irrationalsolutions wrote:how are you going to keep it from getting damaged while hiking?
just for the sake of knowing what were the problems you ran into with the jet idea, was it just the pressurizing problem?
Well, the bags are actually quite thick and stable. I don't see a lot of difference in durability between the bag shown and a Platypus bladder but I could be wrong. Skidsteer just posted about the disposable flask and perhaps that would be another bagging option. As for storage, I usually carry my alcohol in the mesh pocket on the back of my pack. But inside my pot is another option if my burner isn't too big. Personally, I'm not too worried about the bag's durability.
The problems I ran into with the jet idea were numerous.
1. I constructed the burner from two 8oz Redbull type cans to an extreme thinness. I cut a quarter sized hole in one of the concave bottoms in order to allow the two halves to mate together. I figured it would take less heat to prime it and evaporate the alcohol into gas that way. But the hole had to be sealed so the gas could only escape through the jets... Here comes the RTV silicone.
2. I tried to drill a hole in the side and mount a threaded aluminum rivet so the fuel pipe could just be threaded into the side of the stove. This was a major disaster because the stove was too thin and didn't allow enough space for the rivet... More RTV silicone (and the aluminum was pretty bent up too).
3. A jet stove requires a priming pan to start but trying to drip some fuel on a pan from the bag, then attaching the fuel line to the stove, then getting it started wasn't going to work well. An extra bottle for priming fuel was out of the question because of the extra weight.
So I thought that perhaps a small hole on top of the stove could allow some fuel to flow out onto the top of it for priming. Just open the fuel valve, tip the stove slightly to get some fuel on top, set it back down and light it up. But that presented a new problem of how to seal the hole so it didn't act like an over sized jet. Also it's not a very good way to prime it because most of the heat just travels up into nothing.
I then considered a pan underneath it and some sort of valve where the fuel pipe enters the stove. The valve would have to be easily pressed open to allow a little fuel to spill into the priming tray and then easily closed again. At that point I decided that it was just too complicated.
And that is why I have abandoned the jet type design. Also, a wick/fiberglass type design should be more efficient.
