I'm trying to piece together a cook set on a budget. I like the looks of the esbit trekking set. I can get it to my door for $45. Not bad. But would like to save a little if possible. Only bad thing is the stove part has some not so great reviews. It has reports of 8-12 minutes, or longer to boil 2 cups of water with the alcohol stove. I could live with the 8. But much longer aint so great. I do like the duel fuel idea behind this.
http://www.campsaver.com/cookset-985-ml?gclid=CjwKEAjwkK6wBRCcoK_tiOT-zFASJAC7RArii08buFJWqYrdtxXL-25sNLtUqF4ts3YBiBewWN7VHxoC0d3w_wcB
Well then I could piece together my own kit. I must admit I'm a little nervous about building a alcohol stove. My Son did a basic cat can. He went to snuff it out with a larger can. It created a vacuum some how lifting the stove and spilling burning alcohol all over his foot.

I did just build the cat can/tomato paste can stove. Trying to decide if I want to go through with it just because of the price of the carbon felt. I priced out the rest of the set. By the time I buy the carbon felt, it's not tons cheaper than if I bought the esbit set. But I do like the DIY aspect of it.

I thought about the cat can with a Stanley cook set. While at walmart I seen this neat potential windscreen/pot holder. It's a bug candle,,,,lol. It's $6. I don't know if I could ever get all the stinky wax out of it. I'm sure it's aluminum. Maybe I could just copy the idea. I have it in my mind that I want a more stable platform for the pot to sit on. I could put tent stakes through the slots in the windscreen. I could cut the screen so it could be stowed in the pot. And maybe make a little metal tab to reattach it. I'm not sure if it would roll up because of the cone shape. Maybe. Maybe not. Just thinkin. And then I could add some kind of a cup to the bottom of the Stanley.
Any thoughts as to which would be the best way to go. Or tips for piecing together my own set. Thanks
Here's what I'm looking at piecing together.