A brief catchup in time (part 2)

As part of the clean up of gear, I sold my stove.  The MSR Whisperlite International is a fine stove, but it was heavier than I wanted to be carrying.  My only practical alternative was an alcohol stove.  Gas I ruled out as its only possible to get the canisters in the cities. Wood fires attract too much attention.

I used this Evernew Titanium stove with pot stand for a while, but eventually I had enough of it.  The pot stand was a bit too small for my pot, and the pot slide on it easily, meaning you held the pot a lot or risked it falling off.  When the stove was warmed up, the flames would bulge downwards and almost scorch the ground around it. It needing a flame proof base.  Even with the fuel measurements stamps on the inside, it was hard to measure a small amount into it. There is fibreglass wool between the two walls, and this soaks up the fuel. Pour a small amount in, and it all vanished into the wool - how much is there? So you add more, till there is fuel visible in the bottom. The stove has to burn out - it isn't possible to blow or snuff it out. And it always kept the smell of fuel in it.  It did cook my lunch fast though.

My new stove would solve all these problems, make my lunch and clean up too.  I started making stoves again. Zen stoves  has a wealth of stove types and build information,  but google found other interesting stove designs.

After a several builds of stoves like the fancy feast (see flaws of this stove), and some other variations I decided I wanted something simpler.  Stoves that needed certain sized holes punched or drilled, precision cuts, carefull press fits or gluing ended up being too fiddly. When assembled correctly, they worked well, but I wanted simple and quick to make.  I also tried home build models with fibreglass wool wicks, stainless steel mesh tops like the starlyte stoves.  These decided that I didn't like not being able to see how much fuel was in the pot, nor the left over smell of fuel after using.  This might have been better if I had found a lid I could seal the stove with like the Starlyte offers.  Lots of hunting about shops for metal tins with fitted lids. Note: the website doesn't ship internationally.

In the testing, tea candle stoves seemed promising, but never held enough fuel to fully boil 2 cups (500ml) of water. It got close, but just not enough. Eventually I hit on the red bull can stove.  Find a red bull can. Cut the bottom off 25mm (1 inch) from the bottom. Done. Stove finished.

The stove would hold enough fuel to boil 2 cups water for a few minutes. Was easy to make, easy to fill. Able to see how much fuel was left. Didn't need to be filled to the brim. Is very light. Lighter than the titanium stove!  If a red bull can can't be found, a coke can will do, but I found the red bull was easier to gauge the fuel amount when filling.  After it burns out, it cools quickly, so can be refilled for a second burn if needed.  (Two burns are needed for dry baking.)

Simmering is accomplished by a piece of aluminium foil bent over the top. Adjust as needed for the flame size.  This can also be used to snuff the flame out.

A coat hanger bent into shape is my pot stand. Easy to make, robust and non slip.

By the time I arrived at this point in my stove testing, I was over stove testing.  So even though it didn't cook lunch nor clean up, I stopped experiments.

For the record, I did try using tea candles to dry bake with, but didn't succeed. I suspect it was because I was using (claimed) 9 hour tea candles. The heat was never enough for the number of candles I could get under the pot.  All that happened was the pot was blackened with a waxy residue  and after about an hour I would end the test with raw dough.  Two burns of the red bull stove with the simmer cover is enough to bake one bread bun.

Other items that went in the gear clean up was my kitchen knife; 160 grams was too much knife. 500 grams of Useful string. You never know when you need to tie something up, or lots of somethings. But I decided I didn't need to carry quite that much weight in string.  Tent pegs were culled from 30 down to a more sensible number, though probably still to many. Battery packs from three to one. Stuff sacks had previously been breeding like rabbits - down to just a couple. Clothing - less of it, no more spares of spares.  Dropped the two snake bandages that I've carried since I started travelling.