Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Alcohol Stoves at Trial Camp

Considering the low temps this time of year and the altitude at Trail Camp, will a small alcohol stove function at Trail Camp?

I really could use some advise on this. Can anyone help?

What exactly do you mean by "alcohol stove?"

I looked at the REI.com site. Alcohol stoves like the Trangia Mini 28 -T have a longer boiling time (12 minutes) then white gas stoves (around 3 1/2 minutes) and are listed only as "fair" in cold weather. That sounds a lot like the performance you get with a canister iso butain propaine stove up on the mountain, which are also listed as "fair" in colder weather. Those have always been a big dissapointment for me up at 12000+ feet when you can barely see the flame.

Hi RWW, Sorry cannot offer better iformation. Don't alcohol stoves run cool at sea level? Sterno may still consume (function) itself in cold, high country but the cooking or heating may never get done the way you want (need). My white gas stove produces all the btus I want, everywhere I go.

I usually use a <a href="http://www.brasslite.com/">Brasslite</a> alcohol stove. At trail camp last summer, though, I used a butane/propane canister stove (was cooking for a largish group) so I can't speak to that environment specifically. I'm sure I had my alcohol stove there, too, but I don't recall if I used it there; plus, it was probably warmer. I do recall using it in the Cottonwood Lakes area (~11,000 el) on the same trip, and it dipped slightly below freezing there.

Anyway, I have used that stove frequently at 9,000-10,000' altitude and in pretty cold temps (e.g., on PCT at Memorial Day when streams had a layer of ice in the AM).

The issue is whether the fuel will vaporize. Alcohol vaporizes easily, which is why simple soda-can stoves work without pumps, etc. The alcohol also ignites readily so most self-priming alcohol stoves shouldn't have trouble at reasonable altitudes and temperatures.

But I'm not a stove scientist.

Maybe you could fire off an email to <a href="mailto:aaron@brasslite.com">Aaron Rosenbloom</a> at Brasslite and ask him. He'd know for sure and is pretty good about responding to emails.

Last week we used a little home made alcohol stove to boil water at Trail Crest (13,777ft.) I set it right down in the snow, placed 3 small rocks around it to support the pot, and proceeded to boil water. Yes, it took longer than liquid gas stoves would have, but we were taking a break and enjoying the view. It,(and the fuel to run it) weigh a fraction of what my other backing stoves do. Time from start to boil...maybe around 15 minutes +/-. I experienced no problem with the moderate wind or the below freezing temperatures. A wind shield would have been nice, however. It took a little less than 30mL of alcohol to bring a little more than 2 cups of water to a boil. I actually have a picture if you care to see it.