After reading HikinJim's discussion on the Caldera Cone I managed to buy a used one for my Titan Kettle on Ebay for under $15. I have not used an alcohol stove since the late '50's. I lived and camped in the rockies (home was at 9200 feet). The alcohol stoves we tried worked very poorly. My outdoor time for the next 40 or so years was in the high and/or cold so I did not even think about changing from gasoline. Times change and I am doing some lower and warmer camping, HJ gave me an excuse :-) so I tried it today.

25 ml of ethanol was put in the 10-12 and about 650 ml of 70 F water in the kettle. 10 min of silence (what a wonderful sound) later I had a cup of tea!! For day trips and light overnights, a real possibility!

Thanks again HJ!!

Respectfully,

Jerry

$15?!! Did you use a gun and wear a mask?

These cones are really nice. Would I take them out at -10F for snow melting? Not only no, but HECK no, but for fair weather (the majority of my hiking), they're great. These are what I call "fire and forget stoves." You fire 'em up, and then you forget about them. Come back in 10 minutes, and job done. I usually go set up/break camp or whatever.

And the silence. Ahhhhhh. It's really nice to have almost total silence. Yes, the roar of a stove in the evening can be the sound of supper, but sometimes silence is really nice too.

HJ