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For the last few weeks I've been messing around making meths camp stoves from drinks cans. It's been strangely interesting and satisfying building, testing them and trying out different designs.
There's a huge amount of info and quite a few total obsessives out there!
Anyone else done this?
Don't bother with the faff.
Speedster did the faffing for you. For £3.40.
https://speedsterstoves.co.uk/20ml-spill-proof-mehs/alcohol-burner.html
The reason I started doing it was that the packing in the speedster one I had broke down after not a lot of use. It didn't like getting jiggled about running or bike packing.
Plus, it's not faff, it's fun!
It is fun, you're right. I've made a few and a few wind shields.
I've found the speedster and thier wind shield to be pretty good though, better than my home made 🙁
Anyone else done this?
Yep, tried lots of alternatives (trangia, chinese copies) and always go back to my trusty coke can stove. Yes it's a touch less fuel efficient than the trangia but it boils water nearly 2x faster and it's miles ahead of the chinese stoves too. And a serious plus is that it's lighter than all the others!
I am on iteration ~15 having varied height (opt ~3.5-4cm), rim (0.5cm), hole size (~2.5-3mm), hole quantity (6 around the edge, one bigger in the middle to be covered by a coin)
Like the one linked here but with modified dimensions - I found the below to match a trangia on fuel efficiency, it just lacked burn time and intensity.
Yup, love a bit of a faff with a coke can stove.
But......
Just bought an fms300 gas stove, probably wont be going back, although Stu's breakfast stove looks ace. I could be tempted back as that with an aluminium frying pan would make an acceptably light cooking (rathet than just boiling) option.
Bought a real Trangia one when I was in Scouts in about 1985. Still use it now, and it still works perfectly. No need to faff about making a coke can version. Friend bought an Aldi/Lidl special cheap chinese copy, and then replaced it with the real thing when he saw how much better my 30 year old stove was (both the burner and the pan set).
Might make a collapsible/foldable stove to burn twigs and sticks in though (that can also use the Trangia burner), since the branded ones are proper expensive for what they are.
I played around doing it a few years ago and actually managed to make one which was pretty decent. I never use it because I don't do anything where that sort of gram-shaving makes sense and gas is so much more convenient for me. Fun at the time though.
I've made my own stoves out of red bull cans and vaseline tins. I rarely use them now though, I usually use a bearbones bikepacking 8g stove - packs smaller and is more efficient
Or a trangia with a primus omnilite ti conversion when I'm camping near the car
Have lots of other stoves, who doesn't love a stove?
Like the one linked here but with modified dimensions
Can't see the link?
Quite glad it's not just me that's got into this!
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48752726568_43229018f2_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48752726568_43229018f2_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2hh7t6b ]Meths stove[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/40141861@N00/ ]tillydog[/url], on Flickr
This is a little cracker!
Weighs 9 grammes and can easily boil a big mug of water on 15ml of meths. No pot stand necessary. It'll also keep going long enough to boil pasta with a bigger fill.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48752726578_fe118972d5_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48752726578_fe118972d5_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2hh7t6m ]Meths stove[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/40141861@N00/ ]tillydog[/url], on Flickr
(That's a 600ml Alpkit titanium mug on top of it)
It's a capillary stove, but I'm buggered if I can find the plans for it again (quite similar to one of the Zen designs, but with a crimped capillary 'wick').
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48756295526_72df2b0e2b_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48756295526_72df2b0e2b_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2hhqL1W ]Meths stove detail[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/40141861@N00/ ]tillydog[/url], on Flickr
Yeah, made a cat stove, used in anger once.
Made a few versions of wood gas stoves. Both fan and non fan powered. The tin can one that ends up a bit like a solo stove was quite easy and worked well. The fan powered one made out of a twin walled stainless steel wine cooler was a total beast. They dont work any better than the (quite cheap) bought ones but i was enjoying the process of building and testing them out. Not as clean a meths stove though for actual camping.
Google "rocket stoves". Fun & free.
Bookmarking.👍
outofbreath
Yeah, made a cat stove, used in anger once.
"used in anger"?
Poor cat.
Did you use the tail as a wick? 🙂
That looks great, Tillydog. Might be a fun project to make a few of these if you can find the plans and post them up.
if you can find the plans and post them up.
I spent about an hour looking last night before I posted, but couldn't find them, so don't hold your breath! 😀
The key thing was that the inner wall was made from the same sized can as the outer wall, but crimped to reduce its diameter until it fits tightly inside. I *think* it was a Japanese site.
I've made a couple of wood gas stoves from various tin cans.
Very satisfying thing to do. I've never got on with meths/alcohol stoves, so I tend to use wood or just go straight to gas
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/7216/7286517890_4389561c6c_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/7216/7286517890_4389561c6c_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/c6TiUN ]Homemade woodgas stove[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/thingswelike/ ]Alex Simon[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/7233/7286517206_695e832ae4_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/7233/7286517206_695e832ae4_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/c6TiH1 ]Stove kit[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/thingswelike/ ]Alex Simon[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/8012/7286517586_3d539e32d0_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/8012/7286517586_3d539e32d0_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/c6TiPy ]Homemade stove kit[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/thingswelike/ ]Alex Simon[/url], on Flickr
That looks great, Tillydog. Might be a fun project to make a few of these if you can find the plans and post them up.
Looks like version of an 'easy capillary hoop' stove. Several versions about. Most of the ones I have seen depend on cans where the upper rim is the same diameter as the can body which are pretty difficult to find here. That one doesn't seem to depend on that as the burner holes are in the side rather than top of can.
Found it!
the burner holes are in the side rather than top of can
I think that may have been one of my 'enhancements' - this is the basic design I copied, but with the holes part way up the wall so the pot supports weren't needed. I used tonic water cans (in case you hadn't guessed from the photo) - they're a bit thin, but the stove has survived quite a few uses now, and is still OK.
I’ve built a few meths stoves and use a coke can model regularly for bikepacking trips. I have another side burner which nests inside it, made of a small aerosol can. I can boil water on that while frying breakfast on the other.
I’ve also made a couple of wood gas stoves from peach cans. They work pretty well but they’re too much faff to take on a trip and I have a Kelly kettle which is neater for boiling water.
My bear/pop can stove is my go to stove when bikepacking. I made it at least three years ago and it's still going fine. It's a dual wall side burner so the pot can sit directly on top of the stove so no pot stand needed.
This week I made a wood gas stove - https://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=15566 very similar to that of Alex Simon's. Due to my ineptitude I haven't yet got a good burn from it.
Also wanted to make a Caldera clone but couldn’t find suitable Ti sheet.
Agh! beer not bear!