Hi,

I am in the early planning stages of developing a fall hiking weekend for 10 teenagers in our local youth group. These kids have had at least 3 years of outdoor experience in our program, but I want this weekend to challange them into thinking for themselves and to work as a team in small group.

The trip will involve field navigation through an unfamiliar area and the 2 - 3 person teams will have to construct/use some of their own equipment.

I will provide the teams with the designs and materials to make 3 types of alcohol stoves. The simple Open Flame Type , a simple Pressurized Jet Type , and a more complex Pressurized Jet type of alcohol stove. All of these models are quick to construct and involve a minimum of steps and equipment. I found them all that the Zen Backpacking Stove site which provided excellent information.

I have never constructed or tested alcohol stoves before but know there are many on this forum that have, so if you have a favourite design, that is not too hard to build, please share it with me.

The kids will also be making their own version of a Tarp Tent for use on the trip, but I will make those designs the topic of another post.

Thanks, Mike

Mike, with the ones where you are fitting the bottoms of two pop cans together, that is the hardest part of the build.
The first photon stove I got to fit together took me about 20 cans.
When they tell you to save a full can to swage the one can bottom open a bit more before trying to assemble them it is good advice.

Here is a site more dedicated to backpacking stoveheads.
http://www.bplite.com/index.php

Thanks for the link Scafool, lots of good stove ideas on that site.

Mike

This also sounds like just the excuse to enjoy your favorite beverage of choice (aluminum can contained of course). Just tell everyone you are preparing supplies for the next Youth Group stove building project....

Another super easy stove to make is the supercat stove. This was easy to make (I figured it out), and, with the exception of the windscreen, they likely have all the stuff for making this lying around. In all seriousness, it took me about 15 minutes to make. And, it worked adequately the first time I used it. I since modified it a little (too much space within the windscreen), and have yet to test it. The first attempt got the water hot, but not boiling. My next attempt I hope to get it to a rolling boil.
This is my normal daypack stove: Supercat stove, made out of a cat food can, windscreen made out of aluminum flashing, with two wingnuts to hold it together, 2 aluminum stakes that I use for the stove stand, an empty water bottle for fuel, and an elastic band to hold it all together. It slides into one of my side pockets on my pack, and counterbalances against my water bottle on the other side. Simple to make, efficient once you get it tuned in, and made with common materials. Cant really get any better than that!

Denatured alcohol can be found in the paint dept of your local wally world. 91% alcohol works OK, but is very sooty. yellow HEET works the best; my local wallyworld just had a sale on those too...like a 6pack for $5 or so..may $6. Yellow HEET would be my first choice, then denatured alcohol, with the 91% isopropyl alcohol being last. It doesnt burn as hot, and, again, is sooty, because of its water content.

It may be anathema to you if you want your kids to build their own alcohol stoves, but my favorite is the White Box stove, ready built for $20 by Bill in Montana. I have used my own built alcohol stoves but after using the WB I realized what a piker I am when it came to stove construction. One part of Zen is realizing when you are in the presence of a master, which is how I felt when I first saw the white box - simple, great design. Yellow Heet or regular denatured alcohol both work great for fuel, with a long burn time. Make sure the kids use a light weight water container for boiling, most alcohol stoves don't burn terribly long and you won't want to spend alot of time heating up metal instead of water.

In the end all the designs should work fine, and the kids should have some fun building their own.

Hi Oldsoldier,

Thanks for the link to the SuperCat Stove, I think that is the easiest pressurized version I have seen yet. We will test that model for sure.

I decided to drive to town today to pick-up some alcohol stove fuel and try building some of these stove models. On arrival at the vacant parking lots I remembered it was Easter Sunday and all the stores were closed, so tinkering will have to wait till tomorrow.

Mike

Hi Lono,

Thanks for the tip on using lightweight cookware, the SS pots we normally use on the Coleman stove are quite heavy and probably not the best to use on an alcohol stove.

In researching stoves I saw a lot of large Heineken cans used as lightweight pots, seems like a good excuse for me to drink a few beers.

Mike

Oh, one other thing; get some stove black (high heat spray paint-at LEAST 1200 degrees) and paint the bottom of your container. It helps with the heat transfer. With alcohol stoves, every little bit counts!!