Pepsi Can or Cannister Stove?

“So I am going on a 7 trip on the AT in ME. There is only one limited resupply and I will be boiling water for all my breakfasts a couple lunches and all my dinners, they will be a combination of Enertia meals and cook in the bag homemade meals.

The question is would I be better with a MSR Pocket Rocket or a Pepsi Can Alcohol stove? Would the can stove be lighter with the fuel? I think I can use one large MSR cannister for all of the meals. How much alcohol would I need? I should do some tests with alcohol.”

“I have tried a lot of stoves. I always go back to my Whisperlite.”

“With regards to the amount of alcohol needed...I usually figure on 2ozs per-day. Especially, if you expect the temps. to be cold. 16oz should be plenty for a 7 day trip, with a couple of ounces over, just in case?
I had a canister stick open on me once, so, I'd take, either 2 small canisters or (1) large and (1) small canister, just in case?”

“Two ounces won't make a pot of coffee.”

““Two ounces won't make a pot of coffee.”
bacpac
8:27:03 AM
9/02/07

I don't know what kind of alcohol stove you use, but mine will bring 16oz of water to a full boil, with 1oz of alcohol.”

“I never had that kind of success with any alcohol stove.”

“Trangia mini will bring as much to boil as you like and is a miser on fuel - of course it takes about twice the time to boil and a cannister or white gas - but a extra four minutes is no problem at the end of the day.”

“Alcohol stove = Minibake Oven of the outdoor world.”

“Lol @ Nigal

I've been re-thinking my stove options, too.

Right now its:

Summer solo: No Stove, no cooking.
Other times: Whisperlite.

I keep thinking about:

1) the titanium sierra zip or,
2) for summers: carry my aluminum mug and cooking in fire pits once in a while,
3) or carrying an alc. stove - although lots of people give up on their alc stoves and would endorse Nigal's metaphor.”

“I have not yet mastered the zen of the alky stove. I have had them work beautifully in the kitchen at home. Even made some great biscuits in a fauxbakeer. Then in the woods, the stinking thing would even bring the water to a boil or stay lit for that matter. I would go back to my svea or Peak1 if I really wanted to make sure I would be able to eat.”

“either way works. at one week it will be close to break even on weight. even though the canister stove setup weighs more, the butane fuel is more energetic (about 2x more BTU/lb than alcohol). so the weight savings of the alcohol stove isn't as significant once you get out a week.

stick with what you know and are comfortable with. save experimentation for shorter trips.

my alcohol stove can easily boil 2 cups of water with under 1oz of fuel in the field. in the kitchen (ideal situation) it does 2 cups with .5oz of fuel. most people don't use them properly and would get better fuel economy if they just lit the alcohol in a tuna can. the stove is part of a cooking SYSTEM that includes the pot, support, and windscreen as well as the stove. all parts have to work together to be effective.”

“the stove is part of a cooking SYSTEM that includes the pot, support, and windscreen as well as the stove. all parts have to work together to be effective.”
Jimmy san
3:18:23 PM
9/02/07

I understand this. The problem seems to be, as I understand it, the sustem is more art than science. I know some people who have been successfully using the pepsi can type stove for years and do it very effectively. I have not had such luck even though I try to maintain the appropriate aspects of the system.”

“Did a 7 night trip in the Sierras. My son and I used a pocket rocket. I brought a large canister (12 oz total weight) and an 8 ounce total weight as a backup in case we had to fry fish. Our friend brought his alcohol stove even though the breakeven is 5 days (over 5 days the canister is less weight). Both worked. His advantage was that the last day he only had about 1 ounce in his backpack.

The 12 ounce canister would have done the whole trip for boiling water. Caught 11 fish the last night and fried three pan's full. That is when I had to switch canisters.

I've used white gas, Sierra Zip, Esbit tabs, and canisters. It would take a lot for me give up the canister stove. 12 ounce canister and 3 ounce stove and I am good to go for a week for two people. Very simple and reliable. Solo even better.

I have a Pepsi can stove and still don't see the benefit for a week-long trip.”

“yeah, there is an element of skill involved.”

“You have to remember that Pepsi can style stoves, etc., were invented by thru-hikers, as the fuel used for them is readily available at hardware stores, gas stations etc.(Heet, Denatured Alcohol,etc)”

“i tried burning kerosene in one once. it worked but the soot was almost impossible to believe. it did not burn hot enough. i was experimenting with blending kero and alcohol to get a more energetic fuel... it was not a good idea.”

