Titanium Alcohol Stove Comparison: Vargo VS Evernew

[tradertator]

[FONT=&quot]Alcohol stoves are a long time favorite of backpackers and minimalist alike. In a nut shell, a liquid fuel source is placed in the stove and lit at it's center. The fuel then heats up (primes), and the flame expand to the outer holes creating a burner. They are simple, and use common fuel sources that can be found at most department, home improvement, and automotive repair stores. Alcohol produces minor fumes and smoke, making it a great fuel for cooking in doors in the event of an emergency. Stoves can be fashioned out of common house hold items such as aluminum cans, altoid tins, etc... For the ultimate stove however, titanium is hard to beat. It is tough, light weight, non ferrous, and an excellent transferee of heat.

I have 3 titanium models: [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-Vargo Triad[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-Vargo Decagon[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-Evernew DX[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]All 3 are pretty popular, so I conducted an experiment. I decided to compare them in 3 different categories:
-prime time
-boil
-total burn time
To do so, I used the stop watch on my cell phone. Each stove was given 1 ounce of Klean Strip S-L-X denatured alcohol. For best results, I have found Heet gas additive to burn the hottest / cleanest, but I had an old can of alcohol I didn't mind wasting. For the boil comparison, I used my Snow Peak 700 titanium pot w/out lid, and 8oz of cold water. The water would have heated up quicker had I used the lid, but I wanted a better view to monitor the water. I chose 8oz of water, because that is what most freeze dried single serving meals call for. The plastic bottle you see pictured is also sold by Vargo. It holds 8oz of fluid, has measuring references on the side, and a spout for controlled pouring. Also pictured is a needle / plunger used for feeding tubes given to me from a friend who works in the health care industry, and works well for drawing / measuring alcohol out of the can. This was done indoors on a granite surface. Exercise extreme caution when burning things inside your own home .

Vargo Triad ($30)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Titanium Triad Alcohol Backpacking Stove Vargo Outdoors
Pros-Very robust stove when folded. I mean robust, like you could drive over the top of it with car robust. Extremely small when folded. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Cons- The 3 feet are extremely stable when planted in the ground, but not so when on a hard surface. Can be difficult to fill.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
Prime[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]: 4:30[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Boil: [/FONT] [FONT=&quot]5:30[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Total Burn Time: [/FONT] [FONT=&quot]19[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]With a little experimenting, I was able to significantly cut the priming time down to under 30 seconds, by simply placing a beer bottle cap with a small amount of burning alcohol under the stove w/ it's legs extended. Be extremely careful in doing so, as it can cause the stove to over heat and spew flames : )[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Vargo Decagon ($30)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://www.vargooutdoors.com/Titanium-Decagon-Alcohol-Backpacking-Stove[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Pros- No moving parts, very stable base[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Cons- Base is very large and not a good choice if your looking for something to stash inside your small cook pot
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Prime:[/FONT] [FONT=&quot] 4:30[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Boil:[/FONT] [FONT=&quot] 4:15[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Total Burn Time:[/FONT] [FONT=&quot] 14:45[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Evernew Stove - $50[/FONT]
EVERNEW Ti Alcohol Stove
[FONT=&quot]Cross[/FONT] [FONT=&quot] Stand- $12[/FONT]
EBY253 Titanium Cross Stand
[FONT=&quot]DX Stand- $50[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]EVERNEW Ti DX Stand[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Pros-[/FONT] [FONT=&quot] DX stand works as a wind shield, heat diffuser for the alcohol stove, as well as makes an Esbit and Wood (coffee can) stove, has reference markings inside the stove to help indicate how much fuel is being used, very fast priming[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Cons-[/FONT] [FONT=&quot] Price[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
Prime:[/FONT] [FONT=&quot] 30 seconds[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Boil: [/FONT] [FONT=&quot](stove solo) 6 min[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] (w/ cross stand) 3:45[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] (w/DX stand) 2:30[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Total Burn Time: [/FONT] [FONT=&quot]11 [/FONT]
Stove Solo

Cross Stand

DX Stand

[FONT=&quot]

Final Thoughts[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If you can justify the purchase, the Evernew DX set is the way to go. The fact that the DX stand doubles as a solid fuel / Esbit stove makes this a real winner. It also works as a windshield, and really enhances the stoves performance. The Vargo stuff is great too. as a windshield is easy to fabricate using something as simple as tin foil.

[/FONT]

 

[snorko]

Excellent write up and great photos.

 

[tradertator]

Thank you sir.

 

[IndyBeerman]

Great write up tradertator


A while back I modified a coke can stove with 32 1/32th holes around the outside rim of the bottom with 1oz of denatured alcohol, supported it off the ground with a foil base that held a tea cup candle.

Used a coat hanger cut into 3 - 4inch tall C shaped stands that I slid into small steel tubes to form triangle base.

Used a cheap porcelain pan filled with 16oz of water @ 45 degrees.

Took under 20 seconds to kick in the jet flame, brought the water to a boil in 4:12 and continued burning for a total of 7:35.

I now use Esbit tabs, safer, easier to pack, and carry more fuel to heat than any liquid can in the same space.

