I watched a video on Youtube the other day where someone was looking for a way to save 3g on the weight of his stove. I don’t know about others but that is just far to much for me. Saving a couple of hundred grammes is one thing, but to try and save 3? Each to their own. My own choices of stove have been either a Jetboil ZIP or a Trangia Triangle and alcohol stove with a titanium pot. I decided to see if I could drop a reasonable amount of weight without sacrificing heating ability.
My Jetboil ZIP, at £70-£80 boils 500ml of water in 2 minutes 40 seconds. I decided to have a try at a hand made alcohol stove that cost a little over £2 and boils 500ml of water in 4 minutes. The Jetboil weighs 542g with a full 100 size gas can. The alcohol setup weighs 352g (with enough fuel to boil 1-1.5 litres of water). The complete alcohol system is nearly 200g less and would cost around £50-£60 with a titanium pot.
But I also wanted a lightweight pot stand and windshield. The Trangia Triangle is almost there, but I decided to have a look at the Esbit Solid Fuel Stove. It will accept a Trangia Alcohol Stove as well as burn the Esbit solid fuel tablets. I didn’t intend to go with the solid fuel, I really don’t like it. But the stand will accept a small alcohol stove stood on the platform for the solid fuel.
At 93g it is more than 20g lighter than the Triangle. The alcohol stove I am using is around 100g lighter than the Trangia stove. The titanium pot I am using from Alpkit is around 160g which for a 1.5litre pot is extremely light.
In use the stand is a little more awkward to assemble than the Trangia Triangle with the plates not always playing ball and trying to separate as you put the last connection together. It’s then just a case of slotting the aluminium plate supplied, or the Trangia that is not, into the stand. But here you need a word of warning. Over a period of time, the plates bend a little, making the aluminium plate a little precarious so that very occasionally, as you move your pot, it falls out. If there is an alcohol stove involved, you can end up with a spill that will be possibly on fire. That is the only couple of negatives I have found so far. Minor ones that can be overcome with care.
The stand comes with a small, over manufactured pouch. It does the job of protecting the stand well, but you may decide to do without. The folded package is 110mm x 120mm x 10mm. The smallest pot I could use on it was 80mm in diameter and it comfortably takes a 1.5 litre pot at 150mm in diameter. At around £20 it is a competitor for the Trangia Triangle although not quite so tough.
Hi Marc, I don’t know about you but when ever i have used this set up in the field under normal UK conditions i have had to use a separate round windshield to get boil times reasonable.
ReplyDeleteI did make an aluminium version but i wasn’t happy with it. Maybe the gauge of ally i used was not man enough. I have now settled comfortably with the Caldera cone and 12-10 stove with a 600ml Evernew Ti pot.
Hi Alan,
DeleteI have a few different stove setups, so I chose one that will suite the conditions. I found the Trangia Traingle and this Esbit system okay if I know I am going somewhere that I know has sheltered spots such as a few months ago in the Peak District on Kinder I was able to get well down into some rocks to use the stove pretty much out of the wind. Boil time was affected a little, maybe half again longer than normal. If I think wind will be a serious factor I tend to go with the Jetboil. It may weigh a little more, but it gets the job done.
I will certainly have a look at the Caldera Cone sometime as an option.
Did you try the solid fuel in the end? I'd be interested to see how it worked? I agree that the obsession with ultra-lightweighting is a little tedious.....I just go with what I fancy and work a bit harder :-)
ReplyDeleteI've tried solid fuel before in the military type folding stoves and just find it a bit too slow and more prone to the conditions. I've not tried the Esbit blocks, but I also don't like the residue left by both solid blocks and gel fuel. The gel fuel leaves an awful mess in a stove. I like alcohol stoves because they are pretty clean, I can measure out the amount of fuel I need and they are fairly quick. And I agree with going with what you fancy. Sometimes I want speed, sometimes I want a bit of flame to warm my hands up with after boiling water.
Deleteesbit/hexi works well in a Caldera cone. More weight efficient than meths, and a cone is more windproof, lighter/less faff than any other system. I've tried a lot over the years. just used esbit for the TGO. only downside is pan residue. don't mind the smell. oh, and esbit is very expensive. Hexamine is much cheaper but works as well.
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteSorry for the delay to post your comment, I've been away in the Lake District for the week and my car decided to throw a wobbler two days in, leaving me limited to walks around Keswick while dealing with the garage and all the other stuff you have to deal with.
It's the mess of solid fuel that primarily puts me off. I also find that the little cheapo alcohol stove I have uses a tiny amount of alcohol to boil half a litre of water, which is the amount I usually need at any one time. So I can't agree with it being more weight efficient than meths or alcohol as I prefer to use. Alcohol is also very cheap to use in comparison and boils that half a litre of water in about 4-5 minutes. But a Caldera Cone with an alcohol stove will be worth looking at.
Thanks for commenting.
Oh, I mostly use alcohol too as it's definitely cleaner and cheaper. But all else being equal (same setups, correct flame gaps per fuel, ) Esbit is proven more weight efficient as it has a greater fuel density than alcohol. I have found this to consistently be the case with my cone. Hope the car is sorted, hope your trip wasn't too mucked about. Cheers
DeleteHi,
DeleteThanks for the good wishes. The car should be sorted in the next day or so. I didn't get done what I wanted to, but I will be back to the Lakes in three weeks.
Cheers