Roughing it easy: Alcohol Stove (Vargo Triad)

Pros

Integrated pot stand
Lightweight

Cons

Difficult to fill
Difficult to light
Small flame
Long boil times

The Vargo Triad is the first alcohol stove I tried. I was in a local stove, and the stove was on sale for a small price and I impulse bought it. Even though the cost was low, I have regretted that purchase many times. Simply put, the stove fails to perform.

This small lightweight stove solves one of the problems with alcohol stoves. That problem is where to set my pot. The built in stand and the light weight are the only good things about this stove. When filling the stove you must take care because the alcohol enters the small filling hole at a very slow rate. You must always fill the stove to capacity (2 oz or 60 ml) in order to light the stove. You fill the stove until a small amount of fuel remain at the bottom of the concave top. You then light this small pool of alcohol and wait (and wait) for the stove to bloom.

I have devised a work around for faster lighting which I will explain. But you will still need to completely fill the stove in order to boil 2 cups (500 ml) of water. In order to facilitate lighting the stove, I created a small "pre-heater" (inspired by the Trangia winter attachment) from one of the left over pieces from constructing a soda can stove. I use the cut out, concave bottom to hold several drops of alcohol which I light, then push under the Triad, this starts the stove very quickly. The concave "flash pan" then stores on top of the stove, being held in place by the folded pot supports.

On my one and only field use, the stove failed to boil water with one filling. I had to refill the stove in order to achieve a boil. Under ideal conditions, (no wind, 72° ambient), the stove took 9 minutes to boil 2 cups (500 ml) and consumed 1.8 ounces (50ml).