I bought a dented up stainless steal Klean Kanteen @ a yard sale back in the fall and I'm planning on cutting the top off it and fit a base in it so I can slide in a 32oz stainless steel water bottle and boil water in it. I'm thinking that this could bring water to an even faster boil. Just have to devise a way to hold the 32oz bottle to pour the water out of it.

 

[tradertator]

^Sounds cool. My beer can stoves are really basic.

Actually, the aluminum beer bottles seem to work a little better since they tend to be more rigid. My buddy made a really cool one out of a hair spray can that utilizes a piece of kevlar in the center as a wick. Kind of hard to explain with out pictures, so I'll snap a couple next time were together.

Esbit is good stuff as well. I have a ton of it left to me from my great granddad. He was into the Wilesco steam powered toys, and they use it for fuel.

 

[gunselman]

Looking at these alcohol stoves is really making me think of getting one and dropping the MSR Whisperlite. Any downfalls to this style of stove?

 

[IndyBeerman]

Is that one of the aluminum bottles?

Also I noticed that there is two rows of holes, when I got my coke can jet stove it only had holes on the side like the second row. I took small screws and inserted them into each hole and drilled the 32 - 1/32 holes around the lip on the top row.

It created a greater smaller flame and did not have the high flame like above.

The lower blue/violet produces a hotter temp and quicker boil times, also when your flame get that high, you're getting burning to fast and wasting your fuel and getting less burn time.

There was a couple of times I was able to get a rolling boil using only 1/2 ounce of denatured alcohol and ran out of fuel right at the boil point.

The pocket rocket jet stoves are serious little back packing boilers, but after thinking it through for a bit, I'd rather have the esbit in my get home bag than something that could be a ignition source in the back of my vehicle if I have an accident and it leaked out

 

[tradertator]

Looking at these alcohol stoves is really making me think of getting one and dropping the MSR Whisperlite. Any downfalls to this style of stove?

Couple of advantages I can think of is A) uber simple, B)an alcohol stove doesn't clog up like a white gas type can, and C) alcohol is a much more mild fuel. I would much rather spill some alcohol in my pack over camp fuel / white gas. The fuel burns much slower that gas, much like diesel without the fumes. That said, I would love to have one of the MSR stoves. They are legendary, and get the job done with ease.

The biggest selling feature for me is flexibility of fuel sources. I always have a can denatured alcohol sitting around, and it's cheap if I need more. Heet gas line additive cost around $1.50, and the small plastic bottle pours easily, and fits well in my pack. It's also rather easy to snuff out your stove after your done cooking, let it cool, and reclaim your extra fuel.

I'm gaving the Snow Peak Giga Power stoves some serious consideration, but I don't want to be stuck buying fuel canisters. I'd still like to pick one up simply because it is so small / light weight and the giga power cans stow perfectly in / on top of my 700 mug.

 

[tradertator]

Is that one of the aluminum bottles?

Also I noticed that there is two rows of holes, when I got my coke can jet stove it only had holes on the side like the second row. I took small screws and inserted them into each hole and drilled the 32 - 1/32 holes around the lip on the top row.

It created a greater smaller flame and did not have the high flame like above.

The lower blue/violet produces a hotter temp and quicker boil times, also when your flame get that high, you're getting burning to fast and wasting your fuel and getting less burn time.

There was a couple of times I was able to get a rolling boil using only 1/2 ounce of denatured alcohol and ran out of fuel right at the boil point.

The pocket rocket jet stoves are serious little back packing boilers, but after thinking it through for a bit, I'd rather have the esbit in my get home bag than something that could be a ignition source in the back of my vehicle if I have an accident and it leaked out

I would not recommend building your stove like the one I have pictured. It's made with 2 aluminum can bottoms, and the 2 rows of flame produce way too much heat. That picture is kind of old, and I was playing with some Swiss Fire Gel that I had leftover from my wifes fondue cook set. Good stuff, but it leaves a baked on residue to the bottom of the stove.

 

[larrylegend]

Every type of stove will have both positive and negative features. The downsides of alcohol and canister stoves are they don't work as well when cold. The downside to a multi-fuel stove is they are typically heavier and more complicated to operate than other types of stoves. It all depends on what your end use will be.

 

[IndyBeerman]

Every type of stove will have both positive and negative features. The downsides of alcohol and canister stoves are they don't work as well when cold. The downside to a multi-fuel stove is they are typically heavier and more complicated to operate than other types of stoves. It all depends on what your end use will be.

That's why you carry a tube of gel fuel to fix that problem, little dab and it creates enough heat to get things rolling in even the coldest conditions.

 

[jonkertb]

I have used a Svea 123 for years and the advantage of the alcohol stove is the beautiful SILENCE in use. When I would turn off the Svea after cooking it was an ear treat to hear again! I've made some of the beer bottle stoves and they work quite well...little fuel, cheap easy to find fuel, non toxic fuel, and with a damper the stove can be heat regulated. The other BIG advantage is they are as light as it gets.
Like the multi fuel titanium above the best.....sticks...little sticksand you have a mini campfire :>)