Touring - Pop Can Stove for Touring

I like to be self supported when touring. I already have an MSR Whisperlite International stove I carry. I stumbled across this the other day. I made one and it works great! Anyone else tried this?
http://www.pcthiker.com/pages/gear/pepsistoveinstruct.shtml

I'll take some pics.

This is what mine looks like. The sun glasses are just to show how small it is.

Making soup.

Is there any way to control the heat on those stoves? I thought about making one to use, but the lack of a heat control pretty much renders it useless except for boiling water.

I punched holes in the bottom (paper hole punch) for air flow. I also cut a piece of aluminum that I put around the outside to control the amount of oxygen. This will simmer for quite a while.

The pop can stove is wonderful. I love using mine. Witha little creativity you can pack the stove, windscreen, pot stand, fuel bottle, pot lifter, and matches all inside a 1 liter walmart grease pot. For short trips, get a small soda pop from walmart in a 250 ml plastic bottle. These are sold as a child sized drink but the container is perfect for holding alcohol fuel.

Another very useful thing is to take a cheap foam camping pad (also available from walmart) and cut out sections and glue together with contact cement to make a pot cozy. Instead of wasting fuel simmering things like pasta, simply boil the water, add the pasta, then remove from the fire and insert the covered pot into the cozy and cover with more camping pad foam. The temperature will only drop about 5 degrees or so in the 10-15 minutes needed to cook the pasta.

Here's some pictures:

This is brilliant. I will make one to use as an emergency backup for my much beloved Svea stove. If one were world touring, it would give the option of switching fuels, and it would be light as hell.

This is brilliant. I will make one to use as an emergency backup for my much beloved Svea stove. If one were world touring, it would give the option of switching fuels, and it would be light as hell.

Oh, here's a link for Svea, if you're interested:
http://www.optimus.se/products/svea/

cheers.

A touring buddy and I did a fun, not very scientific comparison test between my MSR DragonFly International and his soda can stove. We called it the Campstove Olympics.

You can read about it in detail on Bicycle Touring 101 in the Campgear section. In summary I was quite impressed with the soda pop stove. It was a great deal less expensive then my stove, you could fit three of them in the space needed by the MSR and it was very quiet when cooking.

The MSR handled multiple fuel types, was able to boil water faster and could be turned off easily.

One big advantage of the soda can stoves could happen on a long bicycle tour with an airplane flight in the middle. I've heard that airplane security doesn't seem to like people having stoves that have been in use before. Of course you can't carry fuel at all. Discarding a fuel bottle sucks but isn't too expensive. Discarding a whole stove on the other hand could be. With a soda can stove you could easily carry many stoves with you and when it comes time to board that plane in the middle of your tour then you simply throw away the used stoves knowing that you still have an unused stove or two available.

Of course you can easily make another set of stoves out of inexpensive parts provided you don't mind the waiting time while glue drys.

~Jamie N
www.bicycletouring101.com

The pop can stove is wonderful. I love using mine. Witha little creativity you can pack the stove, windscreen, pot stand, fuel bottle, pot lifter, and matches all inside a 1 liter walmart grease pot. For short trips, get a small soda pop from walmart in a 250 ml plastic bottle. These are sold as a child sized drink but the container is perfect for holding alcohol fuel.

Another very useful thing is to take a cheap foam camping pad (also available from walmart) and cut out sections and glue together with contact cement to make a pot cozy. Instead of wasting fuel simmering things like pasta, simply boil the water, add the pasta, then remove from the fire and insert the covered pot into the cozy and cover with more camping pad foam. The temperature will only drop about 5 degrees or so in the 10-15 minutes needed to cook the pasta.

Here's some pictures:

Courious......... How much does your whole rig weigh, pot, full bottle of fuel & all the stuff?

Courious......... How much does your whole rig weigh, pot, full bottle of fuel & all the stuff?

I just weighed it. the whole thing, including the pot cozy (not pictured) and hald a bottle of fuel (125 ml) came 1 lb even.

I just weighed it. the whole thing, including the pot cozy (not pictured) and hald a bottle of fuel (125 ml) came 1 lb even.

Cool, looks like my kinda price range too!

One big advantage of the soda can stoves could happen on a long bicycle tour with an airplane flight in the middle. I've heard that airplane security doesn't seem to like people having stoves that have been in use before. Of course you can't carry fuel at all. Discarding a fuel bottle sucks but isn't too expensive. Discarding a whole stove on the other hand could be. With a soda can stove you could easily carry many stoves with you and when it comes time to board that plane in the middle of your tour then you simply throw away the used stoves knowing that you still have an unused stove or two available.

