The FeatherFire Alcohol Stove

There are a lot of good alcohol stoves out there. Finding ones that simmer well? Well, that's not quite so easy. Today, I'd like to look at the FeatherFire stove which not only simmers well, but does it on the fly without any change of equipment or having to take the pot off the stove.

The FeatherFire.


In order to simmer, you have to have some pretty decent flame control. The FeatherFire does. Here's the high flame:


And here's the low flame:


What's the secret? Please join me as I take a look at The FeatherFire Alcohol Stove.

HJ

HJ -- Try Goat Cheese in your salmon omelet. Saute some spinach and onions, and when they are slightly reduced add in the salmon to warm it up. Cook up the eggs for the omelet as per usual and then add Goat Cheese and the Salmon-Spinach-Onion mix -- outstanding imo. Goat Cheese and Salmon really play well together. To do that on a backpacking stove... priceless.

NICE! But my wife will never hear of it. She doesn't like the strong taste. Sounds like one for when I'm out on the trail solo though.

Thanks,

HJ

Nice review Jim, thanks. Very nice stove, but it seems slightly more complex (and delicate?) than I want an alcohol stove to be. What are your thoughts on its durability? I'll probably stick with the trangia simmer ring for now. Oh and thanks for making me hungry.

Yeah, if you read the very last part of the review, I make comments along those lines.

I think the pot supports are the most vulnerable component, followed by the simmering apparatus. If you're a careful person, I think it would be fine. If you're the type that's a bit hard on gear, then not so good.

The Trangia is the "gold standard" of reliability. You're not going to easily beat a Trangia with any stove made from a beverage can. If you put a Trangia on a railroad track, they'd throw you in jail for trying to derail the train.

PackaFeather has a second stove, the XL. I believe they're trying to play on the idea that it eXceLs not that it's eXtra Large. The XL has much more durable pot supports from what I can tell. If so, then it looks as though PackaFeather has resolved the chief vulnerability of the stove already.

HJ

Jim,

Did you ever consider a career as an outdoor writer? I think you would be great at it. If you need references, I am sure you could get plenty here, you've got mine! I'll subscribe to any magazine that brings you on.

The best,

Jerry

Another great review. Thanks!

Thanks, Jerry,

Much appreciated. Now I just need to find someone to hire me. Considering that I'm between jobs right now, I'd be super open to it.

HJ

Jim,That is one trick alky stove,for sure!I like that worm drive concept,& It will "Wow" alot of hikers for some time to come,though as you stated"On the trail packing,might be another story!" I don't think the parts will rattle loose,short of a tumble,& I think the control would be compatable with gloves on!As Alway's Your Photo-Zen is Keen,Thanks for the Great review!

Thanks, Gary. I had good material.

HJ

Hi, Rich,

I have to say that the ability to dial up or dial down the flame is really nice. I was really impressed that I could do something tricky like an omelet on the stove. This is a pretty darned good cooking stove.

Ah. Good point. Yes, I think you could use the simmer control with gloves on. I'll have to try that.

HJ

Trangia,i think, made a full size alcohol stove that did this,too bad they don't have them anymore.i did see one in action a few years ago and you could roll it around on the ground and the fuel would not spill out,super safe after seeing the flare ups with some of the new stoves.

Interesting -- I just came across their website earlier this week so the time is perfect. They unabashedly claim to make the best alcohol stove on the market.

Interesting. I've not heard of that. Do you know what it was called?

HJ

It's got the best simmering arrangement on any stove I've yet seen. I've seen other stoves that simmer well, but none that have a cable so you can control it without reaching in and re-setting the stove.

It's like the difference between 4WD on the fly vs. having to get out on a wet, snowy day to set the hubs on your 4WD vehicle.

I haven't physically seen one, but I'd look at their XL stove too. The XL seems very similar but has more robust pot supports.

HJ

What strong taste?
I use Everclear as my fuel of choice because it is compleatly non-toxic, and does not impart any flavor to food...

Uhhh, unless you were talking about the strong taste of the food???

lol.

Yes, I was referring to Goat cheese.

But you are correct, cooking with Everclear (as a fuel) doesn't taint the food.

HJ