Jeff's Homemade Gear

Alcohol Stove Kitchen Set

One of my first purchases was the OES Alcohol Stove (the same Brian who makes the MacCat tarp). I used it for a while with the Walmart Grease Pot, then left it at home in favor of the JetBoil. Every now and then I'd tinker with it, checking out different windscreen designs or pot supports or something. Now I have what I think is a good setup that weighs a total of 2 oz including everything except fuel and fuel bottle. I haven't made a cozy yet, either.

Item	Weight (oz/g)
OES Stove	3/8 - 10
Fosters Pot	3/4 - 22
Lid	1/8 - 5
Ground cover	1/8 - 4
Windscreen	1/4 - 8
Pot Stand	3/8 - 10
Total Weighed Together: 2 oz - 58 g

	Here's the OES Alcohol Stove. It's just over an inch high.
	Here's my pot stand (based on Gossamer Gear's pot stands). It's a coat hanger snipped into two 9" sections. It measures 2" high and 4" wide, with a bit rolled under the edges. Then I used heat resistant foil tape to tape the short sides together on one end. It folds up nicely to fit inside the can, and I just spread it out when I use it. I had to twist the folds in the legs out on the taped side to give it room to spread. Before I did that the tape split.
	This is the lid. I cut some aluminum foil to about the right sized square, then wrapped it loosely over the top of the can. Then I put a layer of foil tape across the top. Next, I wrapped a layer of tape around the sides, with about half of the tape sticking up over the top. I trimmed four triangles from the part sticking over the top, then folded that section down over the top of the can to create a strong, shaped lid. The last step was trimming off the aluminum foil below the tape along the bottom edge of the lid. For the handle, I folded a square of tape and stuck it to the top of the lid.
	The Foster's can. I just used a normal can opener, which tore up the can a bit, then used scissors to smooth it off. No sharp edges and no reason to buy a special can opener.
	Just spread the pot stand open and it provides a pretty stable platform for the pot.
	The lid fits right over the top. The ground cover is just folded up aluminum foil.
	For the windscreen, I just folded a length of aluminum foil into thirds, then folded the top down about another 1/2" to get the height right. Along the bottom edge, I folded a layer of the tape around the "seam" to reinforce it, then cut air holes into the bottom. Some folks use paper clips to keep the windscreen secured...I can just stick it in the folded up legs of the pot stand. I haven't tested this in windy conditions yet, but it seems to hold pretty well.
	Closeup of how the leg folds up to hold the windscreen.
	And the windscreen tucked into the leg folds. I use two of the three legs like this...the hinged leg just sits inside the windscreen.
	Everything except the lid fits right inside the can.
	And this is my whole kitchen, except for the fuel, fuel bottle and cozy.
	This is the heat resistant foil tape I used. Tyco Adhesives, Nashua Tape Products, 322 Foil Tape from Home Depot. It says, "Use for sealing joints and seams against moisture and vapor on foil jacketing insulation. Also can be used in general maintenance and automotive repair."

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Alcohol Stove Kitchen Set