Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 17, 2004

A soda can stove is a homemade, ultra-light backpacking stove. The simple design is made entirely from soda pop cans and burns denatured alcohol. Countless variations exist. Pepsi cans are often used because they have a bottom shape that lends itself to securing the stove's inner wall. The stove weighs 0.4 oz (10 g) and will boil two cups of water in five minutes with two tablespoons of fuel. Total weight, including a windscreen/stand can be less than one ounce (30 g). Due to the low weight compared to commercial stoves and their fuel canisters, backpackers can save about one pound (450 g) of pack weight with this stove. This advantage may be lost on very long hiking trips, however, because the stove is less efficient and requires more fuel, especially when cooking for more than one person. (more...)

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