Of course you can easily make another set of stoves out of inexpensive parts provided you don't mind the waiting time while glue drys.

~Jamie N
www.bicycletouring101.com

I built on the the can stoves to test as a Girl Scouting project and I found that you don't need to glue them at all.

I think the soda can stoves are neat and used one for a few days on the AT. A buddy gave me his old one. Unfortunately, one cold, rainy, windy (thus miserable) night on Mt. Rogers. (5,700') it took 40 minutes to make mac'n'cheese!. I was using a windscreen AND cooking inside a shelter! That was unacceptable performance. I went back to my Superfly -- not one problem. I'm willing try an alcohol stove again, though. Wanna make my own this time. A 1-oz stove is always appealing!

you got the plans from a pct web site. all the hikers are using them its the most popular stove on the trails. i used mine on my tour. you can use denatured alcohol, regular rubbing alcohol in a pinch (doesnt burn as well, sooty) and this gas line anti freeze called HEET works great too.

i dont know of a way to adjust heat. i just eat mac and cheese type stuff, so thats not a problem.

You can sort of adjust the output level of a pop can stove by using a can top to cover the stove. Remove the flip top and the tab first. The top covers most of the burner and allows only a fraction of the flame and sort of works to lower the heat level.

However, the best way to use the stove, in my experience is to make a pot cozy and eliminate any simmering altogether. Just get a cheap foam sleeping pad from xmart and cut a top and bottom circle the diameter of your pot. Then cut a rectangle the height of the pot (with lid) plus twice the thickness of the pad. Make the rectangle long enough to wrap around the pot. Then use rubber cement to glue aluminum foil on one side of one of the circles. This is what you will set the pot on. Glue the ends of the rectangle together.

To use, heat the water in the pot to boiling, add your pasta, rice, or whatever needs simmering. Cover and set the pot on the bottom pad (the foil helps keep protect the pad from the hot bottom. Slide the tube over the pot and set the lid on top of it all. If you cut the pieces correctly, they should fit tightly together. Let the pasta, rice, etc. sit undisturbed for the normal cooking time. The insulated pad keeps the temperature very near to boiling for a long time. When the time is up, your stuff should be cooked.

It works great, saves fuel, and you don't have to fiddle with simmer controls. As an added bonus, the cozy can protect your pot from dents when you pack it away.

I've used a Trangia stove for all cooking applications, on the bike and in the mountains, for over 20 years. Having previously been used to (and happy with) Optimus petrol and Kerosene stoves, I found the Trangia lighter, more compact, simple to use and maintain, great in bad weather(when complex designs often start to malfunction). Great when around kids, as a result. Multi fuel gizmos are overkill for most people. Boiling times are a false comparison. Fuel costs are slightly higher than some.

For those of you not inclined to build a cooker yourselves, this is the Bernard Hinault of Pop Can stoves.

I've used a Trangia stove for all cooking applications, on the bike and in the mountains, for over 20 years.

For those of you not inclined to build a cooker yourselves, this is the Bernard Hinault of Pop Can stoves.

Which model Trangia do you have?

I have the smaller version of the set with a tea pot and a couple of nesting pans, although I often leave the extra bits at home and just take one pan for everything.

I recently acquired a tiny set which has just one pan. It weighs next to nothing, and is the size of my fist.

Oh, and I always use a Sigg bottle for the fuel. The weight penalty isn't as bad as the aftermath of a leak in a pannier;-)

I have the smaller version of the set with a tea pot and a couple of nesting pans, although I often leave the extra bits at home and just take one pan for everything.

I recently acquired a tiny set which has just one pan. It weighs next to nothing, and is the size of my fist.

Oh, and I always use a Sigg bottle for the fuel. The weight penalty isn't as bad as the aftermath of a leak in a pannier;-)

Thanks!

Might the smaller picture be the "tiny set"? Does it heat well enough? Or is it just too small?

The other pics are from the Brasslite web-site (http://www.brasslite.com) Talk about tiny! They even have instuctions on how to build your own alcohol stove.

Hey, I used a Brasslight (http://www.brasslite.com) stove on my last tour. I have to say that they are where it is at. They are much more durable than a pop can stove and you can adjust the flame. I used a titanium cookset that the stove (plus firestarting material) fit into. The whole setup was so light that I can't image not taking it along - I got to have my morning coffee. To combine a bit with the available fuel thread, I used HEET in the US, which you can find at virtually every gas station. In canada I was able to buy actual denatured alcohol which was also pretty easily available. Not to mention in a pinch you can use rubbing alcohol (sooty) or Everclear (expensive).

