Thanks Canoedogs! They really are a well-designed little stove. You can use them as a small wood stove and I've got a bigger one (Coghlans, maybe?) that is just the right size to hold an alcohol stove. They're not as fancy as the new folding box stoves but they're very adaptable.

Thanks so much, Les. I missed you guys!

Our local army surplus store carries ranger/volcano stoves. They look pretty cool. Love multi-fuel options!

Esbit. Cold weather wreaks havoc with alchohol vapor pressure, limiting stoves to to open flame and updraft types.

I've used homemade "hobo" stoves which operate on the same principle as the Ranger/Volcano stove. Messy, but very hot. If you're going to go with a twig stove, give some thought to woodgas stoves. They're supposed to be a lot cleaner then hobo stoves.

Thanks so much, Mark! Points well-taken.

We made a DIY rocket stove out of tin cans in the Spring and it works great. Now for a smaller,packable version. Those little wood gasifiers look awesome!

volcano stove need to go a step further and skirt the cookpot as well fully, thats extra heat




henson2buckpopup

+1. Below a certain temperature, I think the heat loss would make an alcohol stove unable to boil water. That said, a creative setup using lightweight insulation could possibly turn that around.

YMMV, but I don't care to use an alcohol (methanol) stove unless the cup/pot has a tight fitting lid. In my few modest experiments, I always got a hint of unburned alcohol in the flue gases, and its affinity for water may not improve the quality of the tea...

agree with Doug on both points above.

I am cautious when using alcohol for fuel and ALWAYS put a lid on the container that is being boiled. It's too easy for the alcohol vapors to condense on cool metal and drip into your food/drink.

I have never used alcohol for anything serious - only demo projects at home - just to test the system. But I would be worried about alcohol as a true survival fuel. When you are seriously cold - you need real heat fast. I don't know how well that fuel system would work for -40 degrees, or for hypothermic situations.

If you are contending with -40 temps, you want liquid petrochemical fuels. Don't mess with either esbit or alcohol. Kerosene worked fine for me in those conditions.

Consider different fuels for different seasons.

With the cold weather considerations in mind, may I recommend an MSR Whisperlite International -- white gas, kerosene and unleaded auto fuel in a pinch. Alcohol and Esbit have their place, but if it's cold and you really need heat, why limit yourself to ultra-light methods.

If you use it as a convenience and aren't relying on it to save your life, check out the Weber cubes. They're almost certainly the exact same thing, or are nearly identical, but they cost 1/20 as much or so. FWIW I've tested them next to WetFire and I can't tell any difference. They share the same volatility problem with WetFire- if not stored well sealed they go bad in a few weeks. But I have used a commercial chamber vacuum sealer to seal them in mylar and have had good luck with them after a couple years of storage. I've sent them to a couple of ETS members and they have had good luck with them so far as I've known. Of course, I also have used the same mylar pouches to seal ESBIT and I think that's the better option if emergency use is your concern.