home made stove vs store bought

what are the pros and cons of making your own stove vs buying one? i have the optimus crux and i like it. but im still too new to backpacking to understand the differences between the two. the thought of a homemade stove out of a pepsi can actually sounds really cool though. but wouldnt the weight of the fuel that you would carry equal the weight of the butane/propane? thanks so much for your thoughts!!! im trying to soak as much info like a sponge that i can!!!

Weight savings depends mostly on your stove's efficiency and your use. This calculator may interest you: http://www.howardjohnson.name/Backpacking/Stove/Stoves.htm

For most, the draw of the alcohol burner is the make your own gear itch and trying different designs.

In general the butane stoves are all the same basic design. The homemade stoves can vary to nth degree. IMO the "pepsi stove" is one of the more "pain in the neck" to make and isn't all that fuel efficient. There are much better designs out there. My go to alcohol stove is known as the fancee feest stove as it uses a fancy feast cat food can. It is fast, fuel efficient and lights immediately even in sub-zero weather. For example I get a 2-cup boil with 15ml of denatured alcohol (more in colder weather/water).

...got to go. more maybe later.

dtape-
im definatly now going to try and make a couple this weekend and see how they work. it sounds like a lot of fun. and a cat can sounds more durable then a pepsi can. im gonna see what i can find on your fancee feest stove and try it out!!! thank you soo much for your reply!!

CL,

Be forewarned, the DIY alcohol stove bug can easily become an obsession. You will know when you have started down the road when you look at all metal containers as potential stoves. LOL

Have fun, don't get burned. Feel free to msg me if you have any questions.

DT

The fancee feest stove was designed by a guy named zelph. Should make searching easier.

It looks like DTape already pointed you in a good direction. I have an oldish Giga stove and a really simple alcohol stove that I made, and I've found that the alcohol stove + fuel is lighter for short trips (maybe three nights?), while I save weight during long trips by using the canister stove + its fuel.

I think I prefer alcohol stoves in most cases. Their fuel is easy to find, they're quiet, and they are easy to replace. On the other hand, you can't see the flame very easily, you have to be more careful about where you do your cooking (spillage = more flame), and you need a good windscreen.

Canister stoves are easier to actually cook with, if you like to chef it up. They're also a lot faster. They don't work very well in cold weather - I can see a difference in mine between summer use and when it gets around freezing. Liquid fuel stoves seem the best for that sort of thing. I don't know how alcohol stoves fare in cold weather.

My alcohol stove is the one recommended on the Zpacks website: cut off the bottom 1" of a soda can, use a hole punch to make 16 holes 1/8" from the edge, and carefully mash the bottom flat with a hammer. That's it, no stand necessary. You can build it in a few minutes. For fuel I use yellow HEET from automotive stores.

Try looking here for some ideas.

http://zenstoves.net/

I love the penny stove. Haven't actually used it in the field, but I have cooked with a few times here at the house just messing around with it. It sure beats the pepsi can stove I tried the first time. I really like the "simmer ring" option for it too. The pepsi or cat stoves dont have that option that I know of.

I agreee with wolfeye. The only difference is I use denatured alcohol. Alcohol is just like the canister fuel. Warm it up when it's cold out. Usually just put in pocket or near fire.

I would definitely recommend Mark Jurey's penny stove. Probably the most efficient can stove. I've used it on 3 day trips and had no problem. It even has designs for a simmer ring that lowers the heat and lengthen's the cooking time.
Link here.

Oh, I should mention that he compares it with a few other purchasable stoves and it is pretty much on par!

obession ,addiction i here its only really a problem if your trying to quit.
depending on pot size my vote goes to jimwoods cat stove slightly modified of course.