Alcohol stoves

Alcohol stoves are the lightest backpacking stove.  If you are determined to carry the lightest backpack, the  alcohol stove is for you.  But remember there are disadvantages  to using it.  You can only boil water with the stove and there is no way to adjust the heat.  The stove uses a minimum of two ounces of alcohol per boil.  A wind shield almost always should be used in the slightest wind and above.  The stove efficiency decreases with an increase in altitude or a decrease with temperature.  It takes longer to boil water.   With a minimal amount of skill you can make your own alcohol stove, and it will cost you little or nothing.  I have made lots of stoves out of cat food cans and aluminum soda cans.  Because the stoves are very light weight they are very fragile and dent easily.  

This is a cat food can alcohol stove.   You use a paper hole puncher to make the holes around the outside.   You can make a single or double row of holes.  Do some experiments to see what makes the best burn pattern using the least amount of fuel.  The idea is to light the alcohol through the large opening in the top, and once the alcohol begins to burn you put the pot to boil water on the top.  The flames will begin to shoot out from the sides creating a burner effect.  An added pot support allows incoming air to feed the burning alcohol.

A more durable, stainless steel Vienna sausage can also be used at a very minimal weight addition.

I made a pot support out of hardware wire.   It can be carried inside the heating pot.

Pot support and alcohol stove

Soda cans are the most efficient alcohol stoves.  There are many ways to make these stoves on You Tube.  Two soda cans are required, and the number and size of burner holes determine the stoves efficiency.   Some designs require an inner liner to be cemented into the stove.

This stove design has a sealed reservoir increasing the efficiency and decreasing the boil time.  A penny is placed over the reservoir hole after it is filled with alcohol, and you light the fumes coming out of the side of the stove.

The dent on the side of the aluminum stove proves that these alcohol stoves are very fragile.   The advantage is that you can easily make another stove. 

Here is another variation of the soda can alcohol stove with fewer holes, but larger burner holes.

Alcohol stove with pot support

Another variation of the sealed reservoir stove with a screw cap

There are commercially made alcohol stoves on the market.  This is the wind shield of a Caldera Cone Alcohol Stove.  The narrow area at the top holds the boil pot in place, while the alcohol stove is placed in the center bottom of the cone--a very efficient stove.   The disadvantage is that the aluminum cone must be put together for each burn, and eventually it be too dented to function properly.

Caldera Cone Alcohol Stove

The Solite Alcohol Stove is efficient but it is a little heavier

The Vargo Decagon Alcohol Stove is a very stable stove on which you can set your boil pot on.

I carried this crazy looking solid fuel pellet stove through part of the AT in North Carolina.  Several freak snow storms and unusually low temperatures made me go to a canister stove.

Measuring cup used to measure the required two ounces of alcohol per boil

For a longer hike I carry several eight ounce alcohol leak proof containers.  I can go for eight days before I refill.  To save fuel while ultralight backpacking, I eat a cold breakfast, power bars for lunch, and only burn the stove for dinner.