Super Cat stove

[bcimport]

Well after too much time over at backpackinglight.com I came across the "super cat" stove. An alcohol stove made from a cat food can that Is as simple as can be, weighs next to nothing and provides a more than adequate boil time on cheap light fuel. I think my pocket rocket and heavy steel fuel cylinders are done. I was boiling water in 6-7 minutes on an ounce of denatured alcohol, no noise, next to no smell, no waste...seems like a winner to me.

 

[bhylton]

biggest issue with the cat stove ive been having is i cant get one to make a "blossom" of flame narrow enough for a small pot. the ones iv'e made need a .8 or 1L pot to capture the flame on the bottom. love the idea though, still trying to make it work with a smaller pot.

 

[DudeFromOhio]

They are horrible in wind also. You will absolutely need a wind blocker, I use a section of aluminum foil folded up. They work, I'll give you that.

But I prefer my Jetboil, even if it weighs more.

 

[rayporter]

because of the fiddle factor i would just as soon use fuel tabs. add the cold and wind to a trip and that pocket rocket may look slightly better.

but they do work.

 

[colonel00]

Yeah, I like the novelty of alcohol stoves. If I have time and decent conditions, there is something about watching them burn and relaxing while your water heats. That said, I probably won't bring one on a hunting trip as I just like the speed and convenience of my MSR Reactor.

 

[bhylton]

love the reactor. one other thing about the alcohol stoves is using them in cold weather. I lit a solite stove in calm conditions at about 15 degrees and it never "bloomed" the stove never built enough heat to boil the alcohol and create vapor.

 

[colonel00]

Yep, depending on construction, the cold can definitely be an issue. Honestly, I never actually made a cat stove but I have made plenty out of soda cans. Some had open centers, others needed to be primed. All worked great in the garage in controlled conditions but performance wavered in less than ideal conditions.

 

[Mike7]

I have never considered an alcohol stove because of the slow boil times, but things may have changed now. I have been playing around making the newer Universal Capillary Hoop Stoves this Spring, and they work great. I have tried them in a little breeze and not too bad of performance. I always bring an EVA foam pad with me to the woods anyway, and these make a great wind screen. I haven't been able to try one in really cold weather yet though. Once you get the right tools together and have a couple of them under your belt, you can probably make one in an hour or two anyway while sitting on the cough in the evening. The maker/designer on youtube (this is what I love youtube for) makes it look a lot easier than it was for me to build a couple.

 

[Mike7]

I have been able to get boils of 2 cups of water in a wide 600 ml Evernew Ti pot in less than 5 minutes with a slight breeze with Eastern WA tap water (temp unknown). So far I have found that the sweet spot for heat transfer is having the pot about 2 3/8" above ground level. Higher than 2 1/2" makes boiling times steadily increase, and lower than about 2 to 2 1/4" causes the Hoop Stove to not "gassify" or work properly. This is with using a 40 mm in diameter top opening to the stove and with this opening the stove uses almost 25 ml of denatured alcohol.

I have built one with a 38 mm opening that I haven't tested yet. I am expecting this one to burn a little slower and more fuel efficient. If this one boils two cup in just over 5 min, but uses only 20 ml of denatured alcohol, then I will probably go with this more fuel efficient stove size.

 

[Mike7]

I'm not trying to derail the thread and I was going to start a thread on the Hoop Stove once I tested it fully, but this seams like an appropriate place to discuss it? I am just excited to have another viable stove option. I have no personal experience with the Super Cat stoves.

The ability to get the fuel anywhere for either of these alcohol stoves is appealing, and the cap hoop stove weighs nothing and is tiny. The stove stand that I made weighs nothing and is tiny as well (made from 14 gauge titanium wire with 1/16" aluminum ferrules that you can buy at any hardware store). These can easily be thrown in a possibles kit.

The largest piece to the kit is the fuel bottle. I put the fuel in a 300 ml Trangia fuel bottle and this is a really slick no mess setup for a solo hiker/hunter. A person could take the empty Trangia fuel bottle in their carry-on luggage even on a plane and then get fuel at their location. And for 3 days in the woods, a person only has to take the fuel needed for the trip length.

For family backpacking and for melting snow though...I am still taking the big pot with the canister stove!

 

[neverquit]

I enjoyed myself making/testing alcohol stoves. But in the end the best ones worked great at home at 1000ft. In the mountains at 7k. They were barely usable. My favorite was the evernew. For the same weight and less possibly of burning down the forest I settled on the soto od-1r.

 

[Take-a-knee]

I've used a Trail Designs Caldera Cone for years. Boiling a pint takes between 6-8min depending on temp. 25ml of HEET will get a boil at 20F or above. Wind is never an issue with the cone. Some stoves that work great on the back porch will never produce a boil on a cold windy day.