Alcohol Stove(with a steel wool reservoir)

[InsolentWretch]

Well, im new here. But i figured i would mention that if you make your own alcohol stove you may want to consider adding steel wool to its alcohol reservoir. I simply use two tuna cans and place a tapered copper pipe in the center of one of them. With the thinner end down. It tapers out to a diameter. Which allows me to set my canteen cup on top of it. But inst really necessary. other than to conduct heat and to draw the center of the flame upward toward a concentrated point. I surround the remaining space with steel wool. The copper pipe heats the steel wool. Which in turn heats the fuel. I use the other tuna can for snuffing the flame out. Simply because it is virtually impossible to blow out. And i use the other tuna can for burning pine resin. And steel wool acts as a good wick for that purpose so i always carry some.

Anyway, it burns hotter than a regular alcohol stove simply because the hotter your fuel is the hotter it will burn.And the steel wool reservoir conducts heat throughout the fuel supply. In cold situations or winter conditions. A Trangia wont burn very hot. (With mine, i can cook a stake 'well-done' in a blizzard) So in my experience a steel wool reservoir makes all the difference.(Note: You can simply use steel wool in your current alcohol stove reservoir.)

ps.
I will test how much alcohol burns for how long(I usually only put just a little bit into it for cooking.) in my stove and time how long it takes to boil water. Tonight, and will give you the results and maybe put some pics up of it. though its really only the steel wool that really makes the difference. ,,i have lids for them,,could have been a pringles can lid. cant remember.

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There is actually,a lot to be said for carrying 91% alcohol.(Without going into its purposes as far as first aid is concerned) Especially, in my opinion because it acts like a solvent for pine resin. Just a small amount of alcohol is all it takes to make a huge amount of fuel. Ordinary pine resin really needs a flame to start. But not when you have allowed it to dissolve in just a small amount of alcohol.(not so much that it is liquefied completely). Once it has dried much of the alcohol will be trapped within it. But even in first aid situations pine resin dissolved in alcohol will stick to a wound and have a longer term disinfectant effect. So it is good for bandage glue. And as a glue in general. So pine resin. Is a pretty major woodland survival asset in my opinion.
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I carry a large pill bottle around for the purpose of dissolving pine resin.
Pine resin is easy to collect. And you can extract huge amounts from a tee without harming it. With it i can turn a small flask of alcohol into months worth of tinder. And create fire from damp tinder and kindling easily. (i baton for dry wood in damp conditions. and feather for tinder)
But you can get a fire going much faster using pine resin. To the point it burns hot enough that you can burn damp wood on it.
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The copper pipe gets extremely hot. And it evacuates its heat from the hollow inside the pipe out through the top. so the heat of the whole thing concentrates right above it. ..its definitely wind proof . I have never managed to blow it out. I have however singed my beard of trying lol Anyway, if i want to make rice or something i use about three tbs of alcohol (more than enough to bring it to a boil.) and then i let the rice sit partly covered,almost completely for 15 min.

[InsolentWretch]

The imusa grease dispenser(or walmarts mainstay or whatever) works real well with this set up lol. Which to my surprise turned out to be. an amazing buy for 6 bucks or whatever. lol

[hunter63]

Hunter63 saying Hey and Welcome......

There is an intro section to say Hello at:
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions

Cool mod on the stove.....but have to ask, doesn't the steel wool catch fire?....or do you use a real course "wool"?

[Rick]

Welcome home.

[InsolentWretch]

Hey all, thanks.

The steel wool in my stove does catch fire. Because its saturated with alcohol. It doesnt actually burn the steel wool to any significant extent. Ive used this stove a thousand times. And it still has the same wool in it from when i made it. I can take the wool out and knead it when it gets a little dirty. Its still like new.

The heat concentrates where it is rising the fastest(where the flame is hottest) The steel wool may singe a little as the alcohol becomes spent and the flame begins to die down. But while the flame is burning hot? The steel wool though hot isnt burnt no .

Anyway, my stove is simple. I could make jets for it. But it really doesnt need them Ill probably make another one. In april when i get paid.(but i really have no need to make another one.) I simply dont like the idea of spending money on a can with some holes drilled in it that doesnt even work well.(like the trangia lol)

You could easily just make a hole in the tuna can only big enough for the copper pipe to be inserted(so without removing the entire lid of the can. and drill holes for jets around the perimeter. In which case the flame would have no direct contact with the steel wool. Whats important in my opinion. Is that the fuel supply is heated instantly. So there is no priming. ..burns real hot lol. However you make yours, or if you buy one. I would recommend putting steel wool in the reservoir. It simply WILL NOT burn hot at low temperatures if you dont lol.


The stoves you guys make are likely to be a little more complex in design than mine. This is perfect for me and convenient. Simply because i always use pine resin preferably scotch pine,white, etc And in many cases i do allow it to dissolve to virtually a liquid.(depends on what im using it for) ((multiplies my fuel supply exponentially)) A nail polish bottle filled with 91% alc. with pine resin is well over a month of burn time. The steel wool -though needing cleaning occasionally- buy kneading.
The only disadvantage is the soot when burning resin. ..still no big deal

This steel wool reservoir will burn 70% alcohol. Like a trangia or other hollow basin reservoir will burn 91%

The simple point,, alcohol is much more volatile at high temperatures(hence, burns much hotter, rises much faster etc). whatever reservoir mesh you use provided that it conducts heat. Evenly throughout the reservoir. Is going to dramatically improve the heat output. ...anyway just thought ide throw that out there.

Note, you can make your own burnable alcohol and culture your own yeast in the forest(you can learn the method of making yeast online)(though i carry some yeast with me). And obtain your sugars from burch sap when the tree is first budding and other saps that contain high concentrations of sugar. and anything else containing sugar that the yeast can digest. Which the yeast will excrete ethyl alcohol from ---huge quantities of the sugar mash can easily be fermented in a dry bag.-- but you can even do it with a heavy duty doubled garbage bag using a hole dug into the ground and covered well ...(way easier than it seems)
Using your bill can as a pot still. And without doing any harm to your billy. It takes about three days/10% or so to ferment. Anyway,by re-distilling the percentage is increased dramatically. You can create
100% safe ethyl that you can drink and use as fuel.

Ill put up the method later

Thanks for the welcome.