A windscreen is absolutely essential. As you can see I made one out of tinfoil that Folded flat. Light, cheap and disposable. You can now buy one from Brasslight that looks pretty nice. The aforementioned cozy is also a really good idea. I was able to turn down the flame and simmer pretty well, but using the cozy seems smarter.

Roger.........

yes, that's the set I've started using. A little less durable, long-term, I would imagine- but the burner is identical to those used in the bigger sets and the whole set folds into a very compact package. You can substitute stainless or non-stick pans for the aluminium ones if you prefer..........

Making soup. jharte, I like that wind screen/pot stand combination. Looks like it would nest around the pot for storage. Where did you get it?

I made one about a month ago, from an article in "Wilderness Way" magazine. I would use it for backpacking or hitch-hiking, where I consider being "ultralight" a real issue for me. My philosophy for bicycle touring is that it's like a luxury cruise with camping, since I use the panniers and trailers as a rational for carrying the gear I'd like to take backpacking! I'm a "kitchen sink" tourist, so I'll stick with my white gas/gasoline stove for that.

One benefit of the Trangia is its built-in windshield.The stronger the wind the better it works. It has a simmer device also which is useful. Storing as it does inside the pots is another bonus. When using methylated spirits (which I think is the equivalent of denatured alcohol) try adding a small quantity of water to the fuel bottle. This will stop any soot from covering the pan bottom. I've forsaken all of my petrol and gas stoves for the trangia as it's so much safer when used in or near a tent. George.

I used a tuna-can stove on the AT for 4 months. It worked well & certainly has a place in the lineup of options for bike camping. I would caution anyone considering a home made alcohol stove to experiment at home and on short trips before choosing one for a long trip. The nice thing about biking is that the weight of your load isn't actually riding on your body - its on the bike. Carrying an extra pound of stove isn't as big a deal when bike touring. For those that choose to go ultra-light, its a great option. But its not for everyone.

I can recommend it for those that: like futzing with their gear / making their own stuff; people that are travelling solo (or at least cooking solo); people that are counting grams in pursuit of ultra-light nirvana; people that do not plan to cook at higher altitudes or in cold weather.

Those are really cool. Thanks for sharing that. We met a guy on last summers tour that had one of those. And it was great.

Here's an interesting use for starting a fire from the bottom portion of a soda can. Presumably, one could polish the bottom of their can stove, start a mini-fire and then ignite the stove completely without an external source of fire (matches, lighters)...
http://www.trackertrail.com/survival/fire/cokeandchocolatebar/

Well, I finished building a 26-hole pop can stove yesterday. Fired it up and it seems to get VERY hot.

I did the 26 hole version because the only thing I had to punch holes in the can with was a thumbtack.

I'm going to fashion a pot stand and wind guard for it tonite. I have a Primus Yellowstone Techno that has served me well, but I've found that it's sometimes hard to find IsoPro in a lot of the little towns that I've biked through in the past. The PopCan stove is so small and light, I might just take both of them on my Western Express/TAT tour next month.

Trangia with a sig bottle, when I go with friends I take a bigger pot and it will cook for 5 people, as with the fuel bit its roughly 10% water to stop the soot and when I want to simmer a pasta sauce slowly for ages then i put 20% + water. Trangia also now are doing a multipurpose top, works as a sieve, a lid and a chopping board also a must for the kit. At airports, as long as you burn off the fuel in the brass stove, no smell and they will allow it on board, I think smell = vapour and quite rightly its a no no

Trangia with a sig bottle, when I go with friends I take a bigger pot and it will cook for 5 people, as with the fuel bit its roughly 10% water to stop the soot and when I want to simmer a pasta sauce slowly for ages then i put 20% + water.

You are talking 90% fuel + 10% water / 80% fuel + 20% water, right? Also, which fuel do you use here methanol, isopropyl, denatured, or other?

You are talking 90% fuel + 10% water / 80% fuel + 20% water, right? Also, which fuel do you use here methanol, isopropyl, denatured, or other?

Yes my man I am talking 90% fuel + 10% water / 80% fuel + 20% water and as for the fuel its methalated sprits, its a real good tip, this guy in a camp shop told me & then months later it was on the Trangia website. It really cuts down the soot almost next to nothing, you can add more water, depends what you want. Any way since we are on the topic I thought to put this list together for all you international tourers..


