Alcohol stoves seem to be the darling of anyone trying to “lighten up” in terms of their pack weight. Just one problem: There are so many alcohol stoves out there, how can anyone make sense of them all?
Some stoves are fussy and hard to work with. Others are unstable, more likely to spill than to cook your dinner. Still others take forever and the slightest breath of wind robs them of all their heat. While I want to lighten up as much as the next guy, I want a stove that works. There are some good stoves out there, and I’ve “done the math” to pick one out, which is presented below.
But before I go on, let me say that alcohol stoves aren’t for everybody. Most alcohol stoves do only one thing well: boil water. If you’re a gourmet cook, you may as well skip this article. But if you’re seriously trying to lighten your pack, my pick for an alcohol stove is worth a read. With a lightweight stove setup like this one, I’m able to get a typical fair weather weekend load down to under twenty-five pounds including food and one liter of water. That’s without cutting any comforts. If I want to start really scrimping, I can go even lower.
Some of my typical gear (L to R): Sleeping bag, 19oz; sleeping mat, 13 oz; Nalgene 1 liter bottle, 4oz; my entire kitchen (except food), 16oz; shelter (not including stakes), 11oz.
I’ve already listed some of the problems commonly associated with (some) alcohol stoves. They can be fussy and hard to work with, unstable and excessively slow, particularly in wind. We need a stove that is simple, stable, reasonably fast (by alcohol standards) and works well in wind. And of course we want it to be efficient. I have just such a stove in mind: The Caldera Cone ultralight alcohol stove system.
What do I mean by “system?” I mean a complete setup: burner, pot stand, and wind screen. Let’s take a look at my setup:
Note: You can buy a kits with pot, fuel bottle, burner, and windscreen, etc, or you can buy just the burner and windscreen and customize your setup from there. My setup is a customization but is fairly representative of a typical setup.
Now that may look like a lot, but don’t be intimidated. That’s my entire kitchen: stove, pot, bowl, utensil, lighter and fuel. Best of all, it all nests together in a stuff sack like a nice, compact package. Just ignore the mud spatters from last night’s rain.
So, what all is in this package? Let’s open it up and see. First, I’m using an MSR Titan kettle (generally sold separately from the stove). Nested in the Titan kettle is a plain old Ziploc container like you can get at any grocery store.
I’ve wrapped the Ziploc container in a “cozy” (to retain heat) made out of Reflectix material.
Nested inside are all of the components (burner, windscreen, fuel, spoon, lighter, and fuel measuring cup). I’ve already pulled the burner out in this photo.
The burner is a “Pepsi can” style stove, called the “10-12 stove.” It is very well made (unlike most home made ones I’ve seen), and it’s optimized to work with the special windscreen.
Now, we come to the real genius of this set up: the windscreen.
The windscreen dovetails to itself such that it becomes a very solid, stable cylindrical windscreen and pot support.
Your pot then slides into the “sleeve” formed by the windscreen. Note how the windscreen buts up right under the rim of the pot.
Note that this tight fit is custom by pot. In other words, you have to buy the specific version of the Caldera Cone windscreen for your pot. A Caldera Cone windscreen for an MSR Titan kettle will only fit an MSR Titan kettle. This custom fit works great, but it does limit you to one pot. I don’t find this limitation overly restrictive.
When fully assembled, it looks like this:
The burner is inside the windscreen, centered on the pot.
By combining the pot support and the windscreen into one, a substantial amount of weight has been saved. Add to that the fact that the windscreen is of a highly effective design, and you’ve got yourself one lightweight, wind-effective stove. This stove is stable, efficient and performs well even in gusty, strong winds.
Here’s the stove in use:
I’m boiling water on the stove. The Ziploc container stands ready nearby. My food is already inside the container. When the water boils, I’ll pour the requisite amount into the Ziploc container, screw on the lid, and let everything steep. In a few minutes, I’ll be chowing down, having a cup of hot tea, or what have you. Enjoy! I do!
Well, there you have it, my pick for an alcohol stove, a complete system, the Caldera Cone. As always, you should consider your particular circumstances and your particular style before you invest in this or any stove system. But for my money, the Caldera Cone ultralight stove system is a dang good one.
One final word: What type of alcohol works best for alcohol stoves? Not all alcohols are suitable for use as stove fuel. For that subject, I refer you to a post on my blog: Alcohol as Stove Fuel
HJ
that is champion in Japan.
its name , valve-less high-pressurer cyclone stove by Mr.tetkoba
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvP74w74srU&feature=channel_video_title
boil 400ml water within 4 minities.start up 5seconds.
simple to charge. ultralight !
Hi, JSB,
That’s a very interesting stove. I like the flame pattern. How much fuel does it take to boil 500ml of water?
HJ
Thanks again for the prompt reply HJ. Trying to solve as many problems as I can before I hit the A.T. I haven’t tried alcohol yet, been using HEET in the yellow bottles. I am guessing the stove/chimney design will cancel out any advantage of using HEET. Major problem now is squeezing the bucks out of my wife. Just ordered a new sleeping bag and she shut my allowance off. Any help in that department would be GREATLY appreciated.
Taking a hard look at Anti Gravity pasta pot to go with the stove. I like the holes in the lid and pour spout. Any feedback on that pot? Thanks again for all your time.
Respectfully,
JJ
JJ: Sorry to reply so late. Don’t know how your comment slipped past me.
Either HEET in the *yellow* bottle (methyl alcohol) or denatured alcohol (a blend of ethyl and methyl alcohol plus other denaturing agents) should work fine in an alcohol stove. Stay away from rubbing alcohol or HEET in the *red* bottle.
I haven’t tried the AGG pasta pot, so I can’t comment there except to say that AGG has an overall excellent reputation.
HJ
Here’s a tip: Before you buy a flip top bottle, close the lid and give it a squeeze or two. If air escapes, select a different one. I’ve not had any problems with alcohol leaking.
If you were worried about it, though, just take a bandana and wipe out the container. Alcohol dries very quickly, particularly if spread thin as in wiping.
HJ
I really like the cozy idea on your container, Yankee ingenuity! I do have a question for you sir. You mentioned you eat from the same container that you store everything in. Ever have any fuel residue/leaks inside the container? I am guessing one bite would be enough to let you know something was amiss.
You’re welcome. The “Cone” is a great set up. Very robust in wind, and very efficient.
HJ
Already have 5 stoves, now it looks like I will have an even 1/2 dozen. I like what I see here. Complete, compact, and priced right. Can’t ask for more than that. Thank you for sharing!
I don’t see this as a problem
Me either, but try explaining to my wife? Her idea of camping is the nearest Holiday Inn. Still, got to have this one!
Thanks. It’s really a nice set up. It’s light, super stable, handles wind well, and is very efficient.
HJ
Nice little setup you have there. I need to consider a cone setup.
Hi, Outdoorgrrl. I can usually boil ~500 ml (about 2 cups) of water with ~20cc (a bit more than 1/2 ounce) of SLX denatured alcohol on my Caldera Cone set up. If I use a better alcohol (higher ethanol content), I can use slightly less.
I’ve got the amount pretty dialed in, but if I put too much alcohol into the stove, I can use the titanium sierra cup (see 6th photo above) to snuff the flame. I carry an ultralight plastic eyedropper. With the eyedropper, I can extract the unused alcohol — AFTER the stove has cooled down a bit.
HJ
Thanks for reminding me that I have a Caldera setup lurking in my gear closet. Any tips on calculating fuel consumption? I have had varying results; most of the time I’m either using too much fuel (water is boiling and the stove keeps going for several minutes) or too little fuel (water doesn’t quite reach a boil).