“Remends me of the K-jet experiment with the whisperlite ---- Great for smoke signals, LOL”

“I have an alcohol stove my husband made for me out of a hair product can. It is a little narrower than the Pepsi cans and the aluminum seems to be stronger. It also converts to vapors faster, meaning it cooks faster. I also have a pocket rocket. If I’m just boiling water, I prefer the alcohol stove because it’s easy. As I use the fuel, I lighten up weight and don’t have to worry about the canister. I carry my fuel in a 500 cc Platypus. If I want to do more than just boil water, I like my pocket rocket because I can control the flame. As everyone else has said the starting weight will be close to the same at the time frame you have stated.”

“White gas.”

“With the trangia mini there's not even a doubt that you'll be able to the water boiling - or really with any of the bigger alcohol stoves. With the tiny ones it's always a little touch and go. I do like the simplicity and the silence.”

“My svea 123 is simple. But silent? not hardly....”

“Ok So what I am hearing is that my Pocket Rocket might be the way to go. I think that there are at least 2 people going on this trip maybe three so if we take the pocket rocket and a couple of big cannisters we should be good.”

“Another reason, and probably the main reason long distance hikers use alcohol stoves is there aren't any moving parts to break or values, O-rings, etc. to fail.
Probably the only way you'd ruin an alcohol stove would be to accidentally step on the stove and crush it?”

“I am one with my alcohol stove.”

“I guess for a thru hiker I can see the alcohol stove advantages. But for what I do, the Pocket Rocket Rocks.”

“Actually Ped I like to get the can users going. I have a Trangia that works well and I do use it sometimes.

Summer solo: No Stove, no cooking.


What does your menu look like for a weekend of no cooking?”

““My svea 123 is simple. But silent? not hardly....”

I bought one of these for winter trips and find that I carry it most every trip now. I just love the thing to death. Stove Stomper sent me a pump for it which really made it run like a raped ape.”

“I have tried Alchohol, whisperlite, the Whisperlight 600 (international), zip stoves, heat tab stoves, pocket rockets and so forth.... hit on the Superfly (fits both types of bottles) and it has worked in hot and in REALLY cold (got down to 19F)

I think the big thing here is work with what you feel confident with. My first whisperlite (totally INAPTLY NAMED) was incredible. But a friend used it on his first trip and it was a miserable failure. So he took it home and.....here it comes...CLEANED it. It never worked again.


Oh on the fuel end...anyone here ever try White Fuel in a Zippo Lighter? (LOL)....big tip..DON'T.”

“REALLY cold (got down to 19F

haha wotta southerner”

“maybe take a little extra gas to be safe - ME's a little far north and it's a late summer”

“lthiker: the pocket rocket will work well for you. i use a snow peak stove stove with canisters, not a pocket rocket, but the end result is the same. a large fuel canister is easily enough for a week of cooking for me. by "cooking" i actually mean cooking and not just boiling water. if i am just boiling water then i use less fuel.

i did the "no cook" think -once-. if you think your choice of a stove is subjective (and this thread proves that it is) then you can only imagine how subjective cook/no-cook is... because it's tied to what foods you eat. this is about as subjective a topic as you can get.”

“Be the stove.”

“just a curiosity...what stove alcohol stove design r u using.....the one taught by the Boy Scouts was a miserable failure for me...i found one online after reading bout it in Wilderness Way magazine. its found at www.thehanddrill.com by alan halcon...ive gotten it to work at home, but in the field.....well not such good luck......any better designs out there anyone knows of?”

“pressurized side-burner made from two red-bull cans. small hole in the top sealed with a screw. foil for a priming disk and a foil windscreen. pot is a 2 cup aluminum flour measuring cup. stove is the pot stand. weight is under 1.5 oz.”

“wow....thats light for sure....where did u get the design?”

“Pressurized fuel in a Redbull can? I think I saw this video on Youtube.”

“I made about a thousand stove setups before I settled on this one. I store the fuel in Platy Lil' Nipper bottle. For anything under a week it's my standard setup. It can pick up radio stations as well... at least I get teased about this on a regular basis.

”

“LOL>>>Jimmy at first I thought that was something you stole from NASA...but it looks Rather interesting.”

“i had a hard time finding the measuring cup. i knew what i wanted because my mom had one like this in her flour bin when i was a kid. it is aluminum (so very heat conductive) and very light. i found it at an "antique store" and paid a quarter for it. the rest is foil and the bottoms from two red bull cans.”