How to find meths (methylated spirits)
Country Name Picture Price per litre Where to buy it UK Methylated spirit £5 1) Hardware stores
2) Camp/outdoor stores
3) Pharmacies
Purple Tastes nasty, keep your burner out of your pans
France Alcool a bruler €1.50 All largeish supermarkets Clear
Does not taste bad, keep your burner in your pans.



Italy Alcool Etilico denaturato €2-3 1) All pharmacies, but beware of being offered the pure and very expensive version.
2) Some, smaller supermarkets have it in half litre bottles, where it is cheaper Pink
Tastes really bad

Greece "ino - pneuma"
€1.20 All small and large general stores Blue in half litre bottles, tastes OK.
This country is great! anywhere you can get food, you get meths.

Bulgaria "Spirt"
€1.60 In about one in five small general stores Although the bottle in the photo is blue, I have seen an orange one. Half litre glass bottles
Romania The label says "Alcool Sanitar" but the locals refer to it as "Spirt" €1.20 Found in pretty much all general stores in any village. Various brands available, always blue.
This is only 70% or 75% alcohol, but it burns ok, taking longer to boil water.
It is too slow for melting snow and needs real tender loving care to light on cold mornings.
Alcool Tehnic
BEST OPTION €1.00 In some, but not all village stores. Ask for it, as it is not always on display Purple
This stuff is the business. It is 90% alcohol.

Ukraine and Russia ,
Very hard to get 100 ml ! €4.00 After searching widely I found one pharmacy selling 100 ml bottles. Not every pharmacy sells them. I have used solid blocks of hexy fuel as an alternative.
TABLETOK (solid hexy fuel)
€1.00 for 24 cubes. Found in hardware stores (Rospodari Tovari) Found once at a bike bits stall at the market Each cube boils 0.5 litre of water. Place the cube on a bit of tin can balanced over where the burner normally goes.

Siberia I have to admit failure here. If you are travelling the trans siberian route. The mosquitos are so numerous, cooking is onorous. The cafes do good food for 2 dollars a meal and are at 40 km intervals. This is cheaper than buying food. A thermos is nice here if you are a tea addict. They will fill it for less than 20 cents. It will keep overnight for a hot cup in the morning without opening the tent door! I have read of friend getting meths in Irkutz with the help of a British Petroleum company. It is a by product of vodka manufacture and called spirt.

Mongolia More bad news. Bring a petrol stove.
China

Thankyou to Li of Norwich for this information $1 It can be found in one out of five pharmacies. Head for the ones with people having drips administered (Identified by red crosses) These sell 500 ml bottles. Any large/ medium town will have it if you search.
The upper bottle I found in a general grocery store. Also we are told in hardware stores. Less than one in 10 stores had it. Is 95 %, burns well and does not taste bad.
The stuff from the grocery or hardware stores is less than 95%, but burns tolerably well.

Laos Alcool

$2.5 The 'supplier type' pharmacy has litres for sale. Smaller places have 100 ml bottles
We bought in Udomxai, so larger places eg. Luang Prabang probably all have it. 90 %
clear
nb. cafe food so cheap, little meths needed on main routes.

Thailand Isopropanol
(Could not find meths, but Isopropanol burns ok in this heat)
Special care needed above 30 degrees shade temp, stove burns like a demon. $2.10 Pharmacies have 500 ml bottles Keep your burner seperately from the pans. I have a vague memory that Isopropanol is POISONOUS I have not tasted it!
Most people will not need trangia here, food cheap and available along the road every 3 km ish. Water heating coils on sale here are great for a hot cup.

Malaysia Methylated spirit $3.00 Sold in the pharmacy. 2 out of 3 pharmacies in Penang had it. Clear, burns well.
Heating coil is a good way to save buying water here if in hotels.

Spain Alcohol de Quemar Info from Steve Lord (Thanks) Cheap Grocery shops
readily available

Hope this helps

Hey Joe: your list can be found on this website: http://www.mark-ju.net/juliette/meths.htm

Yeah, I did copy it from some website and saved it to my "Bike Stuff file" never thought of posting it though, sure its going to be useful to some one.

I typically just buy HEET for my alcohol stove and it works just fine. However I notice that REI now sells Denatured Alcohol (http://www.rei.com/product/3258.htm?vcat=REI_SSHP_CAMPING_TOC) in a larger can. Has anyone used this and are able to comment on its burning cleanliness?

I get my denatured alcohol from the paint section at Ace Hardware. It burns really clean.

I get my denatured alcohol from the paint section at Ace Hardware. It burns really clean.

Is it cheaper then the REI? - which is US$6.60 a quart. This is cheaper then the HEET and I'm going to be picking up a few other essentials so I'd like to just add in the alcohol. But not if it doesn't burn clean.

