Thank you, Alex! I haven't found carbon fiber yet but I did have fiberglass mesh and saw a You Tube video showing that it worked like carbon felt, so..... I built a fancy Fancy Feast stove last night. It works - no priming needed and it was -17C. Nice!

Here's a link to the video: My Fancy Fancy Feast Alcohol Stove

Thank you again!!

You are very welcome, Jacqui. I love that design too. Nice video as usual!

I like the addition of a ton of wicking material -- that makes a lot more sense than the alcohol stove designs I've seen before. Might actually produce enough BTU's to be practical in the field.

The fibreglass mesh is from where? Canoe or car repair material perhaps? Wonder if standard fibreglass insulation would work --might not be coarse enough to act as a wick.

I see the fuel is methyl hydrate (a.k.a. gas line antifreeze, up here). I might need to play with this stove design since I always carry some of the "fuel" in my car (it's first aid for a fuel line freeze-up, which can get you -- or somebody you come across -- in big trouble on a cold day).

Doing some field testing? Please report back.

I think my husband bought the fiberglass mesh for a pick-up truck bed repair project a few years ago. It's been lying in wait for a new project. It was throwing a lot of warmth, and the one ounce of fuel I used seemed to last a little longer than it does in my old standard simple Fancy Feast stove. We have winter in the forecast again, so I hope to take it for a proper field test this weekend. I'll definitely report back.

I saw a You Tube video where Hiram Cook used felted wool for one of these stoves, so I imagine that fiberglass insulation would work too. Here's a link to the wool stove build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjIewnxgPHs

Methyl Hydrate seems fairly common around here and in all seasons. All our hardware stores and walmarts seem to carry it. It's cheap too, especially compared to Heet, which seems to only appear on the shelves in the winter.

My new fancy Fancy Feast alcohol stove had first field test yesterday. It was about -10C, and pretty windy, so a good day to test it. It's hot, easy and it's efficient, but it's tippy. Too tippy for this girl. I'm sticking with my Esbit.

Here's a link to the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w45xSZpTOlU

PBJ

You mentioned fibreglass mesh & fiberglass insulation

Something popped in my mind (GLASS WOOL) which is fiberous and some people may be tempted to use it for wicks or anything else.

Be cautious with this stuff. Steer away from it. Do not touch with bare hands, and wear a mask if you are around it. It can cause lung cancer.

Re glass wool / fibreglass insulation:

There was some concern in the past about carcinogenic properties, but I believe that has been laid to rest. It's now considered a mechanical irritant, nothing more.

Thanks for the update

Anyways, here is the MSDS for glasswool
( Last Updated May 2013 )

http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9924141

Thanks for the link. I know that installers working with fibreglass insulation are required to wear N95 masks. Makes sense -- the stuff is silica and deep inhalation into the lungs or digestive tract can't be good for you, especially in the long term with occupational levels of contact. Casual contact hasn't killed me yet, but reasonable precautions are ... well, reasonable.

Wool and mesh are very different products. Wool is a really nasty stuff! The mesh on the other hand should definitely produce some silica dust, but in practice (repairing yacht hulls and windsurfing boards with it) I never noticed anything while storing and handling huge piles of it.