Well, I spent several hours of my Sunday afternoon testing alcohol stoves. Two that Craig had loaned me and two that I had made in the garage. I am on a quest to lighten my pack load as much as possible before an upcoming 60 mile trek through Land Between the Lakes.
You can see the test results here.
After the tests, I am convinced that you cannot get lighter than the MSR pocket rocket. I have read claim after claim that alcohol is the very lightest that there is. IF you are comparing just the stove, this is true. The Pepsi can stove that I built weighed in at just .6 oz. However, then you have to add the pot support and windscreen to the mix. The pot support that I tested with weighed in at 1 oz. and .5 oz for the windscreen. This brings you in at a weight of 2.1 oz for the stove. That seems to beat the Pocket Rocket weight of 3 oz by almost an ounce. But then you have to compare the fuel.
A Jet Boil canister weighs in at 6.8 oz. when new. I haven't had a chance to test how many cups of water you can boil over the life of the canister but I can base my results on many years of trail experience.
Using one ounce of alcohol per cup of water seems to be the norm and is what I used for my tests. With the Pepsi can stove the boil time was 7:10 and the total burn time was 10:48. One ounce of alcohol weighs ~1oz. So with a 7 oz bottle you could boil enough water for just 7 meals assuming each meal only needs one cup of water. So with fuel weight figured the Pepsi can stove weighs in at 9.1 oz.
MSR Pocket Rocket with fuel weighs in at 9.8 and I can boil more than 7 cups of water. Not to mention a boil time of 2:15.
Conclusion:
Ounce for ounce the Pocket Rocket wins hands down. Try your own test and see what you find! I would love to debate alcohol stoves vs the Rocket with anyone willing but I will be sticking to the Rocket for now.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
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1 comments:
there are alky stoves that will boil 2 cups on 1/2 oz of fuel. there is alot of great analysis on whiteblaze.net on efficiency of stove systems over the long haul. i think much has to do with how long you are out and how often you resupply...
i think the convenience of a canister stove beats out an alky... but if you like making your own gear, like a quiet fire, you certainly can build a fuel efficient and lite alky stove that works.... and boils 2 cups water in about 6-7 min on 1/2 oz. fuel.
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