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General Stove Thread

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    • lots of good tips, thank you! I'm definitely trying the soap trick and will start packing my stuff in a plastic bag.

      I should only carry one back-up...this last trip I carried all 3 and felt a little overwhelmed with all the accessories.

      When I bought the Caldera Cone and Inferno (wood burning option), I also bought the recommended alcohol stove, called a Kojin. I haven't been real happy with the Kojin. It seems to take a long time to boil water and I have to refill and re-light the stove several times, using a lot of fuel. Several times, I've run out of fuel and had to burn wood. It uses denatured alcohol. I think I posted this before but this summer my gear was left in my car while I visited the grandbaby in PA and when I stopped to hike in Grayson Highlands on the way home, my fuel bottle was nearly empty. So I'm convinced that a back-up is important for me if I want hot food and drinks.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • I use an older model MSR pocket rocket. It has never given me any grief. The last few year I've been leaving it home and eating cold. Truthfully, I do not bring much food on the trail anymore. As a section hiker, I'm working so hard the first few days I do not feel like eating much. By the time my appetite is kicking in a few days later, I'm usually in town by then treating myself to plenty of good cooking and bear. Works for me.

      My backup has been some waterproof matches and whatever mother nature provides. I have not needed it yet because the pocket rocket has been pretty reliable.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Traffic Jam wrote:

      lots of good tips, thank you! I'm definitely trying the soap trick and will start packing my stuff in a plastic bag.

      I should only carry one back-up...this last trip I carried all 3 and felt a little overwhelmed with all the accessories.

      When I bought the Caldera Cone and Inferno (wood burning option), I also bought the recommended alcohol stove, called a Kojin. I haven't been real happy with the Kojin. It seems to take a long time to boil water and I have to refill and re-light the stove several times, using a lot of fuel. Several times, I've run out of fuel and had to burn wood. It uses denatured alcohol. I think I posted this before but this summer my gear was left in my car while I visited the grandbaby in PA and when I stopped to hike in Grayson Highlands on the way home, my fuel bottle was nearly empty. So I'm convinced that a back-up is important for me if I want hot food and drinks.
      I'm not familiar with that stove so much googled it. The review reported fast boil time and good efficiency (by alcohol standards) so I'm not sure why your performance is lacking.
    • Here's what I use: woodgaz-stove.com/zz-starlyte-burner-with-lid.php

      I bought it as kit from Zelph, it also came with another alcohol stove, an esbit holder, esbit, pot with lid, carry sack, and caldera cone type wind screen. It will boil 1.5 to 2 cups of water on a half ounce of alcohol in about 6 minutes. Sometimes I put a little extra fuel in it and snuff it out with the pot lid- DO Not Blow on an alcohol stove- and put the lid back on when it cools down to save the fuel.
      "Dazed and Confused"
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    • jimmyjam wrote:

      Here's what I use: woodgaz-stove.com/zz-starlyte-burner-with-lid.php

      I bought it as kit from Zelph, it also came with another alcohol stove, an esbit holder, esbit, pot with lid, carry sack, and caldera cone type wind screen. It will boil 1.5 to 2 cups of water on a half ounce of alcohol in about 6 minutes. Sometimes I put a little extra fuel in it and snuff it out with the pot lid- DO Not Blow on an alcohol stove- and put the lid back on when it cools down to save the fuel.
      Starlyte is a great option. Being able to blow it out and cap it to save fuel is a great advantage. Nobody counts wasted fuel when calculating real-life efficiency. I used it for a while then switched to my DIY eCHS for more power and it's really cool.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by odd man out ().

    • odd man out wrote:

      Traffic Jam wrote:

      lots of good tips, thank you! I'm definitely trying the soap trick and will start packing my stuff in a plastic bag.

      I should only carry one back-up...this last trip I carried all 3 and felt a little overwhelmed with all the accessories.

      When I bought the Caldera Cone and Inferno (wood burning option), I also bought the recommended alcohol stove, called a Kojin. I haven't been real happy with the Kojin. It seems to take a long time to boil water and I have to refill and re-light the stove several times, using a lot of fuel. Several times, I've run out of fuel and had to burn wood. It uses denatured alcohol. I think I posted this before but this summer my gear was left in my car while I visited the grandbaby in PA and when I stopped to hike in Grayson Highlands on the way home, my fuel bottle was nearly empty. So I'm convinced that a back-up is important for me if I want hot food and drinks.
      I'm not familiar with that stove so much googled it. The review reported fast boil time and good efficiency (by alcohol standards) so I'm not sure why your performance is lacking.
      I don’t know either, I’m sure it’s user error. My experience has been that boiling a full pot of cold water takes 2-3 re-lights of the stove and about 60-80 ml of fuel. It seems that the flame is too far from the pot but IdK.

      So I’m using fuel at a very fast rate and running out unexpectedly. If it weren’t for my back up, I would run out before the end of a trip.

      Funny, I have a pocket rocket and like it...but there’s just something about stoves that make me want to try all of them.
      Lost in the right direction.