alcohol stoves
Opinions on alcohol stoves? Anyone here use them regularly?
Im looking into it because they are light, but Im wondering how low you can feasibly get the boil times with them, as meths doesnt burn as hot as say butane. Also wondering if anyone has managed to properly cook on one? Doesnt seem like you could have much control with them.
I might have to just bite the bullet, make one, and use it next trip. Gives the guys in the school tramping club something else to give me odd looks for.
29 comments
Not an issue in NZ, but anyone tried the traingia at altitude? I got rid on my last and only one (20 years ago) after it failed to boil a cups worth of water at anything over about 4000m.
Now, everyone tells me the _advantage_ of meths stoves is they work just as well at altitude. So was this just me? Or is altitude an issue?
They dont like the cold and need to be insulated from the ground if used on snow Otherwise Im not sure of the issue.
A lot of people recon gas doesnt work at altitude but the reality is that they should work better if the temperature is the same but often altidude is also a lot colder. Even then a gas mix that works to 0C at sea level should work to -5 at 2000 metres but often its -10 by the time you get there
Yeah. Not sure. Was in the tropics so temperature was similar to NZ by the time you've added 3-5000m! farms were growing maize, barley, peas, potatoes, so that gives an idea of the temp range. Suspected it was the vapour-oxygen ratio was wrong. Switched to a coleman petrol stove for most of my time at altitude. That needed pumping every few minutes during cooking to stop the flame going orange and sooty and flaring. But at least it worked!
I've been told that since the liquid in the traingia is not pressurised it should work just as well at any altitude. So i started to wonder if it was just a fault with my stove ... hence the question.
@madpom, transparent, silent flames are always good fun. Precautions are required, and yeah, I have been told that its always good to be able to touch the stove happily before refuelling. My ttrangia, using friend always puts the lid on his even if he thinks it is out, before he refuels, just to be sure. Dont want flame anywhere near a fuel bottle *shudders*
In theory, trangias should be perfectly operable at altitude/low temperature. And its quite common for the military in Scandinavian countries to use trangias in very cold temperatures, so Im thinking geeves is dead on about insulating it from the ground being a solution.
butane propane gas works at 8500m. temp needs to be brought up towards 0c. inside a sleeping bag before starting then footbaths of tepid water or dipping the cylinder in the water you are heating both work. and keep the stove off the snow.
...Or for altitude and cold, you could just use a liquid fuel stove like the rest of the planet :)
I used a wisperlite for years because it was my only stove but now I'm old I tramp a lot more and more weight conscious.
Now I use a titanium screw on, it weighs 47 grams so with a 100gram canister it is still nuts light.
In my honest opinion, alcohol stoves are in the 'stupid light' basket.
But just my opinion
dont write off the triangia that easily. They may be slow and what you save in stove weight is made up for in extra fuel but they do not break Ever
yea maybe, but I just reckon theres too many other drawbacks with them
Haha I see what you did there, na I would never.
Personally I really like the FAST part of fast and light. So mucking about with alcohol stoves just isn't my thing.. it appeals to some people for whatever reason but just not me I'm using the Liquid Fuel for winter in mountains and canister for tramping.
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| Forum | Gear talk |
|---|---|
| Started by | Size12 |
| On | 22 April 2015 |
| Replies | 28 |
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