What stove do you use?

[Magic City Matt]

Well I am at it again. I am switching my cooking system. Lesley and I have discovers that we would most likely be better served if we carried much smaller stoves and just cooked on our snowpeak 450 mugs.


Right now I am considering one of the following stoves for doing this:

The whitebox stove - http://www.backpackinglig...ht/gram_weenie_stove.html

Or

The Halfpenny - http://www.csun.edu/~mjurey/halfpenny.html

What do you use these day and does anyone have any experience with either of these types of stoves?

[freshface]

We use a soda can stove. It takes a cap full of denatured alcohol and will boil water within minutes. Out of every stove I have ever owned, this one is the smallest and lightest while still being the most efficient. It will even hold a skillet for omlets or fajitas. I fill a small Gatorade bottle up with denatured alcohol and we are set for a weekend campout. We bought ours off of ebay for about $12. Here's a link about them...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverage-can_stove

Good luck in your search for the perfect piece of packing gear!

[Cuffs]

For this area (not cold weather) my pot, stand, screen and stove weighs in at about 9 oz.
Granted, Im doing the FB thing, so Im only boiling water and dont need a fancy set up...

For the lightest stove ANYwhere, just take a tea light candle (if you dont know what that is, just ask Lesley!) there is a small tin cup that the candle sits in.
Take the candle out of the tin
Then go get an adult beverage, this will take a while.
Next, turn on some good music.  
Remove all small children and pets from the area, this could get dangerous.
Ok, now for the real directions...
Once you have the empty tin in your hand, place it on the ground.
Fill with Denat Alcohol
Light.
Place your pot stand around the flaming tin,
Place your screen around the stand
Place your pot of water on the stand
Let the heat/flame do its thing (about 5 minutes)
Consume adult beverage.
Check to make sure no kids/pets have returned
Water (2 cups worth) is now boiled
Add to whatever FB meal of the day!

[Nalgene Ninja]

I use the penny stoves you gave me.  

If you are looking into smaller stoves, have you checked out Sgt Rock's Ion stove?
http://hikinghq.net/sgt_stove/ion_stove.html

Shoulda told me last weekend you were wanting a smaller stove, I had small cans of pineapple juice in the cooler. I would def have contributed the cans to your cause.

The 1/2 penny looks pretty neat, esp the part of it all fitting in your 450ml mugs. A lil' nervous about the paper cup base though.  

[Big Dumb Admin]

For this area (not cold weather) my pot, stand, screen and stove weighs in at about 9 oz.
Granted, Im doing the FB thing, so Im only boiling water and dont need a fancy set up...

So do you use the tealite stove or something else?

[Cuffs]

I have dozens of homemade alchy stoves.  I just take the one I think will work!  I have not done any really cold weather camping (below 20*) so Ive never needed anything more...  Until 2 weeks ago, Ive never owned a commercial stove.  I picked up a like-new MSR Pocket Rocket and a 1/2 can of fuel at GAF for -ready for this? - $5!!  That PR will be tried out much this winter as I hope to take it on my Rainier summit trip next summer.

[highlife]

we have this one which we love
http://minibulldesign.com...Path=1&products_id=62

this one for simmering
http://www.packafeather.com/xlstove.html

Then several similar to this

http://www.antigravitygea...roddetail.php?prod=AGALBC

[Magic City Matt]

I have dozens of homemade alchy stoves.  I just take the one I think will work!  I have not done any really cold weather camping (below 20*) so Ive never needed anything more...  Until 2 weeks ago, Ive never owned a commercial stove.  I picked up a like-new MSR Pocket Rocket and a 1/2 can of fuel at GAF for -ready for this? - $5!!  That PR will be tried out much this winter as I hope to take it on my Rainier summit trip next summer.

I really have a hard time with my canister (MSR windpro) stove in temps lower than 32f. We carry it when we are carrying cookware for 3 or more. If you sleep with the fuel it helps but as the canister cools it looses steam quickly. I imagine the pocket rockets stay a little warmer due to proximity of the flame to the canister.

