I have made a Pop Can stove before. I used the steps from another site. My stove did not use 600 degree epoxy. It took me a couple of times to get the stove right so the fuel would burn. It was a fun project to build the stove to see that it works. It is supper light weight and small in size.
I never used the stove for cooking or anything else. It just seemed that it would take a lot of time to cook your food, much like a tommy stove.

I’m pretty happy with my pop can stove. Mine is the antigravitygear one linked in the review. It lights easily and is pretty quick to get a cup of water boiling. If that’s all you need for a dehydrated meal, it’s perfect. It wouldn’t work well for other types of cooking.

It’s light, but you do need to carry some fuel. I’m not sure I’d use this stove for a long trip (2+ weeks). But for shorter trips where I’m only planning on cooking a few dinners the weight of the stove + 3-4 oz of alcohol is pretty minimal. I carry a small titanium cup to both store the stove in and cook up ~8 oz of water.

Another issue is availability of fuel. Any hardware store will do, but many small towns don’t have them. Also, the smallest container you can usually find is 16 oz, which is probably more than you want/need to carry.

I made the penny alcohol stove version, more info here, http://www.csun.edu/~mjurey/penny.html, about the only difference with it and the version above I think is a “simmer ring”, which somewhat regulates the burn.

We normally use a whisperlite stove, but really wanted to drop that weight, so we tried this stove (dropped about 1/2 lb of weight and some bulk). Although it works differently (need to plan ahead for a limited burn time), it worked great, on boiling water, coffee, scrambled eggs, and even a stew and dumplings dinner. If it does burn out while you still need to cook, not a big deal, you just wait a minute or two for it to cool, reload and go.

Very cool little invention, incredibly light, at the right price (six pack of Heinekin). Only downside was, the Heink’s didn’t taste nearly as good as I remembered from my early drinking days.

I’ve built several popcanstoves and used them in very different circumstances. From below zero (centigrade) to very windy.

They work great. It’s takes some more time to boil then other systems. But you can use that time to make camp or just enjoy the view.

One of the most easy ways to save weight and space.

What a great idea… I built 10 of these this past weekend following your directions… Every one of my tin can stoves works perfect! I do find if you are trying to boil 3 cups of water you need to add a bit more fuel to the can. So far I have made instant coffee, hot chocolate, ramen and I am trying many more things. This is just right for those meals that require a cup of hot water. This stove so awsome and I plan to take two with me on the great divide this summer! This is so lightweight and stong. Thank you for your great instructions and pictures. Also makes a great gift to give to your friends that are into bikepacking or backpacking.

If you don’t have the time to DIY, for the price of a half-dozen Heineken 6-packs, just buy an Evernew Ti stove. Get the Ti cross stand for it too. You can easily find a Ti mug that it will nest inside. Make a simple windscreen for it or just pile gear/rocks around it. The titanium construction means you can probably drive your bike over it without damage.
http://www.amazon.com/EVERNEW-696950-Evernew-Titanium-Alcohol/dp/B003DKK7MK/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Re: fuel availability in small towns – depends how small of a town. Denatured alcohol can be purchased at most hardware stores and almost every auto parts store has HEET or some equivalent of gasoline drier additive. If you use HEET, only use the YELLOW [methanol] version, not the ‘Iso’ version. Still can’t find any fuel? Go to the local bar and purchase a few shots of everclear. Distilled [pun intended], ANY source of methanol or ethanol can be used for a hot, clean and almost invisible flame. Do not use any of the [iso] propanol alcohols, which included rubbing alcohol, unless you want a sooty and messy flame.

Just an FYI

These stoves are considered to be an open flame by the US forest service. Therefore when there is a campfire ban during fire season they are illegal to use – stoves which have a shutoff valve are allowed. Also be aware the flame is not visible during daylight, so it is difficult to be sure the stove is not burning and this requires a little extra caution. Also the pop can stoves are a bit unstable and easy to tip over. I used to use one but switched to a Trangia alcohol stove a while back for this reason. Cost is about 20 bucks, weighs a few ounces more, much easier to use.