Alcohol stoves

[Dave H]

I am interested in switching to an alcohol countertop single burner stove. West Marine has Origo for $260, and Hamilton has CookMate for $175. My neighbor at the dock is very satisfied with his Origo stove. May I ask for comments from the Board about these two stoves.
Thanks.
Dave

[Ken Cave]

Have you thought of using a regular camp stove? They are a lot cheaper than the expensive so-called marine stove, and they use bottled propane (about $2.00 when purchasing them in bulk) instead of alcohol, which is not
easy to find if you travel where we do. A good stove will cost around $30-35 dollars, and will last between 3 to
five years. And, you get two burners for the price of one!!

Ken Cave
Dragon Tale

[Klem]

I can't comment on the Cookmate but our boat came with an Origo that the PO installed and we have been very happy with it. As long as you are not trying to boil giant pots of water, it puts out plenty of heat. It can be a little tricky to really damp down if you want very little heat but it is not worse than any other marine stove I have used at this. Unless it is truly pouring, we try to keep at least the porthole over it open as the alcohol fumes do make your eyes water a bit if the boat is fully closed but otherwise, we don't notice it. When we bought the boat, I figured that we would try it for a year and probably install something else but we are completely happy with it and don't plan to replace it.

[Dave H]

Thanks Ken, Thanks Klem,

I have been using Butane Canister single burner campstoves by Brunton. They are great for all the reasons you said. The majority of the time I cook in the cockpit. I am concerned about safety, two things mainly, carrying the fuel, and tipping.

I have been carrying two canisters in a light colored stuffsack lashed to the lifeline. I do not put anything combustible below. The concerns are fuel canisters in sunlight, and damage to the canister. I am under the impression that alcohol is safe to stow in a lazarette or compartment below.

While cooking I observe that the combined height of the canister, stove, and pot looks like a high centered arrangement, and I'm concerned about tipping, and someone getting burned. I try to do all preps in advance, and keep a hand on the pot at all times, but...

Can anyone comment on CookMate alcohol stoves?

Thanks again,
Dave

[Sea Hunt Video]

A word of caution. Be very careful about buying Coleman stove products. Those of us of a certain age ( ) remember the quality of Coleman products (lanterns, stoves, camping gear, etc.) from the days after WWII to the 1980s. Quality, American built, products that lasted a lifetime.

Most, if not all, Coleman products are now manufactured in China. I do not think I need to say more.

[John Ring]

Can anyone comment on CookMate alcohol stoves?

Thanks again,
Dave

I haven't used a counter top CookMate, but I put a CookMate recessed two burner stove in my boat a few years ago, great stove. It's very similar to the Origo, no noticeable difference in quality. I went with CookMate because it was just a bit smaller than the Origo recessed stoves, and fit in the original cut out for the old Kenyon pressure stove the boat came with.

John

[Oswego John]

Robert,

Righteo. You are so correct in that statement.

Many years back, (don't anybody ask how many ) we owned two Coleman gas lamps. One of them was single mantle, the other had two mantles. We bought white gas fuel in a gallon can. We'd pour the fuel into a tank at the base of each lamp and stroke a small pump in the base to build up pressure. They had a valve to control the density of the flame.

The two mantle was too much. Not only did the single mantle lamp provide plenty of light, but the heat it generated would warm up the boat cabin or tent. I don't think that we cooked with it because of its design, but we did have a two burner Coleman camp gas stove that we used to cook on and make coffee for us and cocoa for the kids.

No sir, they don't make them like that, anymore.

I even remember when car doors would go ka-lunk when closed. They were built like a tank.

Now, when you go shopping, you get two from column B and only one from column A. Someone told me that chopsticks are now made from plastic. Someone tell me that it isn't so.

O J

[CD_Sailor]

... Most, if not all, Coleman products are now manufactured in China. I do not think I need to say more.

Maybe you should. I and most other red-blooded Americans have been enduring Chinese-produced products for quite some time with no fatal consequences. Indeed there was a time when this was not the case, but they call that time "The Past."

[Steve Laume]

If you can find one of these gems, you can mount any kind of camp stove under it and have a fine stove for a small boat or heavy weather stove for offshore use.
http://www.spiritburner.com/fusion/sho ... tid/10141/

On a Ty an extra weather board would make a nice mount that could be turned either way so that you could cook in the cockpit or down below.

I couldn't find a link to a source but I believe they are still being made, Steve.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Americans have been enduring Chinese-produced products for quite some time with no fatal consequences. Indeed there was a time when this was not the case, but they call that time "The Past."

Your use of the word "enduring" speaks volumes. The CDSOA website is certainly not the place to continue a discussion of defective items produced in China. I was simply trying to alert CD owners to the fact that the name "Coleman", once a respected US manufacturer of quality American-made camping products was no longer "American made". CDers should be careful about using Coleman products on their Cape Dory sailboats.

If you wish to further educate yourself on the issue of defective products imported from China you need only type "Defective Chinese products" in Google or Bing. You can spend days reading about the problems. While Chinese produced drywall may well be far removed from the concerns of sailors, I do not believe those Americans impacted yet today by this defective product would consider their situation to be in "The Past".

[seadug]

If you can find one of these gems, you can mount any kind of camp stove under it and have a fine stove for a small boat or heavy weather stove for offshore use.
http://www.spiritburner.com/fusion/sho ... tid/10141/

On a Ty an extra weather board would make a nice mount that could be turned either way so that you could cook in the cockpit or down below.

I couldn't find a link to a source but I believe they are still being made, Steve.

I emailed a man that was selling stoves like the ones Steve mentions a few months ago. When I asked about buying one I was told he was sold out and may not be making any more due to trouble obtaining some of the components.

[Dave H]

Thanks Everyone!

John, thanks for the recommendation of CookMate. I'd feel clear to make that choice now.

Steve, thanks for the link to the gimbaled single burner. Mounting on the weatherboard is a very interesting idea. West Marine has a gimbaled single burner. It does have a maximum pot size of 7" diameter, somewhat small.

I think I could solve the canister hauling problem with a lifeline mounted bag with a well fitted compartment for each canister, made of white fabric.

Dave

[CD_Sailor]

... The CDSOA website is certainly not the place to continue a discussion of defective items produced in China ...

Of course, nor is it a place to begin one.

[svreleaseme]

For another boat I made a propane canister carrier by taking a, I believe it was 4 inch pvc pipe of a length to carry 2 canisters, put a cap on each end with a small hole in the bottom cap and with appropriate rail hardware mounted it to the push pit rail of my vessel. It was not my idea. I saw it walking the dock somewhere and thought it as a perfect solution to the problem. The canisters are out of the weather and out of the cabin.

[Dick Barthel]

For another boat I made a propane canister carrier by taking a, I believe it was 4 inch pvc pipe of a length to carry 2 canisters, put a cap on each end with a small hole in the bottom cap and with appropriate rail hardware mounted it to the push pit rail of my vessel. It was not my idea. I saw it walking the dock somewhere and thought it as a perfect solution to the problem. The canisters are out of the weather and out of the cabin.

I made the exact same canister and it stores very nicely in the anchor locker of the 25D. I made mine to hold 3. The year before I just tried using a tupperware canister and the salt water was able to get at the canisters and cause rust. That didn't happen this year with pvc canister.

Dick