Originally Posted By arcane
"I tinkered for a long time and eventually settled on the penny stove:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=penny+alcohol+stove"

Have you had any problems with your penny stove?


No.

That's the attraction to it for me, it's less fiddly and pretty much bozo proof (hi, bozo here..) when used as directed

Quote:

What kind of boil times have you experienced? I've read of some really amazing boil times with the penny stove.


What they quote on the page is accurate for *CONTROLLED CONDITIONS* if you do the same as what they are doing. you'll note most of the time they are boiling room temp water. Me in the field it's "longer" because I'm usually starting from water that's about 2-4 degrees centigrade instead of 20. But I don't
measure empiricly in the field- I'm out there to enjoy my hike, not obsess over my stove smile

I do like the fact that it is relatively wind resistant. no you can't use it in a gale with no windscreen, but with a reasonable screen it deals with windier conditions better than a chimney stove which really needs to be in a full cone.

I did a little race once with my brother's caldera cone in the field - no *practical* difference in fuel use or boil time. We both ate at the same time and carried the same amount of fuel smile


Quote:

I've been considering the penny stove myself, but have heard that there is risk of the pressure forcing the penny off the stove if the stove isn't constructed just right.


I've made dozens of them and other than screwing up once and mashing the top in and bending things I've never ever seen this. even if the penny were to move you just get a little more flame in the centre. Never seen it be a problem.

The "screwing up and mashing in the top" is less of a problem if you scrounge your heineken cans. In my case a friend and I dug out the shop knife and the 1/64 drill bit and decided to turn sitting by the firepit drinking beer into a stove making bee with a large amount of heineken. Making more stoves was a great excuse to drink three more beers. At least several times in the night there was the modified beauty and the beast quote: "More stoves? What for.. nothing helps..."
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