I think I am just going to make some of the minipennys and test them at home. I think I may pick up some hardware cloth as a stand though. Wasn't there a thing about hardware cloth giving off toxic fumes when heated though?

[Rob]

I really like my JetBoil, I know it is heavy but it is reliable. I used it up on LeConte in GSMNP last year in 20* weather with snow on the ground and it still performed well. Just a little iceing of the canister and a slightly longer boil time which could also be contributed to the altitude in addition to the cold weather. The " cooking mugs " come with a nice lil' cozy that stays on during cooking which I also like. And I didn't blow up the basement testing it out! 

Seriously Matt I would really be interested to know how your new venture turns out. I might even want to give one a test at altitude in cold weather this winter on my annual winter hike in the Smokies.

[Magic City Matt]

Well my first attempt at a minipenny failed miserably. Those little cans are difficult to work with. I think I am gonna try the gram weenie stove and cuffs tealite stove ad see which one works best for us. The thing I like about the penny stoves is that they are impervious to the cold. It may be a bit before we move on to the single cup stoves. That's ok though. If we were in a hurry we would choose something other than walking for a hobby.
On a side note. Through close examination of what it is that makes a penny so cold hardy I discovered it is mostly due to the nature of stacking it on top of it's lid which insulated it from the ground. Reasonably you could do this quite will with a bit of aerogel an any other alcohol stove. Ok maybe something a bit more rugged and readily available. Any ideas?

[Haveuseen1]

MSR Pocket Rocket and I have never had a single problem with it.
I have used it below freezing including last year at the sipsey when it snowed 1.5"- 2" on us in one night.  My boots were frozen and covered with ice in the morning and the pocket rocket fired up without issue.  I have never slept with the cannister although I hear of people doing it.

My buddy has a jetboil and he loves it. 


 

[auwesman]

Primus Techno Trail II...Same thing, used in well below freezing temps and never had a problem.  Only time I've ever had a "sputter" was an early morning(20 degrees) above 10,000ft.  However after only a few seconds of sputtering it was full throttle from there on.  Used on Leconte countless times in the snow and it's always worked beautifly.  Plus I got about 30 cans of pressurized fuel at target on clearence for 40 cents last year! + boils water in less than 2 minutes!

[auwesman]

Hey Matthew, hows the new stove coming along.  Primus Techno Trail II is on sale at reioutlet.com for $24.00....wink wink 
Just kidding. Really, hows the project?

[sam4msu]

I also have literally dozens of homemade alky stoves around the house.  Some work better than others but they all work fairly well.  I currently carry a Sno-Peak Gig  A Power and am very happy with it.  It weighs marginally more than a beer can stove but is much easier for me to use and more reliable.  One issue I have with the alky stoves is that it is near impossible to see the flame in the daylight, some people are not bothered by this.  The biggest difference is the weight of the fuel, or more accuratly the fuel container.  A water bottle or the steel canister of iso-butane.

[montysano]

I use an MSR Pocket Rocket.  Never had a single problem.  The only downside: you can't tell how much fuel is actually left in a cannister, so I always carry an extra unused cannister (the small size).  I've never needed it; the stove will burn for quite a while on what feels like a nearly empty cannister.

[TKOdom]

Well, I just built my first penny stove (actually, first homemade stove period). It actually worked well, and I only set myself on fire once.

[McDowra]

Well, I just built my first penny stove (actually, first homemade stove period). It actually worked well, and I only set myself on fire once.

Only once ?  hmmm you must have done something wrong 

[TKOdom]

Only once ?  hmmm you must have done something wrong 

Well, I have only tested it once so far. So I still have time. 

[Old Hickory]

I have been using a Caldera Cone for about a year now. I use Esbit tablets for fuel rather than an alcohol burner. I use a SnowPeak 600 mug for my pot.

Works great. Very light, very simple, nothing to break, very stable and very wind resistant. AFter a year of use, I have yet to run a cross any reason to change.

