As well as the mini sideburner stove I have also made the Penny Stove, which although a bit heavier (22g compared to the 6g of the sideburner) and needing a pot stand it only used about half the meths that the sideburner needed to boil the same amount of water.

So for overnighters I will probably use the sideburner but any longer and I will take the penny stove. Oh and it can simmer too.

Spent lots of happy hours on the web and then making stoves,Cat/tuna can stoves are also good as they are better for simmer modifications and usually burn slower anyway.Cozy also the way to go -foam ,bit from the mattress ,duct taped to form a ring easily put together with foam lid.At an oz or so I sometimes carry a drinks can and a tuna can stove to organise drinks and food more easily and quicker.

I've got a caledera cone on the way from the states, one of the new models from trail designs that fit a Vargo Ti Lite/Alpkit MyTiMug.

They are supposed to be lighter and better locking device than the originals and with the exchange rate at the moment only £18.20. Fingers crossed it avoids stupid import duties. I'll report back after extensive testing in the bach garden.

I've got a new style Caldera Cone on the way from the US too, for my MSR Titan Kettle. Glenridding is only a bus ride away from me so I'll see how it fares at making a summit top brew on Helvellyn.

According to this review I've read, a Caldera Cone system appears to be very versatile (the review has some good photos of it in action).

I'll definitely be interested to hear how the Apkit mug sized Caldera works.

I made a 'Pepsi can' stove and a penny stove, and then a Pepsi can with the penny stove centre.

The boil times for 1 litre were about 12 minutes - longer than stated. The penny stove didn't work very well but then I couldn't find the correct shape Heineken cans.

I had fun building them but I can't see me getting rid of my gas stove.

I didn't have any 'JB weld' and I realised the Pepsi cans were made out of steel, so I soft soldered them. The cans used in America all seem to be aluminium. This may account for the difficulty I had in priming the penny stoves: Steel does not conduct the heat as well as ali.

I think I'll try the pressurised version next, with the screww in the centre.

Zen Stoves

BackpackerGearTest.org: Pepsican review, Vargo Triad reviews

Now I've got a coke can stove and an Alpkit MyTiMug I'd also be interested to hear how the Caldera Cone does. Cheers.

Mike: The penny stoves I made out of Pepsi cans were pretty rubbish too, they leaked round the sides badly.

The penny stove is much better made out of Heineken cans, they go together much better. The metal is a bit thicker too so there is less chance of accidentally crushing the cans while pressing the two halves together.

I found the correct barrel shaped cans in Asda and have also seen them in Tesco. About four of five quid for six 330ml cans so not cheap but the contents were nice!

I have coverted the cone before and can see how good it could be,any ideas how we could encourage a UK supplier?

Perhaps someone should suggest it to Alpkit - a nice little Ti stand/windshield for use with coke-can stoves and the Alpkit mug would be something I'd buy if at Alpkits usual value.