Originally Posted by
hipbone
I have been using alcohol stoves for 17 years and I have always found them light and efficient in practically any condition. There has been a lot of info scattered about in different threads and I thought I would start a thread instead of hijacking multiple ones.
My alcohol stove set up:
stove (jetted stove made of small sized soda cans) - 8 grams
pot stand (chicken wire pot stand with every extra gram trimmed off) - 7 grams
windscreen (beer can screens that look damn cool) - 8 grams
heat shield (small piece of folded aluminum foil to protect the ground and reflect back heat) .5 grams
23.5 grams total
my alcohol stove efficiency:
boil time for 2 cups of water - 6 minutes
volume of alcohol needed for 2 cups of water - .6 oz
flame out for .6 oz of alcohol - 9 minutes
weight of 1 oz of alcohol - .78 oz
Weight calculations for X number of days: (number of days * times cooked a day * alcohol needed to boil 2 cups of water * .78 oz) + stove weight + fuel bottle weight
I only cook 1 time per day so the following calculations reflect that. Also, anything less than a 5 day trip I could use a smaller vessel and cut weight, but I will ignore that weight savings for ease of calculations
2 dinner trip (weekend trip):
amount of alcohol needed - 1.2 oz
fuel weight - .936 oz
fuel weight+fuel vessel weight - 1.936 oz
fuel weight+fuel vessel weight+stove kit - 2.936 oz
5 dinner trip (about 75 miles on the AT):
amount of alcohol needed - 3 oz
fuel weight - 2.34 oz
fuel weight+fuel vessel weight - 3.34 oz
fuel weight+fuel vessel weight+stove kit - 4.34 oz (about the weight of an empty canister stove canister)
10 dinner trip (Probably the longest carry you'll ever have to do on the CDT; about 200 miles):
amount of alcohol needed - 6 oz
fuel weight - 4.68 oz
fuel weight+fuel vessel weight - 5.68 oz
fuel weight+fuel vessel weight+stove kit - 6.68 oz
13 dinner trip (the most days I can go without getting a bigger fuel bottle):
amount of alcohol needed - 8 oz
fuel weight - 10.3 oz
fuel weight+fuel vessel weight - 11.3 oz
fuel weight+fuel vessel weight+stove kit - 12.3 oz (about the weight of a full 8 oz MSR fuel canister)
Of course always take a little more alcohol than you'll use in a day (I boil with .5 oz so I calculated with .6 oz). Also keep in mind that every day you cook you will lose a pretty significant amount of fuel weight. The last day of your trip you'll basically be carrying only the weight of the fuel vessel. Also, if your main goal is time savings while cooking, a canister stove will take 1/2 as long to boil water as an alcohol stove (saving you about 3 minutes a day).
I am really serious about cutting grams out of my pack. I find that a light pack helps me prolong my hiking career by saving my knees and my joints (I am at the age where I will start having problems with my body if I do not take care of it). We are relatively small people so what a normal weight person carries is multiplied greatly when we have to carry it. Also, my hiking partner has had 2 reconstructive knee surgeries and osteoarthritis so cutting weight is CRITICAL to us. We are long distance hikers....
If you can save us weight by suggesting a lighter cooking set up please share. If you can show me the point at which I will save weight by taking a canister stove I will certainly take advice. I am not dedicated to any cook set up, I only need the lightest. I have considered going stoveless also, but meal preparation before the hike is a real enjoyment to us. MtnGoat is a really good cook and we dehydrate all of our meals before we go out...not having a hot home cooked meal every day would take a lot out of our hike. I have also looked into wood stoves but I don't think I would enjoy collecting tinder and sooting up my pot.
thanks in advance for your suggestions!
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