minimalist stove

[haven]

A Texas company called Vertex Outdoors has a successful Kickstarter project going. The product is a tiny foldable stove, powered by fuel pellets or an alcohol burner.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1903954393/vertex-ultralight-backpacking-stove

 

[Flagster]

cool but I prefer my old soda can alcohol burner

 

[Christophe Noel]

I'm still a Clikstand fan boy.

http://expeditionportal.com/gears/2617-american-overlander-clikstand.html

I wonder how stable the pot is on that oval shaped Vertex stove.

 

[p nut]

I've never had great luck with the tablet fuel tabs. Maybe I'm just too impatient, but I just stick to my good ol' MSR Dragonfly. Fuel fits right in my ti pot, along with spork (fuel is in a zip lock in case of spillage). I just hated waiting for the water to boil at the end of a long day. Same with the 5 soda can alcohol stoves I have in the garage.

 

[Flagster]

I've never had great luck with the tablet fuel tabs. Maybe I'm just too impatient, but I just stick to my good ol' MSR Dragonfly. Fuel fits right in my ti pot, along with spork (fuel is in a zip lock in case of spillage). I just hated waiting for the water to boil at the end of a long day. Same with the 5 soda can alcohol stoves I have in the garage.

You must have a big pot to fit a fuel bottle in...I'm jealous...:ylsmoke:

Fuel tabs are only good for luke warm tea...the hundreds I still have are sitting in my emergency bag...do they wear out?

My alcohol burner is ok...a little slow...but I like to sit and enjoy the sunset...

 

[762X39]

I use my Swedish Military Trangia alcohol burner with methyl hydrate all the time (even while out snowshoeing in the bush) and it never occurred to me that it took too long to cook something or boil water for a brew up. I also use the Esbit tablets from time to time to heat water for tea in my old canteen cup and it works fine. The two minimalist stoves seem like a good idea to me even though I travel by a half ton or 1 1/2 ton truck most of the time. If I was still bicycle camping I would probably get one.

 

[Christophe Noel]

In testing that Clikstand set-up I linked above, I was amazed to see my half liter of water boil in just 4 minutes 45 seconds. For an alcohol stove, that's pretty great, I think. Considering my titanium Jetboil SOL boils that same amount in 2 minutes. A day on a bike is loooooooong. I have an extra 2:45 to wait for bubbles to arrive on the scene.

 

[pugslyyy]

I've never had great luck with the tablet fuel tabs. Maybe I'm just too impatient, but I just stick to my good ol' MSR Dragonfly. Fuel fits right in my ti pot, along with spork (fuel is in a zip lock in case of spillage). I just hated waiting for the water to boil at the end of a long day. Same with the 5 soda can alcohol stoves I have in the garage.

Yeah I have to agree. I travel a bit heavier these days, but my Brunton Bantam is always in my bug-out-bag, along with a Ti kettle. When you need heat, liquid fuel is the way to go - beats solids or gas hands down.

 

[Christophe Noel]

My primary beef with fuel cubes is the funk. Those things reek. If not sealed well in a bag everything takes on that nasty acrid smell.

They're also surprisingly heavy. I weighed a 100 gram JetBoil fuel canister and an equal supply of fuel cubes. I estimated a 100 gram can can bring 1/2 a liter of water to a boil 24-30 times. 24-30 fuel cubes weighed three times as much as the isobutane/propane fuel. So, they are not light at all. Even when you factor in a small burner like an Optimus Crux or similar.

Alcohol stoves however, are growing on me again. I'm always impressed with the weight/size equation. I'm hoping to slip out to do the White Rim Trail on my Fargo in a couple weeks. Given the low temps (20s) at night, I'll take my Clikstand for some warm fluids and to melt snow if needed.

 

[p nut]

Up in the Uinta Mtns, where I usually go, I noticed that alcohol/fuel tab stoves were way more finicky with changes in temp and more sensitive to wind. I could get water to boil in my garage in 5 min no problem, but in the field, it was a different story. It may work just as well in ideal conditions, but that's usually not the case up in the mountains. A big part of this may be operator error as well, I don't know. But my MSR has been pretty fool-proof and quick, so works for me.

 

[Butch1979]

I think a clickstand may be in my future. Pretty cool cheap stove for an ultralight option.

 

[madmax718]

Not really versatile, when you think about it.

You can't fly with either compressed gas, white gas, or tablets.
White gas stoves are easy to get a fuel source at destination. (most will run auto gas, or you can buy kero/etc/napha, etc).
Compressed gas is harder to get. Specialty stores or convenience stores mostly will carry propane (domestically). butane is more viable in other countries and areas.
Lindal Valve Stoves (snow peak giga, MSR reactor, etc) fuel canisters are the hardest to find- I carry a converter to butane for just that purpose.

The most versatile option I've found is the emberlit mini ti; it weights about 4.5 oz. Its designed to burn wood, and I've found it to be very efficient at burning wood. There are small mods that you can do to burn tablet (a tablet hanger to keep the tablet closer to the top) though I personally havent tried it yet. Its very durable, will easily support a 10" cast iron pan and there's is minimal metal flex- only to snap in the last piece, and its not under constant tension.

It also works great with alcohol stoves because it provides the support and a wind screen. I also have not tried this, because I rely mostly on butane and wood. I carry a small 100g canister of isobutane with a mini stove. All fits in my TI cup. sure, I could lighten the load, but in essence I get two methods of cooking for barely any weight.

 

[p nut]

Wood burning stoves had piqued my interest in the past, but when it comes down to it, if my gas stove stops working, I'll just gather up firewood and put my pot right on the fire. No need to carry a metal stove. I do understand that they're more efficient, but in the 30 years of backpacking, I have had 1 instance where my gas ran out. Not worth it given those stats (for me).

 

[Christophe Noel]

You can find alcohol almost anywhere in the world. Just as easily, if not more so, than white gas.

One of the bummers with the new crop of wood burning stove is the hassle factor. Some of them are hectic to use, especially if the terrain is wet or at altitude. I tried to use one of the smaller wood burners on a recent backpacking trip at 10,000 feet in Colorado and it was such a headache. I had to feed the little bugger a crap load of sticks just to keep it going. The sticks I could find were wet and the whole thing was just a buzz kill.

I'm also headed to Iceland in July for a 15 day bikepacking trip into the volcanic highlands where there isn't a pair of sticks for 100 miles. I'll definitely be using canisters in a Reactor for that one.

 

[UncleBilly]

Anyone heard of the Solo Stove? Just use whatever twigs are around. Check it out...