Why I am in love with Alcohol Stoves

by Andrew Jorgensen
(Richland, WA)

About a year or more ago I rediscovered my excitement for backpacking. I had loved the the lush pine forests, clear streams, abundant fish, and quiet calm of the outdoors that I had experienced from my teenage scouting experience. Since than I had only been once with some friends and ever since I wished I went more. So much so I became obsessed with preparing.

One issue tainted my desire for backpacking, and I was determined to solve it. I remember vividly as a 135lb teenager strapping on a 50-60lb pack that contained all the contents of both my dresser and kitchen's drawers, sweating and grunting the grueling few miles along what should have been care free trails. Now it's not that I didn't mind the health benefits of hard labor, but I was there to enjoy the scenery, not the sweat dripping from my brow.

And thus research began. Surely as an adult with a college education and a vast array of financial and intellectual resources I could do better to lighten my pack load. I discovered ultra-light packing and began cutting weight like sailor who's ship was sinking; a 2 lb Golight Speed Pack, a homemade sleeping bag that weighed 1.5 lb and was good to 25 deg F, and nice light pair of trail running shoes.

But still there were the obscenely chunky 1-3lb green bottled propane or white gas cylinder stoves. I could leave them at home and just use a camp fire. But the gathering of wood, finding dry wood when raining, waiting for it to burn down for good cooking coals, putting it out before I could go fishing for the day, or go to bed for the night turned into 15-20 minutes of additional chore time when I made a meal. Not the experience I wanted.

Thus began my love affair with pressurized alcohol stoves. I remember my father-in-law showing me a tiny cylindrical disk about 2" tall with holes, and my jaw dropped when he told me it was a backpacking stove, my eyes widened further when I hefted it's miniscule 1 oz weight. Surely it couldn't work very well. It was to good to be true, and then he lit it up for me and I remember my eyes fixing on the blow torch like flames.

I became obsessed with building the best alcohol stove I could not caring for what was already available seeing room for improvement. So literally after a 100 or more prototype stoves I settled on the culmination of all my research. The Keyhole Pocket Stove. Weighs about 1 oz, 2.25 oz. with the carrying case, and boils a pint in under 4 1/2 minutes. Perfect for my ultra light quest.

The 5 things I really like about my stove are as follows: Weighs nothing, can hold 100 lb, virtually indestructible in the carrying case, tiny at 3/4" tall and 2.6" wide, and a super simple pot stand that is the most compact stand I have ever seen.

Now I know there are lots of good stoves out there, so I am not saying this is the only one. But I am saying for going ultra-light alcohol stoves are definitely the way to go. You can't beat there cooking speed, weight, safe fuel, and compactness for 90% of the normal 3 seasons back packing trips.

Here's a link to some more Alcohol Stoves