Can Stove.

[bill m]

This is an unpretty model I was just playing around with. It's a Green Chile can that I salvaged from the trash. It was just too simple to make.
I saw the idea on a website and tried it. The only thing that I did that is an exception to the plan I read was to "Castle" the top of the can. It wasn't breathing well with my cook pot sitting on it. After I castled the top, it blows a pretty good flame.
I tested it with a stainless steel pot and two cups of water. It boiled in just under six minutes.
I didn't expect that alcohol would boil my water like a Coleman fuel flame thrower. But six minutes isn't bad.
I normally hike with a titanium pot. They boil faster. I wanted to stack the deck a little against the stove to see how bad it would be. And it did well.
I'm going to use this on my hike this July. I'm not taking my other one. I feel OK with that. I try stuff out all of the time. Sometimes it doesn't work well....or at all. You improvise. There's not much that can go wrong with this. It sure can't clog.
I tried to post a pic of the can. I'm not good at that . Hope it worked.
I'll add also that filling the stove to the bottom holes will let you burn for about nine minutes. That is plenty of time in my world.
I'm going to build something that will act as an extinguisher to add to the pile. What ever fuel isn't used can be saved and returned to the fuel bottle.
525

[Rock Chuck]

Find a slightly larger can to carry it in to protect it and you other stuff from it's sharp edges. To extinguish it, just invert the larger can over it. Or just blow it out.

[bill m]

I carry it inside my cook pot to protect it and my gear.
I think that can idea for a snuffer is what I'm going to look into. I couldn't blow it out.
If I have a snuffer can, I can use it to pour the remaining fuel back into the fuel bottle. I can't pour it with a can full of holes.
The snuffer can is the way.

[Twanger]

What's the fuel?

[bill m]

Denatured alcohol.
I bought some new stuff today. The stuff I used last night is a few years old. Today I boiled the water in just over 5 minutes. I could probably beat that with my titanium pot if I wanted to dig it out.
But 5 minutes is very acceptable. I guess there is an expiration on any type of fuel.
The stove stows inside my cook pot so that frees up some space in my pack and a little weight.
I'm looking forward to using it in the real world.
Now I'm going to work on my trout smoker.

[Rock Chuck]

Alcohol will absorb water. That's why they use it in Heet. Water reduces the energy produced.

You can also get 95% denatured alcohol, usually any where that the cheaper stuff is sold. I can't tell you how it compares in heat value, but it might be worth a try.

[stinky]

That is very similar to a "Cat-stove" which is made from cat food cans. W/a cat-stove, you put fiberglass insulation in the base, upto just below the holes and it acts like a wick. MIne would boil water at the same speed, or faster as my propane stove. I just let mine burn out, it isn't worth it to try to scavange the fuel...you are really talking about a cap full of fuel, after it gets your stuff boiling.

[bill m]

I think the can's are pretty close to the same size.
My need for fuel conservation is based on the length of my trips. I pay extreme attention to fuel usage. I go out for 10 or more days at a time. If I use my stove twice a day and I can salvage a cap full from each use, that ends up being possibly a few more complete uses.
If I don't need a full 20 oz. bottle, I don't take a 20 oz. bottle. I only take what I need.
I know that this practice sounds crazy to some. But my need to shed weight from my total package is based on each piece of equipment. I don't do things like trimming map borders off and cutting half of each match stick off. But losing ounces at a time adds up to pounds. For my style of hiking, less weight carried equals feeling better when you get to your destination.
It's not necessarily that I am a minimalist either. I have a pretty good spread. But packing light has some real advantages.

[Twanger]

So you just pour alcohol in the bottom and light it up?
Does grain alcohol work? (Drinkable)

Seems like ifn it did, it could serve double-duty.:evil::beer:

[bill m]

It's just that simple. Pour and light. I've been playing with it and I am really impressed. I didn't know that alcohol put out so much heat. What a great experiment this has turned into.
Come on Twanger. The use of grain alcohol would be considered, in a reasonable man's mind, to be alcohol abuse...wouldn't it?

[stinky]

Twanger you pour alcohol in the open top (into the bottom, which I think is what you meant). You burn about 2-3 oz at a time....say 5 caps full.

My stove combination is actually 4 cans:
A #10 (One gallon can) that is open on the top and has a huge "U" cut in the side (which allows my handle to stick out, so that my stove sits in there and doesn't get hit by the wind. I used an old fashioned beer can opener, and punched holes all the way around the bottom of the can so that air can get in to the fire. This takes the place of your shield w/AL foil on it.

Next, an old small Denty-Moore can (about 3" tall and 4" around). This is my pot support, open on the bottom so it fits over the stove and it is punched, w/the beer opener, all around the rim (for the same reason you have the castle) to let the flame out, so that it can burn. This can provides that castle, in order to support the can.

Then I have have a cat-food can and a tuna fish can. These provide a slightly more complex burner, but do the same thing that your stove does. The cat-food can is the burner and it sits w/the lid off, open on top, w/the same holes around the top/rim (doing the same thing that your round holes do). You fill the can w/fiberglass insulation, up to the bottom of the holes (it acts like a wick). Then the tuna can sits over it, w/the open top facing down, and the same holes around the rim (again, the same as the round holes). So, the two cans are cut the same way w/the small can inside the bigger one...now, the big can has a diamond cut into the bottom (which is actually the top) and the flame comes out the diamond. From your photo, you have round holes in the side of your stove...this two can combo is more or less the same thing...holes in the side let in air, and mine has another can on top, where the flame comes out (w/the same holes letting air in the side).

Now, being as my burner has a top on it, I have a benefit you can also make a "simmer ring" You cut the bottom/top out of a can, the same size as the top of your stove and, cut a hole in it...a diamond, w/sides 1-2" long and it cuts down the flame and will keep items warm. So, you can make different sized holes in the top and control the size of your flame.

Then, the 3 cans (burner combo, and pot support) go inside my pot, which goes in side the #10 can. (my pot is smaller than yours, steel one quart...yours looks to be about 2 quarts).

Your stove is simpler. I will give it a try and see how it compares. Mine weighs more..but the extra weight is the same as 2 empty tuna cans...not much. I see that w/some modifications, I could make my burner out of one can, and put it inside the Dinty-Moore can.

Also, when I cut the diamond into the top of the can (using a utility knife) I push the ears down into the can and I do the same thing when I make the simmer ring. Well, it doesn't take long for those ears to burn off, after a trip or two.

BTW...I now see the logic on conserving fuel. I don't go out that long, and when I do go, my goats carry the weight.

[bill m]

Guess I need a goat. Or a Rock Chuck Llama. I'm a donkey dude. It's a personality thing. Maybe it's the ears. If you split your trail bar with'em, they'll never leave you.
I do draw the line though when I get into my tent. That's just not going to work.