John,

If you come up with something I'd be interested in hearing about it. I'm basically lazy, so it would save me a lot of work. :-)

-Mark

Just received mine. A very nice piece of work. Can't wait to give it a try, which will have to wait until Sunday, unfortunately. Mine weighs in at .9 oz.

I love the "crush resistant" feel of it.

Simon

It arrived in Texas within 4 days. Basic shipping was reasonable, but not discounted.

Some aluminum shavings were present, but overall it has acceptable finish for the price, especially considering it seems to be a cottage-scale company. Clear instructions warn to be careful of any unfinished edges... I managed to lightly slice my finger on the windscreen after reading them.

Boiled 1 cup of tap water indoors in an Evernew 400ml titanium mug with lid. There was fuel to spare. The flame slightly overlapped onto the walls of the cup but the silicone handles and lid survived. The bottom of this mug measures just under 3" in diameter. It is fortunate I chose this stove over the larger "Pro" stove.

This should work well for my summer solo kit. I may trim and ventilate the windscreen to fit my mug. This might geek consumption down to 1/4oz of spirits.

I am happy with the stove and look forward to getting outside.

Thanks,

Jeremy

Noticed a little distortion on the plastic lid of the titanium mug. Surface only and seals fine, but I won't heat again with the lid on. Handles show no wear, but they are more heat resistant.

Jeremy, glad you like the stove. I wouldn't advise a plastic lid when using any alky stove (sure, now's a good time to tell you). I would go with a foil lid (lightweight and saves your good lid from melting).

I built a gram weenie wannabe stove out of a hair gel aluminum container. It is the gram weenie design pretty much exactly and burns hot and fast. So far I haven't tested it with denatured alcohol, just some vodka from my cupboard and it works fine; better than my pepsi can stove. It is slightly heavier than my pepsi stove by just a few grams.

Edited by maxhoagland on 04/19/2008 22:26:45 MDT.

Thanks for all the good info!

It's all too possible to get carried away with making tiny stoves...

Here's one I made a while back from a 'Femfresh' pump aerosol bottle. The bottle, next to a 250ml 'red bull' burner:



And boiling water in the first thing that came to hand when it actually lit and bloomed...

Hi,

Are you guys having better luck with the yellow HEET than with denatured alcohol?

I have been using the SL-x brand of denatured from Lowe's or HD.

Greg

Greg,
I actually just got a Gram Weenie and there's been some discussion about HEET on another thread. I can't get HEET to perform that well, but I've been using Everclear, and that seems to work really well for me. There's an article on here about different fuels, their benefits or faults, additives which can be toxic, etc...
Just be careful with the denatured alcohol. See if you can get a list of other ingredients in there. The percentage of alcohol also makes a difference. Unless I'm mistaken, Everclear burns the cleanest, since it is only alcohol (95%) and water.

Thanks for the reply Travis. I have used denatured alcohol with good results in other stoves. I want to get a little better performance out of my GW because it is such a cool little stove.

I can't find a list of ingredients on the can but denatured alcohol is a fuel for marine stoves (and labeled as such). I have used it for this purpose in the past on boats. Marine stoves are used in enclosed rooms so I am not too worried about it, especially since it is outdoors.

I will get some everclear and give it a try. Any idea of the alcohol content in the yellow HEET?

George sent you the taller GW that uses 3/4oz correct? Have you used it yet? He is sending me one as well so I am curious.

Greg

Find the composition of products by searching for "MSDS" and the product name. For instance "MSDS S-L-X"

The "Material Safety Data Sheet" will give you compounds by percentage. There is no standard format, so sometimes you have to do a little sleuthing. And look for newer, rather than older data, as composition changes over time.

JWBasecamp also has pointers to common fuels.

It is wise to know what you are breathing in terms of chemicals, as well as the mix of alcohols to determine maximum heat per unit of weight. (Ethanol is higher than Methanol.)

Thanks Greg,

So, it looks like yellow HEET would be the best in terms of performance. It is greater than 99% methanol, and 1% proprietary ingredients.

Everclear would be 95% ethyl, plus water, correct?

Denatured alcohol is 45 to 50% methanol, the same mix for ethyl, and 1% ethyl keytones.

I will be trying the HEET and the everclear since it is multi-use.


Greg

Sigh. We do careful research into the different alcohol fuels and publish the results here at BPL. Why don't you read these articles we go to so much trouble to prepare? I am really curious.

Methanol: toxic to humans, low energy content, burns OK
Ethanol: safe to handle, burns safely
Isopropanol: safe to handle, but burns poorly and gives off toxic combustion properties.

Denatured ethanol alcohol: Can be really good (in countries outside America), but can be OK to seriously dangerous when bought in America, depending on what was put in it. Read the MSDS for the brand.

Cheers

Hi Roger,

I just became a member today- and the first thing i did (after the post above) was look up the articles on stove fuel. Good info. I went to the liquor store here to pick up some everclear. Of course I found out that you can't get the 95% stuff here in WA.

Greg

Greg,
Yes, George sent me the "Super Gram Weenie" as well. This stove is going to be good for those times where I'll need to boil a little more than 12 oz. It may also come in handy to heat up two separate mugs of water (my girlfriend is usually with me) without having to refuel and relight the stove.

I'm a beginner to alcohol stoves myself, so I can't offer too much more help! But I'll chime in whenever I can (or whenever I feel like adding something mindless to the thread.....)

Greg,
Don't feel too bad about the article thing. I floated around here for more than a year before deciding to become a member, which I did for 2 reasons.

1. I learned more than I ever thought I would, and I'm happy to pay for good knowledge. (except student loans--those can really get to be a pain)

2. So I can actually read about what many of these threads are about, rather than trying to extrapolate the information from various comments!!

3. Ok, I said 2 reasons, but whatever....I also have seen Roger "scold" others for not reading the actual article being discussed, and decided to avoid that fate!! :)

.

Edited by annapurna on 05/02/2010 06:22:10 MDT.

Anna,
I did not know you could order it. I assume a quick search online will reveal sources. Does anyone else want some 190 Everclear in WA? Thanks.

Travis,
I have been meaning to join for awhile. Roger is right though- It is so easy to search for things like that, and that is where people should start. It's just so easy to jump into a conversation w/o doing your homework.

There is a ton of good info here. It gave me the bug to MYOG. I have a Sil tarp, backpack, and many stoves that I have made due to this site. Now I have to make everything again- in Cuben of course.

I have a whitebox that has been great for trips with my son and my evernew .9L, but I am looking for something that I can use with a heinie can, or my firelight 550, and maybe a trappers mug.

I couldn't get a boil in my 550 so George is sending the "super". It is such a cool little stove that I want it to work- hence the search for a different fuel. That article was great.

I have had great luck with a tealight, but I would like the integrated stand. It is just a "cleaner" system. Let me know how yours works out.

Greg

Greg,
I'd be really surprised if you couldn't get a boil with the Super GW in your 550. If you do get your hands on some Everclear, try the regular GW again. But now that you'll have both, you've got options! And depending on your cooking needs, you may not even need a full boil. I use little hot water when hiking, between 20-25 ounces a day, and none of it actually needs to boil.

And heck, these little buggers are so small and light, you can carry two if you've got a hiking partner. When I go with my girlfriend, we've been carrying the MSR Pocket Rocket (which we will still use in winter), and we'd trade off boiling water in our mugs. Now that I've got two of these, we can boil at the same time. I think we can handle the extra 13 grams of weight.

Edited by T.L. on 02/13/2010 14:20:00 MST.