quote:

Originally posted by medic451:
Im a firm believer that simple is better. Thats why Ive avoided big fancy cooking systems like Jetboils. I too have seen pictures of Jetboil flux failures, and they aint pretty. A simple burner and a titanium pot has worked for me just fine. The wood stove interested me because of versatility and abundance of fuel that I dont have to pack, but the weight of the stove may be not much less than the canister itself.

Esbit looks kinda neat: simple, lightweight, compact and easy fuel. Downsides is it smells, leaves nasty residue, and takes a while to boil compared to burners.

Not sure how much simpler you can get than a Jetboil Zip. It's a canister stove like an MSR rocket. Valve, regulator, burner. Then it has a pot. The pot has heat transfer fins and is fitted so that it doesn't slide off the stove, but otherwise it's a pot. Oh, and it comes with a neoprene cozy and a little cup thingy that fits over the bottom so that you don't burn your hand when you use the pot to eat or drink out of.

All in all, it's compact, light weight, and efficient. It has few moving parts and the fragile bits are protected inside the pot while it rides in your pack. There's also no wasted space.

You're in Calif.
What altitude are you in? That's got a factor here.

You're also backpacking. Me? light = better!
I don't have to carry fuel, because there's fuel around? Count me in! I don't care if I get dirty, I'm backpacking... IM GOING TO GET DIRTY.

Somewhere I have a little 3 sided fold out "stove" (more of a base) that you can throw a heat tab in, use that to start your tinder to cook stuff. The stove/base will hold a small pot / canteen cup. I love that lil bugger!

Heat tabs? I found this stuff a while ago and swear by it! I've used it in the snow, rain, cold and it hasn't failed me yet. I haven't used it at altitude yet, but FWIU, it's good to go up there too!

https://quickfire.world/

Inexpensive, reliable, easy and LIGHT!

It may sound silly, but any reason to not just go old school? With a minimal amount of practice, a flint and steel kit with some char cloth can get a fire going pretty much anywhere, and it'll all fit in an Altoids tin.

I routinely have no less than four methods of getting a fire going for either warmth or cooking. I always choose the flint/steel first and it doesn't fail. Plus it's fun. Add a 35mm film canister with Vaseline cotton balls and you'll be cooking and/or warm in a rain forest during typhoon season in no time flat.

Just a suggestion.

A small Kelly Kettle might be an option as well.

I love my MSR Dragon Fly stove. It gives me greater control over heating.

I like backpacking and camping early spring, late fall, and winter. So I use different stoves in different hikes and conditions:

1. Winter : Teepee style tent and medium wood burning stove for heating and cooking.

Spring/Fall/Occasionally Summer: hammock camper (I have even done some hammock winter camping and it wasn't bad just not as comfy as teepee with medium stove). Below are the stoves I usually use. Sometimes backpacking, sometimes bike trips, sometimes kayaking/canoeing:

2. MSR Dragonfly; very good overall stove, has simmer option with valve control. Lots of fuel options. Good idea to get the field repair kit to keep it in good condition. It is loud, sounds similar to a Harrier jet taking off (at least in quiet of woods).

3. I have a Trangia alcohol stove and used it several times. You really need a windscreen for it. The windscreen block winds and helps channel heat better.

4. Got this: STADELHORN Titanium Minimalist Wood Stove and used it a couple times. Really like it. you will need to bring some prepared cotton balls and/or fire tabs in case of wet or damp wood. Using the prepared cotton balls or fire tabs will get even wet wood started....will be a bit smokey but you will have a fire to cook on.

I have my parents 1950s Optimus 8R multi-fuel stove that burns any liquid fuel from alcohol to white gas (but not wood) that serves my needs.

Its heavy, about 2 pounds, but I've literally used it me entire life, so I like it a lot.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:

quote:

Originally posted by medic451:
Im a firm believer that simple is better. Thats why Ive avoided big fancy cooking systems like Jetboils. I too have seen pictures of Jetboil flux failures, and they aint pretty. A simple burner and a titanium pot has worked for me just fine. The wood stove interested me because of versatility and abundance of fuel that I dont have to pack, but the weight of the stove may be not much less than the canister itself.

Esbit looks kinda neat: simple, lightweight, compact and easy fuel. Downsides is it smells, leaves nasty residue, and takes a while to boil compared to burners.

Not sure how much simpler you can get than a Jetboil Zip. It's a canister stove like an MSR rocket. Valve, regulator, burner. Then it has a pot. The pot has heat transfer fins and is fitted so that it doesn't slide off the stove, but otherwise it's a pot. Oh, and it comes with a neoprene cozy and a little cup thingy that fits over the bottom so that you don't burn your hand when you use the pot to eat or drink out of.

All in all, it's compact, light weight, and efficient. It has few moving parts and the fragile bits are protected inside the pot while it rides in your pack. There's also no wasted space.

Heres my beef with the jetboil- in the unlikely event the burner fails, you cant heat it over a regular open fire without risking damage to the system/delicate fins underneath. In the event my MSR pocket rocket fails or runs out of fuel, it wouldn’t be too difficult to start a small fire and heat a simple titanium mug over it. Ive seen quite a few documented failures of jetboils online, even if they were few and far between Ive decided not to use it.
Someone brought up altitude- theres nothing around here much above 7000 to camp at. Ive already tested the pocket rocket and fuel at 7400 ft up on Mt Pinos and it worked fine.

If you want to consider an ultrlight woodstove, check out the Emberlit Fireant Ti. I have the older version of this one (the mini Ti). I use this and will also take my alcohol burner and a small bottle of alcohol if I expect wet weather. (The burner fits into the mini).

I also use an older snow peak 750ml pot (SS) because it has a bail, lid and a set of wire handles. For a lightweight fry pan, I actually re-purposed a small, shallow SS, flat bottomed "food bowl" I found at a petstore. What I do would be classed more as "bushcrafting" since I don't go for long mileage days. I like the SS cookware better than Ti since it isn't as prone to hotspots.

Ken

quote:

Originally posted by medic451:

Heres my beef with the jetboil- in the unlikely event the burner fails, you cant heat it over a regular open fire without risking damage to the system/delicate fins underneath. In the event my MSR pocket rocket fails or runs out of fuel, it wouldn’t be too difficult to start a small fire and heat a simple titanium mug over it. Ive seen quite a few documented failures of jetboils online, even if they were few and far between Ive decided not to use it.
Someone brought up altitude- theres nothing around here much above 7000 to camp at. Ive already tested the pocket rocket and fuel at 7400 ft up on Mt Pinos and it worked fine.

A) The burner on a jetboil is like a torch. A little wood fire isn't going to ruin the pot in an emergency. A big fire would make it impossible to fetch the pot from a fire anyway.

B) the heat transfer fins will probably make the pot work more efficient with a small fire.

C) if there's water in the pot, the pot's max temperature is basically 100 degrees Celsius.

D) Even of the fins get damaged, they're welded to the outside of the pot. Ultimately, you still have a pot that will hold water, and will still boil water.

E) Guys have actually used their jetboil pots (without the neoprene sleeve and plastic lids) in fires without issues on the bush crafting sites.

F) Altitude isn't a problem. Energy is energy, and canisters work fine at altitude. For mountaineering, cold is the bottleneck, not altitude, and isobutane-propane blends are good to fairly cold temps now. In any case, the heat transfer fins of a jetboil will still be more efficient fighting the cold than a plain pot and a canister stove.