A drinks can, a knife and a few minutes of work: that is all it takes to make an alcohol-burning camping stove that weighs almost nothing. In his short video, Tom Allen shows how to turn an empty beer can into a stove he was given while travelling, fuelled most commonly with medical alcohol bought from a pharmacy.
How a beer can alcohol stove works
A drinks-can stove, often called a beverage-can or "pop can" stove, burns liquid alcohol. The classic double-wall design has a hollow outer wall, a ring of small holes around the top and an inner chamber for priming fuel.
- You pour a little alcohol into the stove and light it.
- The small flame heats the fuel through the wall, and alcohol vapour rises up the hollow wall.
- After about a minute of preheating, the vapour escapes through the perforations and lights as a ring of jets, like a miniature gas burner.
Most homemade versions are cut from the bottoms of two aluminium cans, with the holes pierced by a pin. The finished burner is less than 5 centimetres tall. Aluminium is cheap, light and conducts heat well.
A century-old idea in an ultralight stove
The principle is older than it looks. US patents from 1895 and 1904 describe similar burners, and the Swedish company Trangia has sold a commercial alcohol stove since 1925. Homemade can versions have a strong record on the trail: a 1997 survey of Appalachian Trail hikers found it was the only stove type with no reported failures.
The appeal is easy to see. A complete can stove with a windscreen and pot stand can weigh under 28 grams, against about 85 grams for the lightest gas stoves. It is silent, cheap, has no moving parts and keeps working in cold weather and at altitude, where gas canisters can struggle.
Fuel, boil times and performance
Ethanol gives the most energy, isopropyl alcohol a little less and methanol the least. Denatured alcohol, sold in camping and hardware stores, is the most common fuel because it burns cleanly without soot. Isopropyl works only at high concentrations, around 90 percent, and leaves soot on the pot.
- Boil 500 ml of water: about 4 to 12 minutes, using around 45 ml of fuel.
- Boil 1 litre: about 10 to 24 minutes, using around 90 ml.
- Burn time: roughly 10 to 20 minutes on 60 ml.
A windscreen and a pot that matches the stove's diameter cut boil times noticeably. Can stoves work best for one or two people; alcohol carries less energy per gram than gas, so on a long trip the extra fuel can cancel out the weight saved.
Using an alcohol stove safely
Alcohol burns with a flame that is almost invisible in daylight, so treat a quiet stove as lit until you have checked it. Never refill a stove that is still burning or hot: adding fuel can cause "flame jetting", which can throw burning alcohol at the user. Set the stove on stable, bare ground, carry fuel in a clearly labelled bottle and check local fire restrictions before you go. Like any fuel-burning stove, use it outdoors only; the CDC carbon-monoxide prevention guidance warns against using portable camp stoves indoors. A small alcohol fire can be put out with water.
For more outdoor tricks, see Winter Hacks: 15 Fixes for Cars, Clothing and a Warmer Home and Fire from Ice: How an Ice Lens Focuses Sunlight to Start a Fire.
Excellent.
ReplyDeleteDoes it work with Methylated Spirits?
Yes it would work
DeleteBravo...always nice to learn something new and such a great camping or road survival stove! Thanks and a wonderful video to boot!
ReplyDeleteI've used a $15 alcohol SafeSport (or some such brand) stove for 20 years! This can stove is almost identical and looks amazing. I might suggest, in addition to a windscreen others have mentioned, that you buy or improvise a pot stand that the stove will fit into, rather than putting the pot directly on the can. One is often cooking on soft and/or uneven surfaces when outside, and the stove is inherently unstable with a pot on it. Spilling that last cup of cocoa or pot of hot food in the backcountry can be a real bummer!
ReplyDeleteOther advantages aside from cheapness and lightness: dependability (no pumps or valves to clog or leak, burns decently at altitude) and safety (no pressurized canisters, again no leaking valves or connectors). Also, alcohol burns comparatively cleanly and cool; I was cooking in my tent in a blizzard at 10-11,000 feet, and turned the stove over on my backpack. I was able to quickly beat out the flames with a glove, and no damage occurred to the nylon of the backpack or the glove. It does give off fumes, depending on what alcohols you are burning (methyl vs. ethyl vs. ispropyl vs. mixed), but the burn is much cleaner than that from petroleum.
Good luck. I hope to make one or two of these soon and cook up multiple water batches at once!
Perfect!!!!!
ReplyDeleteshared on my blog!
DeleteWhile fun to make, these are a waste of time when it comes to actual backpacking. They need to be primed and are not so reliable (or safe)- also you still have to carry liquid fuel that it's hard to judge how much you need.
ReplyDeleteYou can get a cheap ultralight (4oz or so) backpacking stove for under $20 that use small butane canisters that are only $5.
Bottom line: invest in a decent stove.