Alcohol Stove Myth and Charcloth..

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

I tried to make a compact alcohol stove..

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Rendering Pine Sap...

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Making Charcloth...

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A little bit of everything I was experimenting with...

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The stove and Charcloth pot fit inside the shoepolish can along with the short pan all you need to add in the wilderness is a can, it also holds a can opener....I'll be postin better pics..I am still experimenting or is it..Boots in the field??? I found that an oil lamp is more efficient and modified this same Alcohol burner to burn oil with a wick! The stove fits inside of a small shoe shine can...

[crashdive123]

Nice job. Nice pics.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

I did learn oil is by far more efficient....then again you showed us with a bracket fungus stove... oops! just now my brackets got rained on..better bring them inside..Thanks Crash!

[Rick]

And you don't have to worry about running out of fuel with the pine oil. Nice pics. Knowledge gained is another tool in the toolbox.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

Sure enough Rick! This was a fun experiment....All I did was add a 3/8" cotton rope wick inside the stove can and coiled about 5" in of rope in it. using lamp oil ...and all inside the shoeshine can the smallest ones..even the little pan I rendered sap in..

[crashdive123]

If you want to increase the heat output of your oil stove, increase the burning surface of your wick. A section of cardboard that sticks up just slightly above the oil level works pretty good. Need more surface? Just roll it up a bit.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

With the 3/8" cotton rope it is plenty hot!

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

More or less I figure i just need enough fuel to start rendering pine sap, maybe a months worth...

[finallyME]

I am sorry, I am not following what you were trying to do. You made an alcohol stove. Were you comparing it to something? What kind of alcy stove did you make?

[hunter63]

Nice job, I like the way you think, putting everything into one compact package.

I guess I will try one of the stoves, but what do you carry fuel in?

My fire kit is a shoe polish type can, with flint, steel, small bees wax candle stub, and char cloth.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

There really wasn't a specific goal other than to put some ideas to the test. The little Alcohol stove was much like all the rest. Nothing special a can with holes a primer pan. At first I tried using a dime over the center primer hole which is centered about the pictured peice of pipe and surrounded with fiberglass insulation. The little stove would build pressure and blow the dime off. So I tried a nickel, same result. So I screwed the pictured bolt in the hole. The pressure then push the alcohol out of the stove and into the primer pan. To sum it up, Alcohol stoves while they may work great for you are nothing I want to depend on. So I converted it to oil as described in the post. This worked well burning the wick and the burner would light as the flame danced from the wick to the holes in the burner. Then I had collected some pine sap with the goal of it being a source of fuel for the same stove. I found that melting the dried sap produced a possible fuel for my stove. Haven't tried that yet. I also made charcloth using the stove which fits inside of the shoepolish can for storage and the shoepolish can is used to make charcloth. I guess I was experimenting with being able to produce a kit that is sustainable without a trip to wally world. I'll be able to produce fire tinder and stove fuel from the wilderness. As to carrying fuel. Yes I would carry a bottle of oil or maybe several smaller bottles. Alcohol is no longer a question for me, but if any of you want to convince me other wise I'll listen.

[Rick]

Alcohol has some great pros and some bad cons as far as I'm concerned.

On the Pro side, it's cheap, abundant, easy to carry, doesn't create a hazard if you spill it, burns easily and hot and it works in a variety of stove designs. A little water added to the alcohol prevents sooting your pans. Use the right fuel and you can even drink it.

On the con side, it doesn't work well when it's windy or cold.

[finallyME]

Sounds like you were making a penny stove, without a penny. Well before giving up on alcy stoves, I would try this one. Jim Wood's Super Cat. It is a very easy stove to make, and does pretty good. Rick was right about poor performance in wind. But, adding a windscreen almost eliminates this problem. However, I would like to know how pine pitch does in the Super Cat. Maybe I should try it. However, alcy stoves are made to burn alcohol (go figure), so putting another fuel in it is kind of unfair. Pine pitch is a neat idea, and I think it might do better in a stove like this one. Candle Stove. It sounds like it is more of a wax type fuel.

But....what are we REALLY trying to accomplish? Sometimes we look at the cool factor and lose site of the big picture. At one time, I was trying to build my own wood burner down draft stove (like the bushbuddy) so I wouldn't have to carry fuel. I made a few, and they didn't perform all that well. Then, when I sat back and thought about it, why would I even need a wood burning stove? I can make a small fire with two rocks and two skewers and get the same result. (Personally, if you think a small cookfire is not LNT, your psycho).
I guess my point is that if a fire will do, then why complicate things. However, if a fire is not feasible, then by all means.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

I will give both of the stoves you posted a go. For me I guess it is more of finding what works for me. As far as just building a fire, sure that is mostly an option but if your injured or just cold having a stove kit could be really handy. At least that is my opinion. Beleive me if I can have a camp fire I will, I do most evenings in my backyard campsite. I guess it is like, why make a knife when you can just buy one as good or better. I'll just say because I can. Thanks for the links I hadn't seen exactly either design.

[Rick]

I don't know, FinallyMe. I agree with you but it sure is nice at the end of the day to plop my lazy butt down and fire up the Pocket Rocket. I can have dinner done while someone else is still gathering wood.

[hunter63]

CBS, any pic's of the oil version?

I guess my experience on building one also is just knowing that you CAN do it, with probably a SAN and scrounged materials if you had to.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

It haas the oil wick in it in the last pic of the the post. Oil is what i made charcloth and melted pine sap with in the second pic. But, Crash gave me an idea in of one his posts I wanna try, so let me do that and I'll update the post. By the way, the can is an aluminum ointment can for tattoo's, Kinda hard to get one just anywhere, but look in the ointments section of your local pik a pak and you might find something maybe an old general store or grocery? Any how I'll add later.

[finallyME]

I don't know, FinallyMe. I agree with you but it sure is nice at the end of the day to plop my lazy butt down and fire up the Pocket Rocket. I can have dinner done while someone else is still gathering wood.

Rick, that is a good reason to bring a stove. That is why I bring an alcohol stove sometimes. They are easier than messin' with a fire. Or, I can't have a fire because of restrictions (you have to be careful with restrictions, sometimes an alcohol stove, or contained wood stove, or even an esbit qualifies as an open fire. The pocket rocket would work though). There is generally a different solution for every person. What works for one doesn't work for another.

Just to get my perspective, generally I am trying to get the absolute lightest solution. A fire is usually lighter. An alcy stove is really light as well. A pine sap stove would be lighter than an alcy stove, so I think that I need to try to get something going there. In the end, I still like messin' with stuff and making things.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

Damage done with the Leafspring Knife before heat treat...it held up good...
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This is how I harvested the pine sap as learned from (Erunkisurvival). I would think the method could be improved and with less damage to the tree. I am gonna try some different ways on the same tree. By the way the tree is on my property and is sacrificial anyway.