This past summer, at BSA summer camp, four of our scouts did the Wilderness Survival merit badge. As part of that badge, they each made a cool alcohol pocket stove - directed by the camp staff.

Ken at PK Stoves asked me to try out his Pocket Stove on some camping trips and let him know how I liked it. This is a professionally made popcan alcohol stove. It weighs practically nothing and is intended for lightweight backpacking.
A 2oz. clear plastic filler bottle is included. This holds enough fuel to boil about 8 cups of water - that's 3 meals. I think the best fuel to use is denatured alcohol and is easy to find in the Paint department of any hardware store.

I tried the Pocket Stove on two outings and it worked just great. An aluminum sheet for a windscreen and the stove burned just like my gas stovetop at home, heating water in just a couple minutes.

If you've got people that want to do their own simple cooking for a weekend, this stove works great for 1 or 2 persons. There is practically no weight or space taken up by your stove and fuel. When backpacking around 5 days, the trade-off between combined stove and fuel weight gets fuzzy. Longer than a week on the trail and a white gas stove with a fuel bottle will probably be more efficient - but not as much fun. :-)

Like any tool or piece of gear, I feel these kinds of stoves are practical and safe given appropriate training and respect. For just $10, you get the stove, filler bottle, instructions, and shipping - a pretty easy gift for that outdoors person you know that has almost everything, especially if s/he isn't a DIY type.

Just don't use them on scout outings. In your latest Guide to Safe Scouting, you'll find Soda Can Stoves are prohibited by the BSA. I guess the summer camp staff didn't read that page.

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