Just had to share this lightweight versatile little stove design. Proviso have never used one will build one eventually. There are other less complicated designs but apparently not as efficient.
I live pretty close to sea level, so I never have an issue with alcohol stoves burning well. I like the design, but it's pretty advanced. It's about the most spill resistant design I've seen. This is incredibly important with alcohol since in daylight you may not be able to see the flame. You need to try a few. I give them away as gifts with a re-purposed and clearly labeled 5 hour energy drink bottles. Can cutting with razor blades mounted on a vertical board with the can rotated on a piece of tile makes production of stoves in quantity much faster. My favorite is still the Jim Wood's Super Cat. This is the most simple, compact and lightest design I have built. The can support rig solves one critical flaw, it can spill, while creating another when you try to snuff the flame to conserve fuel. Not as efficient as some, but fuel can be (carefully) added to extend burn times. The possibilities for alcohol can stove construction are pretty vast, and limited only by your creativity. Thanks @deMolay for reminding me about what fun it is to whip these up.
I have made a few they are ok not the best for hot humid Illinois but in the cool they burn great great topic Thanks
Here's a couple I found on the pantry shelf last night. The one on the left is an odd inverted cone stove made from a bottle shaped beer can. It uses the fuel alone to create the alcohol pressure and lights right off through all the exterior holes. It's pretty, but very pot size sensitive and prone to snuffing. The stove on the right is my latest update to the Super Cat Stove. It's made from two different size aluminum cat food cans, interlocked with can opener holes. The reservoir is enhanced with a strip of pink insulation and some hardware cloth to help the fuel vaporize. The hardware cloth pot stand works great, but it's hard on nylon packs. I have a third punctured stew can that serves as a nesting pot stand. The interlocked cans spread the base of the Super Cat, and provide stability on sand and stone. It's not the prettiest stove I ever built, but it will boil water just fine.
^^^^^^ Over the years I've built many of the various can stoves. Most of the templates I use now are from the Zen Stove site. All our packs have one or two pop can stoves in them as those are the ones we use most nowdays. They just work for what they are used for and weigh nothing(if you're not a gram weenie). I carry usually 6-10 oz.s of fuel.
