Lots of options for fuel. Although HEET (yellow) is one of the best and problably the most available. http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm http://thru-hiker.com/articles/fuel_alcohol_choices.php
I used this stove for a month on my trip to Alaska and loved it. A few times when I was making larger meals I wish I had a third option for longer burn times.
Right now, Walmart is clearing out their SuperTech (black bottle) version of HEET for 50-cents a bottle! Also, if you have access to a race shop (for guys who race methanol go-carts, etc) you can get methanol for under $5.00 a gallon.
I am beginning to fiddle with a new version to do this. Will update when I have time to test and perfect it.
I just ordered a pair (paypal sent) and I am looking forward to trying them. Up to now I have used Colman multi fuel or a Sigg Firejet petrol stoves. Both are fine, but high pressure fuel can be...problematical :eek1 (Such as drunks making coffee at 2 am with a badly reassembled Sigg->jets of fire)
Anybody try using these with a 4" re-fried bean can wind break? Could also double as a pot stand. I tried and it seemed to be a HOT affair, I like my roof flashing deal better. The can got cherry red pretty quick. Maybe a larger can would work, I tried a 4" cut to the stove height with two rows of cooling holes.
I think this was tomato paste. Worked good. I liked it better than the roof flashing as there are less sharp edges. The stove fits inside.
have you considered some sort of castellated structure that will slip over top of the stove. Something that would block some of the holes when you want to simmer and be removeable/adjustable for when you want a full boil.
I just bought a couple of stoves last week. They are awesome! They burn really hot though, obviously. So, rather than buy a simmer stove, which I will probably do anyway, I came up with a castellated add-on for the full bore stove. It seems to work pretty well, and if nothing else, may serve as the nugget needed for innovation. I have no idea if I'm doing these pics correctly, but here is a go at it: And (how did you do this?!) Yup, just a simple automotive/household clamp! It seems to work pretty well. I dented the crap out of one of my stoves by not being real careful with the vice. It still works, but I wonder if it is contributing to a couple of oddities I have experienced, or if maybe my structure is flawed in some way, or if maybe these are just normal for the stove. First, it seems to take longer for the jets to form; about 1.5 minutes. Then when I set a pot on top, the jets die down, almost to gone, but then "warm" back up again. Last, my son blew on the stove at one point and that caused one of the jets to extingusih. It did not fire back up on its own, but when I applied flame to it, it came back on. I was not real careful about noting times and such, to simmer, and burn out. Sorry about that. If anyone is interested, I could do such a test or two. Otherwise, these clamps are pretty cheap, and the Dremel cutting wheel makes short work of the castellations. As a note to the stove-maker, you could maybe consider buying some clamps like this, and drilling through the clamp and the can at the same time, to insure the holes are lined up, then simply bore out the holes on the clamp to make them larger. Just an idea... I had a lot of fun tinkering in the garage with this! It would be neat if I could lay my hands on some kind of rubber band that could do this too, but I was having trouble locating something to use for that, at Home Depot. Maybe such a material is just not commonly available outside of industrial applications. Obviously it needs to be heat resistant, and stretchy. Well, this metallic clamp works ok. It probably weighs more than the stove, though!
So I clicked 'Send Money' on paypal and the box hit me in the back of the head. That was FAST. Thanks, Shady. I can't wait to try them out.
Just received my stoves this past weekend. Thanks for the quick service and can't wait to play with them!
Tested last night- it'll great not to have to clean soot off like my ancient MSR/Whisperlite, and the simplicity of design is great too. It'll be perfect for a cup of Joe or soup before a midpoint on an overcast ride. We'll give it a good run camping too Thanks for the fast shipping, Shady!
Wow, I just stumbled across this thread. Kudos for a great idea that's been going strong for almost 5 years! Being an incurable tinkerer that can never leave well enough alone, the first thing I thought of was... Why not make a band that goes around stove that has strategically drilled holes in it such that if you rotate it you can vary the number of holes that line up with the ones on the stove and thus produce flame. Voila - adjustable heat settings!