I have built a good number of alcohol stoves. After testing them out here is what I settled on for my favorite. The standard Pepsi can stove with Aluminum flashing windscreen. I use tent stakes for a pot support. Here is the link with instructions on how to build the burner.
http://www.pcthiker.com/pages/gear/pepsistove.shtml
The whole system packs down small and weights in at under 2.5oz complete.
Calling it a Pepsi can stove is not being 100% fair to the Irish beer can that is used for the bottom. It appears that the Irish beer can is just a very tiny bit smaller than the soda can. This allows me the slide the cans together and connect them without any expansion slits in the Pepsi can top section. I put a bead of hi temp epoxy around the lip of the Irish beer can before slipping both cans together. Than for good measure I place a bead of the same Hi temp JB weld over the newly created lip. No real reason for doing this. The inner wall ring is connected with JB weld. Unlike the Pepsi can instructions I use material from a 24 oz Arizona Ice Tea can to construct the inner wall ring. This is done as the aluminum stock from these cans are thicker than the Pepsi can or Irish beer can. Stronger inner ring makes for a stronger stove. But you can use stock cut from the Pepsi too. I also put JB weld underneath the top grove that the inner wall fits into. The combo of all these things keeps air from being sucked into the inner wall turning the clean blue alcohol combustion into a more reddish flame.
The fuel intake is controlled by 3 holes or notches in the bottom of the inner wall created with a hole punch. Guessing that two would be enough but have settled on 3. I have tried various hole sizes and numbers for the burner and have came to the conclusion that 24-28 small holes burn the cleanest and most efficient. Do I have hard-core scientific data to back this up? No but than again it is only a stove.
The windscreen and pot support is one of the most important aspects of any alcohol stove. Darn important factor in most other camp stoves too. One thing I don’t like about side burning stoves is that people tend to use the stove as a pot support. A soda can is a tinny pot support any way you cut it. Other times they try to add wire to the stove or push 3 tent pegs into the ground for a pot support. Better but these methods are not ideal in my view. Why not just combine the two? Have the tent pegs be supported by the windscreen and than use the windscreen to support everything. Air intake is provided by either holes drilled into the aluminum flashing or groves cut into the bottom. I have shortened the high of the windscreen from my earlier design. Reduced it from 6 inches to between 3-4 depending on factors like cook pot size and my general mood at the time. A shorter windscreen is a bit less efficient but this offers a few important advantages. First and foremost the cook pot handle gets a bit less hot. Second being smaller pack size. Not going to add reduced weight, as we would be taking about grams and that is just silly. A grove is cut into the top of the windscreen so cook pot handles will not get hung up on the lip. The tent peg support holes are drilled to support the pot about ¾ of an inch above the burner. Don’t know the optimal height for this but thinking anything less than 1.5 inches is good to go.
The width of the pot support depends on your cook pot. I made this one to work with all my small pots and metal cups including the MSR, Snowpeak and USGI canteen cup. Here is the stove complete with a USGI canteen cup.
This may not be the perfect Alcohol stove set up. But it has worked best for me. I use this all the time with my daypack for cooking and boiling up some coffee. If done right it can get a rolling boil with most small cookpots/canteen cups in under 6 minutes. One big pro of the top ported stoves over the side port models is the easy addition of a simmer ring. I will update this thread with photos of that after it is reworked. These stoves can be made for very little money and like most projects the feeling of accomplishment and fun from building something your self is well worth the time and effort.