I think it was 4 bucks for a quart. I'm going to go get some before I leave for my trip next week, so I'll check then.

Is it cheaper then the REI? - which is US$6.60 a quart. This is cheaper then the HEET and I'm going to be picking up a few other essentials so I'd like to just add in the alcohol. But not if it doesn't burn clean.

Anywhere would be cheaper than REI! Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Ace Hardware, etc. Denatured alcohol is widely available. HEET is a good source for a small quantity but beware that there are two flavors of HEET. One is methyl alcohol (you want) the other is isopropyl alcohol (you don't want). Although isoprophyl alcohol will burn, it does not burn as hot as methyl alcohol.

Sure, but I for one don't quibble over US$2.00 - I consider my time more valuable and as I already need to go to REI for stuff that only they have I consider that a net savings. While on the road I certainly will hit the hardware stores. However I will always pay a premium for anything over stepping into a *Mart.

Anyway as I've been saying its all about the clean burning nature for me (I'm plenty familiar with the correct HEET to use) In Canada I was able to buy alcohol marketed for stoves and it was the best I've used. I'm curious if the REI stuff is equal quality. I think I'm just going to get it and I'll report back post tour.

Just a link to another thread for additional information about a Trangia cook-set. Read the review at / near the end. http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=104310

If anyone wants to buy a pop-can style stove, but doesn't want to put in the work, I own the Vargo Triad (http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/vargo_triad_titanium_stove.html) , and she's a beaut!

FYI- I too have seen the soda can stove in action multiple times, as well as other sort of DIY stoves, and it works suprisingly well. And it's SUPER light. So if you make one, you can buy lighter pots/pans/etc. with the money that you'll save from not buying the MSR.

It does change your cooking style - easiest seems to be where you just boil water to heat/rehydrate food. Simmering over the stove seems to be a hit or miss proposition, or at least takes practice. A couple of our Scouts tried them on a recent campout. Use with a cheap Walmart 1 qt "grease pot". One boy made an insulated pot cozy from aluminum covered bubble wrap (vent insulation). Bring water to boil, dump in couscous, cover and let sit in cozy to simmer. Worked great. While the couscous is getting ready, boil a second pot for hot water for soup, cocoa, whatever. these stoves work well for 1, maybe 2 people per stove. Size and weight is great for a solo camper. Make sure you use the right alchohol, though - one boy used the kind that has a more water in it and his pot was a sooty mess!

For a bigger group, it starts making sense to use cartridge or multifuel stoves that can cook for the group. Not much of a weight penalty if you spread the load across the group.

I made a pot cozy from a cheap walmart blue foam sleeping pad. Works exceptionally well. I measured about 5 deg F temp loss over about 15 minutes sitting in the cozy.

A touring buddy and I did a fun, not very scientific comparison test between my MSR DragonFly International and his soda can stove. We called it the Campstove Olympics.

You can read about it in detail on Bicycle Touring 101 in the Campgear section. In summary I was quite impressed with the soda pop stove. It was a great deal less expensive then my stove, you could fit three of them in the space needed by the MSR and it was very quiet when cooking.

The MSR handled multiple fuel types, was able to boil water faster and could be turned off easily.

One big advantage of the soda can stoves could happen on a long bicycle tour with an airplane flight in the middle. I've heard that airplane security doesn't seem to like people having stoves that have been in use before. Of course you can't carry fuel at all. Discarding a fuel bottle sucks but isn't too expensive. Discarding a whole stove on the other hand could be. With a soda can stove you could easily carry many stoves with you and when it comes time to board that plane in the middle of your tour then you simply throw away the used stoves knowing that you still have an unused stove or two available.

Of course you can easily make another set of stoves out of inexpensive parts provided you don't mind the waiting time while glue drys.

~Jamie N
www.bicycletouring101.com

I took my bike (and stove) on a lot of planes. I would drain the fuel from the bottle and stove and leave the caps off for as long as I could and try to get rid of the "smell". It was a Svea 123 and I used gasoline. No caps seem to lessen the threat to people. But this was before 911.
Going out to get a soda.

Seanholio, of all the cool stoves I've seen (I looked at quite a few) that one is really cool! If my pop can stove wasn't homemade, I'd opt for Vargo Triad.

Seeing as this thread has been going on for several months and you just mentioned "homemade stoves", here's a couple of links for ya.

Homemade Camping Stoves (http://www.kruegerservices.com/fritz/osp/index.html)

Wings (http://wings.interfree.it/)

Enjoy!!