The M71 stove can be refilled with alcohol many times. The chemical that causes the alk to gell does not burn. You can refill the can with Heet (yellow bottle) or denatured alk (aka meths) and by the next day it will have gelled again. I get 10 burns out of a full can. A burn is 16 oz of water to a full boil. Each burn takes about 10 minutes. The stove needs a windscreen to work best. MerlinCH is correct about how to open the can. The flame is a little bit more smoky than plain alk. I like that because it coats the bottom of my pots with a thin black carbon coating that makes the water boil 20% faster. Wipe off any soot but leave the black part that is "cooked on". Soon you will have a uniform, thin, shiny, black carbon coating on the pot.
Just a tip to use the M71 stove: when you open the aluminium foil, don't cut it out. It is better to make three cuts in it, crossing in their middle, in a star form, then to lift the six parts: they will help protect the flame from the wind. After use and cooling of the stove, one can replace the triangles flat and close the lid, ready for next use. It is possible to refuel these stoves with jelly alcohol. Only one precaution: to extinguish the stove, just do as Luke did, and never let the lid on the stove before it has cooled down, as the heat would destroy the gasket. Provided one follows these simple rules, the stove can last for quite a while :-) And just for curiosity: have a look on the lid. There is something written here: www.keepshooting.com/swiss-m71-stove-4-pack.html it reads: SIPURO-75-11, which says the maker is the Sipuro Co (chemical and household products), and the date this one was made: November 1975. Luke's one is dated October 1975 (at 5:54). Check yours :-)
The only downside with those M71s is finding ones that haven't dried out. I bought two 4-packs of them and half of them were empty/dried out. But it was ok...I had an instant alcohol stove. Just added some rolled woodstove door gasket in there, added alcohol, and was good to go! Love the stove stands too. Thanks for the video!
You can find Sterno at the 99 cent store. Considering the price of the Swiss M71 I think I will keep using Sterno. Thanks for the comparison though. Keep it up you seem to touch on ideas that are very practical.
With Sterno cans I found a paint can key or opener (the one with the curled tip) is great for opening Sterno cans without damaging the lid. You can find them where paint is sold. Sometimes they are free. GOD Bless you and your families
You can refill the m71 with denatured alcohol: as long as there's still gum left in the bottom of the stove, the new fuel will gel up within an hour. Best stove ever.
I WOULD like to see a meal prepared with the M71. You know, something like breakfast eggs and whatever, a soup or such. Sometimes a meal in the woods is great fun. Thanks.
Hi Luke... Always a good feeling to see you. I LOVE these test's... Very cool. (Very smart... Thumbs up if you like coffee !) lol. I hope you and the beautiful Susan have a fantastic day... Be safe bud... Peace.
Very cool, I don't know much about those stoves but I kinda like what I saw here. How many burns do you get from one can of that stuff? Thanks for sharing
So, just out of curiosity, which one of those stoves left more residue on the pot? I noticed that there was a little residue after using the M71. Did the Sterno leave any residue? Which stove was easier to clean up from the pot perspective?
I searched a few websites trying to find it for $4.50 (Amazon has cheapest price but it's still $10 with shipping). On one of the survivalist gear websites, they claim it has a 2 hour burn time in the product description but can be refilled with any type of gel/alcohol/bio fuel. Keepshooting dot com has a 4-pack for $17.95 plus whatever shipping is to your address. Here's a link for the 4-pack www.keepshooting.com/swiss-m71-stove-4-pack.html EDIT: I'm ref the M71 stove above and not the Sterno
I got the same. But I found this: www.armysurpluswarehouse.com/outdoor-camping-gear/stoves-accessories/swiss-m71-stove.html They're $5.00 from this online surplus store.
Interesting comparison. I was at a Dollar Tree store a few weeks ago and noticed they had alcohol burners for buffet table hot plates for $1 each. I was going to pick one up to try out but got distracted by a pretty lady and forgot about it. lol Might be worth checking out if you have a Dollar Tree near you. Thanks for the video. I like the idea of the versus episodes.
M71 vs Sterno ... Agree, how long does each one burn? The M71 boils water faster, but if you only get 2 burns out of it, and Sterno gets 20 burns ..... then Sterno is the way to go. When out camping & hunting I'm not in that big of a hurry to boil water so an extra 2 or 3 minutes isn't a deal breaker if I'm getting more burns with Sterno.
I thought Sterno's were made to keep food warm at buffets, not cook/boil. If they cooked too hot and fast they wouldn't be good for their intended purpose.
Perhaps another interesting idea would be tor refill the M71 can to the same level that it was filled at with Sterno and do a retest. Or conversely take the top off of the Sterno can (which would mean that you would need a different potstand) and do a retest.
Hi GERMANY... This is Gettysburg PA... lol Many towns in Pennsylvania USA are named after German Towns. I live not far from Hanover PA. .East Berlin, PA.. Abbottstown PA. and many more. I am of German Descent myself. I have always wanted to come to Germany and visit... But the world has changed so much in the past 15 years... I think the World is in a struggle between light & Dark. I think the Light will win. I hope that you are well and that God will shine a light for you. Peace, be safe Cousin...
The sterno and alcohol should have burned about the same. I would place the time difference on the stove design. Also sterno makes a cook can smaller, about the size of the M71. I would be curious to know if the results of both fuels, with the same stove top produce different results than todays... (I will say though, that sterno is made for warming, not cooking, So that may be the difference in the fuels. But still curious.)
HI I have a LIXADA Wood Stove (similar to the silverfire scout & i an thinking of getting a ZEBRA Head 14cm Camping Pot to go with it as a cook set. Can anyone tell me if the LIXADA stove will fit inside a ZEBRA with the lid locked closed if the middle pan is removed
Well Sterno burns cooler. So if you want to simmer a soup or wild mushrooms or whatever and want a slower cooler burn, then Sterno is the one. Faster isn't always better.
Just about anywhere brother; amazon has a bunch, eBay does too. Make sure to check the stats on whatever you are considering, some can be rather heavy. - Luke
Of course, the Swiss product won because the Swiss make the best stuff on the planet. I used to think the German stuff was best, but the Swiss beats all. (and you get the pot stand)
Can not compare cooking fuel efficiency to chaffing fuel. It would be like saying there are literally a billion types of Sterno, when there's only one! 🤔. But lets not get into the weeds 🙄🙄
Hey Luke, im a guy from Denmark, and i would like to ask some political questions, but i know that you try to not include politics in your channel. Let me know if you could answer some questions from a foreigner
