cool stove but its way oyt of my price range
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They do get to be expensive when made is durable materials. You might be interested in the other two stoves coming up in these tests. Just for future reference. The testing begins tomorrow.
The three stoves to be tested are The bushbuddy, the bushcookerLT2 and the folding Woodgaz stove.
Follow the testing progress here:
"The Great Wood Stove Burn-Off"
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Fancee Feest = preferred alcohol stove of "informed backpackers"
looking forward to it
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RustyNails, I'm a stove nerd- always on the lookout for a lighter, more efficient (and cooler) design.
To answer your question re: a folding stove
- I personally like my Wetfire folding titanium ultralight stove (.5 oz) that uses fuel cubes (I prefer Esbit- each cube weighs .5 oz and is good for boiling a solo pot no problem). I take it with me as a backup to my main stove.
- My main solo/2 person stove is a Trangia; however, that may change. I just bought a Brasslite Turbo I-D (2 oz for $22).
Shug made a video that tests the brasslite vs a trangia vs a mini-atomic (another interesting choice). See his video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sxWvGZlorw
Brasslite makes a larger one- the Turbo IID- the Turbo ID is SMALL and works for my REI Ti solo pot (shaped like a tall mug), but I'd want a stand alone pot stand for anything larger.
Brasslite can be found here: http://www.brasslite.com/ . They shipped promptly.
Haven't played with wood stoves lately- used to use a coffee can hobo stove- but that was back when I had more patience
Hope this helps.
Here's a link to an esbit folding stove at REI. 4.5 stars after 63 reviews at REI.
The first 2 or 3 reviews give a great overview of when and how to use the stove- worth reading if you are thinking of solid fuel stoves (much of what they write applies to all of them).
The folding 'pocket stove' is fairly light:
http://www.rei.com/product/653343
... but not as light as the Esbit emergency stove:
http://www.campmor.com/ags-labs-esbi...ci_sku=84851WC
I personally think the larger Esbit is a little too big (I know... it's actually small- and lighter than the older surplus store esbit stove I have)- and bending metal back and forth eventually weakens it- so I prefer this one:
http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___84857
It works best with a beer can pot or similarly shaped pot (narrow diameter base)
If you are feeling particularly DIY-ish... try this (a stove using hardware cloth). Simply put your fuel cube on top of it...
http://www.footprintpress.com/Articles/esbittabs.htm
Or use one of these templates from Zen stoves:
http://zenstoves.net/Templates.htm
(I like the X-holder)
Btw, all of these options need a windscreen (you may also want punch holes in the screen using a hand-held hole punch every inch or so to improve flow).
Re: Esbit cubes- these aren't our grandfather's fuel cubes:
The Esbit fuel cubes you can buy today (not sure about older versions) are non-toxic and burn completely (some cubes leave a toxic residue). They are safe to burn in a well-ventilated area (same risk as other open flames wrt CO).
... but don't eat them!! (just kidding of course)
Your source re: fuel cubes may have been referring to Trioxane cubes which are toxic (and different from esbit cubes)- you want to keep the residual powder from Trioxane tablets away from your food (I don't recommend using them)
I don't have a problem lighting them; however, some do (usually due to not bothering to scrape up some of the cube into a small pile on top of the cube before lighting- much easier that way). A trick for lighting them is to put a small amount of alcohol on them (assuming you have some). Shaving works for me and a match or lighter is easier than sparks.
Esbit cubes do have a slightly sooty burn (not as bad as wetfire tinder cubes or wood) and it will coat your pot. When I use it, I keep my pot in a plastic bag- though it cleans off fairly easily (some like a dirty pot).
BL: if you are into ultralight, don't want to worry about spilling fuel (even if it evaporates) and only intend to boil water, a fuel cube folding stove is an appropriate option- if you want to make scrambled eggs, I'd probably look elsewhere (no heat control). If you want a backup stove- go with whichever fits your situation best- and use esbit cubes.
In any case, I prefer alcohol stoves, but carry my wetfire ultralight (same as the AGS Labs Titanium Stove) and 2x esbit cubes with me 'just in case' (total 1.5 oz)- I need my coffee!
BTW, not trying to sell you on a particular option; camp your way!
I like alcohol stoves- others like wood stove- others like fuel cubes- some are wedded to their MSR Whisperlite.
Told you I am a stove nerd.
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Remember: advice is worth what you pay for it- mine is free!
lo you werent kidding VA. Stove nerd indeed
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