[Magic City Matt]

Welcome to the forum Old Hickory. Sounds like a nice simple setup you go there. I have decided to start carrying some esbits as a backup in case I leave my stove at home again    I was up near Santeetlah creek in NC when my lovely wife informed me I had forgot to pack the stove the last time. I had to fashion a makeshift stove out of an old redbull can we found and it did the job but wasted a lot of fuel.

Welcome again
Matthew

[ednotmilkman]

I carried 3 or 4 esbits inside the esbit stove when I was "cook" for 2 on the trail for two trips this fall and winter;  used it to heat coffee or cocoa water while I was doing the tuna helper or oatmeal main course with my Coleman

 ................ ................ .gotta go get it again since I can't remember what it's called

 ................ ................ ................ ............ OK, its an Exponent - fits only the Coleman fuel canisters unless you buy an adapter , but it was on sale 2 years ago 'cause I think they discontinued it. They still make the fuel, but I have to order it.

The problem with the esbit tabs is you burn your fingers waiting for it to light. I tried holding the esbit above the burning Exponent and even that wasn't easy.  As some have said before, trioxane is much easier to light than esbit, but it crumbles up and you waste some of it.

[Old Hickory]

The problem with the esbit tabs is you burn your fingers waiting for it to light. I tried holding the esbit above the burning Exponent and even that wasn't easy.  As some have said before, trioxane is much easier to light than esbit, but it crumbles up and you waste some of it.

Yep, Esbit can be tough to light, especially with a spark based system like a BlastMatch or something. One trick I use is to scrape the Esbit tab a little to "powder it up" a bit. It seems like it lights easier after the surface has been exposed a little by roughing it up.

The other Esbit tip I have is that AlokSaks are the only way I've found to carry Esbits without stinking up your pack!

Those things STINK! 

[Pointman]

I really like the Pocket Rocket folks have already mentioned. It seems to be very reliable and is fairly light.

[Nalgene Ninja]

I just ordered a Brunton/Optimus Crux butane stove, I like how it's able to fit in the concave of the canister.

$29 @ moontrail.com, shipping was really cheap too. I even got some Ti stakes there.

[trailtigger]

Primus techno trail and no complaints whatsoever

[Magic City Matt]

I just ordered a Brunton/Primus Crux butane stove, I like how it's able to fit in the concave of the canister.

$29 @ moontrail.com, shipping was really cheap too. I even got some Ti stakes there.

GASP


TRAITOR

[Nalgene Ninja]

GASP


TRAITOR

No, no, its not what you think! Its for backpacking with the full family, a medium between the Peak1 and my lovely penny stove. sweet, sweet penny...

I won't mention that I made a Fancyfeast side burner 2 weeks back.

[Lesley]

Man!  I drank all that Heineken for nothing. Hey! Make the room stop spinning will ya?

[JC785]

I currently have a MSR Pocket Rocket it works really well for just boiling water. Havent tried it yet for anything else. The stove itself is very light but the fuel is the heaviest part.

[Tacky Hiker]

I am about to pick up a MSR Pocket Rocket..I used JC785's and it worked like a champ !

[District_History_Fan]

We use the Primus techno trail. Its a great little stove. I have had some cold weather issues, but nothing that can't be worked around.

[Firedog]

Matt, I have a white box and I made a penny stove out of a couple of Diet Coke cans. They both work just fine. The WB is a little better than the one I made. It comes with a wind screen. I cut down a pringles can and it fits nicely inside. The home made stove is a little hard to light. There are plenty of video's on youtube of each. i've also been looking at different designs of wood stoves. Haven't found one that I want to build yet. Carl W.

[wirerat123]

I really love my Jetboil.  I figure I can save the 9 ozs elsewhere just for the speed and convenience, but I do have penny stoves and alcohol for backup.

[squidbilly]

Matt,I use one of these. A bit pricey, but very efficient. Boils 700ml of water in less than 5 mins.
I also have a homemade penny stove that I use occasionally. It works really good too--just less efficient.

[Rigormortis]

Snow Peak is my choice.