backpack stove ideas

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mtree
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Re: backpack stove ideas

Post by mtree »

TomPierce wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 12:34 pm
Esbit! 13g stove weight! But for sure a niche group uses Esbit. No moving parts, no liquid. I've never noticed any odd smells but some apparently have more finely tuned olfactory skills than I. I'm too green to use a canister stove.
A buddy of mine swears by these! They actually work. Just don't expect your coffee to be ready in 3 minutes. I don't think you can go any lighter or cheaper. There are some fairly obvious down sides, but there's a reason they've been around for nearly 100 years.
- I didn't say it was your fault. I said I was blaming you.
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SkaredShtles
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Re: backpack stove ideas

Post by SkaredShtles »

jscully205 wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 12:42 pm Some helpful advice that I see not mentioned: Canister style stoves aren't really the best choice for cooking. Although some like the pocket rocket have an adjustable dial, you're better off with a tried and true white gas stove like a Whisperlite or DragonFly if you insist on cooking. You'll get much more even flame distribution and control. Downsides are they not the lightest, a little bulky, and need occasional maintenance, but they are great stoves to just have in your quiver for their general versatility and the ease of finding fuel in some international locations is nice.

For simply boiling water, nothing has knocked off the MSR Reactor from it's perch from being the best stove at that application.
Maybe they've gotten better, but my 30yo Whisperlite does NOT offer good flame control. It's still a great backpacking stove.
TomPierce
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Re: backpack stove ideas

Post by TomPierce »

mtree wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 1:58 pm
TomPierce wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 12:34 pm
Esbit! 13g stove weight! But for sure a niche group uses Esbit. No moving parts, no liquid. I've never noticed any odd smells but some apparently have more finely tuned olfactory skills than I. I'm too green to use a canister stove.
A buddy of mine swears by these! They actually work. Just don't expect your coffee to be ready in 3 minutes. I don't think you can go any lighter or cheaper. There are some fairly obvious down sides, but there's a reason they've been around for nearly 100 years.
Agreed. Super simple technology, also super reliable. But yeah, not super fast. I think it takes about 8-10 mins to get 600 ml of cold water to boil, a whole Esbit tab takes about 17 mins to die out. But my view is that I don't go into the backcountry to keep a time-pressured schedule. Dinner will take a few minutes longer to prepare vs. cooking on a flamethrower. What do I care? What, like I have a hot date I need to get to?? :lol:

One downside to Esbit is that it doesn't work well in high winds, but I use a Ti windscreen to help control that, and/or cook under my tarp (fwiw a Gatewood Cape, Six Moon Designs). I like them, but it's not for every application, eg not for winter snow melting, group cooking, etc.

-Tom
pbakwin
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Re: backpack stove ideas

Post by pbakwin »

justiner wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 11:49 am I'm not sure I'd invest in an alchohol stove anymore - they're being allowed in less and less places these days. Looks like everyone will have to move to canister. I've seen how easy it is to start a ground/root fire that slowly smolders for days before perhaps becoming something bigger.
Don't take away my alcohol "cat" stove! I've used Skurka's "Dirtbag" stove system for years with no problems, and the old Roy Robinson cat stove before that. You have to spill the alcohol all over the place to start a fire (but yes, some places have banned them at times). The stove itself is basically free if you have a cat, $0.50 if you don't, and weighs about nothing. For backpacking I can carry the exact amount of fuel that I need, instead of a heavy canister. It does take a few minutes to make dinner. So what, I got other things to do in camp while that's happening. Like resting.
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719BR
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Re: backpack stove ideas

Post by 719BR »

jscully205 wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 12:42 pm For simply boiling water, nothing has knocked off the MSR Reactor from it's perch from being the best stove at that application.
for sure. it also makes quick work of melting snow. i love my reactor, though it has limited applications for me these days (i go much lighter these days)
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jsf80238
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Re: backpack stove ideas

Post by jsf80238 »

peterkfes wrote: Thu Jul 22, 2021 2:16 pm I'm curious about how others are managing the height of the pan off their jet-type camp stoves. Next month will be my first overnight where I'm planning on cooking while camping (South Colony Lake). I notice that this type of stove is designed for heating liquid quickly.
When you say jet-type camp stove, you mean something like a Jetboil? I switched to that style the previous summer, but for years I used something like the XKG https://www.msrgear.com/stoves/liquid-f ... 11043.html. Heavier, and kind-of a pain to light, but it always worked. The flame is a little wider, and combined with a pan like this GSI https://www.rei.com/product/895452/gsi- ... rypan-8-in I was able to cook pancakes if I was careful.
peter303
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Re: backpack stove ideas

Post by peter303 »

On a two day trip I "suffer" cold food instead of carrying a couple pound stove, fuel and cookset.
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rijaca
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Re: backpack stove ideas

Post by rijaca »

peter303 wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 4:41 am On a two day trip I "suffer" cold food instead of carrying a couple pound stove, fuel and cookset.
My MSR reactor (with fuel and pot) weighs less than 1.5 pounds and will boil water in about 3 minutes.

A hot meal for dinner and hot coffee in the morning seems to suit me.
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the women 'round here start looking good"
TomPierce
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Re: backpack stove ideas

Post by TomPierce »

All in, my entire cook kit (pot/lid/rubber band for same/stove/windscreen/coffee cup/mini-Bic lighter/folding spork/foil base reflector/wash cloth (doubles as a macro water filter)) weighs 6.8 oz, I just re-measured it on an electronic scale. Esbit fuel tabs are .5 oz, 2 per day (breakfast/dinner) so 1 oz. a day.

I've done the cold food thing like sandwiches and cold pizza, but (a) real food has the moisture in it so it's comparitively pretty heavy (ever weigh a few slices of pizza?), and (b) life is too short to me to skip a warm meal, esp coffee in the morning. Just me.

-Tom
peterkfes
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Re: backpack stove ideas

Post by peterkfes »

If anyone is interested, my original question was answered two weeks ago in Lake City for Wetterhorn. That quaint camping store on the south side of town had a Jetboil camping skillet that claimed even heat without the hot spot in the center. So modern tech has designed a variable thickness skillet bottom to evenly distribute heat from point source camp stoves. It works well, thought I'd share the find with those wanting to cook other-than-liquid food while backpacking.
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