to get the pot a mere 1-2mm off the top of the stove for better combustion.

forresterace

I never liked the idea of sitting the pot directly on the burner can. It seems that it could be quite tippy. My wind screens use wire pot supports that hold the pot at least
an inch above the burner and the burner cans sit in their own holder stands above the surface you're using them on.

Doug

indyfabz

That's a big "unless." Maybe Cyco will stop by and mention the big fire that was started by someone using an alcohol stove.

djb

The kit I got has this base, which has an area at the bottom that the trangia fits into sort of tightly, and as in the photo, the pot rests on top of the base with a decent amount of space between burner and pot. The pot bottom has small indents that the top of base nestle into a bit, stopping it from sliding sideways.
still must be careful
I like how compact this is, although I could reduce my mug if I went with these metal mug/pot combos. Although at times it's handy having both, mug and pot....

Leebo

Trangia stove with the foldable click stand works awesome. Pair with a 600 ml Ti pot.