So I have been messing around with the idea of making a denatured alcohol stove for camping/touring/hiking etc.. There are lots of different plans for making such a thing online, and though you can buy one that is pre-made from a reputable manufacturer(and seemingly safer) I decided to go the cheap and easy route. The prep for this job is basically how I prep for just about any such daunting task, downing two beers. Cept this time I saved my empties and instead of throwing them into the recycling bin, I re-used them for this project. Now I'm not usually a fan of Heineken, and this task was no exception, but I put on a half-hearted grimace and comenced with the drinking, trying all the while to keep myself from just pouring the beer down the drain, repeating to myself "get to the third one and the taste wont matter". I lied. to myself. After shotgunning two... or was it 5? 6? uhm... at some point I switched back to something I can stand, good ol' Sierra Nevada... mmmm, but any way... I got strait to cutting these cans to use for my stove. two can bottoms one pressed firmly inside the other with holes drilled into it for the burner (note to self, next time try using the power tools before getting to the nth number of beers.)
One large hole in the center for filling and pressure control will be covered by a penny durring burning, and six smaller holes in the outside ring of the top can... the instructions on the website do a better job of explaining than I do. http://www.csun.edu/~mjurey/stoveinstruct.html but here are some pictures of the results of my half hack job. After doing this I realize that anyone can build a stove in a pinch... I used bicycle spokes and scraps of the beer cans to build the pot base, obviously the Heineken can works well but I imagine other beer cans might work as well, and the the denatured alcohol was picked up at home depot, but can be found at a hardware store in any small town. just knowing how to do this I now see this as a necessary survival skill.
4 comments:
The penny stove is great, well worth having to endure a few Heinekens (hey at least it's not the Budweiser stove!)
I used a thin metal rod for the pot support.
this is exactly what I use for bikepacking. only differance is that it uses a screw instead of a penny.
I carry my denatured alcohol for cooking in a small aluminum water bottle. Very light set up and works great.
ha ha! I cant drink bud.. I WOULD have poured that down the drain. but dont say that when the postman is around, he loves that shit.
I weighed out the options of buying the Vargo... first off the Vargo is $15 more than the 12 pack of beer, and the Vargo wont get you drunk. Nice thing about the beer can style is once you've built one you can pretty much build them over and over as long as you can find some cans and have a pocket knife. low budget and no worries if something gets lost. sweet deal.
oh yeah and my pot base is Ti.. this set up is less than an ounce!!!
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