Quote:
I also now have a new challenge - learn how to make a functional alcohol stove from a couple of pepsi cans and a pocket knife. It doesn't have to be pretty, just has to be able to heat water up, maybe melt snow. Being able to do this might come in handy sometime


That certainly will be a challenge - trying to melt snow with an alcohol stove. wink

Actually alcohol stoves are just to heavy in comparison to even a mid weight butane/propane cartridge stove when used for more than a few days out in the wilds simply because they are just to inefficient due to the poor specific heat properties of alcohol fuel. Alcohol stoves are certainly lighter weight than a gas cartridge stove but the fuel is twice as heavy as a butane/propane fuel for the same heat available. Alcohol stoves are also very slow and become less efficient in colder temperatures. Personally if you intend to survive in anything less than 10-15C for more than a few days then I would just simply forget about alcohol stoves and get a basic propane/butane cartridge stove.

http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/FAQ_Efficiency.htm