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My 10 year old son is motivating me to take another run at sheep hunting next year. Need to lose some weight off my gut and off my pack. Going down the ultra-light camping gear and techniques road. For stoves e started with a jet boil and though I fell in love with it I thought I'd give an alcohol stove another go.

Bought a Bios 5 12 CM cook set withstove, aluminum pot and carbon fire blanket cozy, wind screen and fuel bottle. Wow this side burner really works. Great gear. 7 oz & 8 oz of fuel ought to last 4 days. For solo use I might leave the jet boil at home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq_FHIhsL6A&feature=youtu.be

Do a boil test and time it. Then set it up in front of a big-ass fan and do it again. Try the same thing with a Caldera Cone then tell us what you think.

I use the venom stove and love it. It won't spill, so I can light it in a floorless shelter if it is too windy or a vestibule if I had a regular tent. Yes it won't boil as fast as a MSR reactor or Jetboil but it is light enough to carry with me all day. Feeling drowsy, just make a little tea . That being said, I'm trying to gravitate to complete wood burners for most things but I still might carry the venom with enough alcohol for a couple burns if wood is not an option (above tree line or in my tent)
venom stove

My only experience with alcohol stoves before this has been the Trangia. good-solid but heavy. These new generation alcohol stoves are quite a step up. Not great for making snow into boiling water but very efficient for quick travel in 3 seasons.

There are a LOT of great little alky stoves out there, problem is there are a lot of windscreens for them that suck and blow. Make sure yours works. I wasn't kidding about the big-ass fan. The Caldera Cone frickin' works.

I'll keep experimenting!

TAK is giving good advice about the caldera cone..that's a great piece of kit.

Super light....

Freaky light...

No windscreen for either. Like I said, big ass fan, time a boil.

How's the Fancy Feast work. Always meant to make one of those.

Actually the mini-bull Bios 5 kit comes with a wind screen. The carbon felt wraps around the pot and works pretty well for moderate winds. A really stiff breeze would require seeking a semi-sheltered spot, or using a tent peg or two as an anchor.

The cat can does better then it has a right to really. I usually run any alcohol stove in a floorless shelter, basically a big ass wind screen...lol.

Only a sissy uses Fancy Feast, that's potted meat I'll have you know......

Worst part is eating the stuff. A sandwich and a hole punch later its done. Works surprisingly well. The windscreen is a coke can with the top and bottom cut off and vent holes. It's still in the experimental stage. My idea was that the coke can would hold itself to the pot. That's as far as I've messed with.

But yeah, the wind is an issue with alcohol.

Trangia

Caldera Cone

Flat Cat gear

Integrated windshield/pot holder is the best way to go.

Running alcohol without one will eventually get you in a situation where you cannot boil your water.

The Caldera and Flat Cat are lighter, but delicate if you handle your gear rough.

The Trangia kits (25 and 27) are the heaviest but the most reliable and bombproof. I have used mine in all weather conditions and it has never failed me.

If you take out one pot and the frying pan and use a piece of pie tin for a lid, you can get the weight down under 16 oz.

I just had mine out up at a lake in Montana last weekend with the wind howling and it had no problem at all boiling water.

Only time I don't like alcohol is if there is a lot of snow to melt. Not enough energy per ounce o9f fuel and not much can be done about that.

dang that caldera cone looks pretty skookum


which one of you jabroni's should I have my wife send the bill to?

Alcohol rules somewhere like the AT where you can resupply every 3-5days max, if you are just hiking and doing the hot-water dump/freezer bag thing.

If you actually need to cook, something like a Wind Pro starts to loom large because it'll simmer like a candle if that is needed. I've read over at BPL that a lot of guys even use them for spring skiing. Cold but not too cold, but that cannister HAS to be inverted like the new ones.

One of the guys there did a chart comparing the weights and the break even point was something like five days between alcohol and butane.

Below about 10F then gas rules, and maybe even kerosene/diesel as there are more BTU per pound in those.

Snowpeak Gigapower Manual stove if all you want to do is boil water. If you want to "cook" then the MSR Windpro. The Gigapower has a small diameter flame which is fine for boiling water but will burn food. The Windpro has a larger burner. The new Windpro will also let you invert the canister in case of colder weather. For discussions on alcohol versus canister stoves you should visit several backpacking sites (Backpacker magazine and Ultralight Backpacking). Use the search function and you will find many threads that break down the weight differential over different length trips.

True, you do need a good packing "system" for it. Mine goes inside my pot. It sticks out the top of the pot of course but I "armor" it with a Solo cup and stick the whole cook kit in a stuff sack that goes in the top of my pack last.

Trail Designs has the Sidewinder Cone that'll stow inside the pot:

http://www.traildesigns.com/stoves/caldera-sidewinder-system

My guess is that it would be slightly less efficient since the cone doesn't go all the way up to the lip but I've not tried it.