Originally Posted by
Harrison Bergeron
If you ask me, the purpose of an alcohol stove is to give AT dreamers something to tinker with while they are dreaming about their future hike. A valuable thing in itself.
But in all my wanderings, I have never seen anyone on the AT actually use one. My theory is that by the time you get there, most people do the math and discover that when they add up the weight of a week's worth of alcohol, plus all the accouterments necessary to cook with it, they can buy a Jetboil and cook a meal in half the time, while still saving about an ounce in weight. Plus, you don't have to mess around with a highly toxic liquid that can be absorbed through the skin, or spilled on your gear.
But I will admit that I had a lot of fun trying out all the various designs and carefully timing the boil time of each one. The first time you see flames jetting out of a popcan stove you made yourself, you feel like you've discovered... well, fire.
Homemade alcohol stove.... 0.3
Homemade wind break....... 0.8
Homemade Reflectix cozy... 2.3
Titanium cook set.............. 4.7
12 oz bottle of "Heet"......... 11.5
Total: 19.6
Cost: $53 (if you ignore the cost of a can of pop, aluminum flashing, reflectix, and "Heet")
Jetboil Zip stove................ 11.8
Jetboil 100gm fuel canister.. 6.8
Total: 18.6 oz
Cost: $85