 Wouldn't it be more practical to have a 'bush-buddy' type stove double up as a pop can holder/windshield, or to use a 'cone' as a windshield on a small wood burner? Seems to me that the Trail Designs titanium item is over engineered to just burn stuff - its main 'design' being to make money, and lots of it. Sorry - but I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking this.
ps - reminds me of a Dyson.
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| Edited: 30/05/11 12:21 |
In my experience Ti Caldera Cone W/ Inferno woodburner insert is VERY efficient. Great for winter camping where melting snow for water takes a lot of fuel. The dry dead wood is all around here in the American west's mountains and in the wooded east. Also the included "Gram Cracker" ESBIT tab burner/holder lets you burn ESBIT much more efficiently than, say, my former setup, a Vargo Triad base with a heavy MSR foil windscreen. One thing I can assure you is that, far from being over-engineered, Trail Designs cone stoves are actually simplicity itself. The owners are computer materials engineers and really know their stuff. It's light weight aside, when you can take a multi-fuel stove (meths, ESBIT, wood) like the Sidewinder series, roll them up and put it all inside your matching pot that is a big plus. Only the included alky (meths) stove must be packed seperately. I mentioned "matching pot" because, to be so efficient, the cone's top diameter must exactly match the pot's outside diameter. Trail Designs' pots are very fairly priced. I got a 3 cup anodized aluminum pot. Big enough for solo cooking. Yeah, Sidewinder stoves are 'spensive but worth every penny. First rate fabrication from Ti and a few aluminum things like the alky stove and ESBIT holder. And great customer support. Rand Lindsey ansewers questions promptly.
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| Edited: 30/05/11 18:37 |
I have a couple of cone 'clone' stoves and I'm very pleased with how they work - very efficient, as you rightly say. Made my first one for a ti mug and another with a 500 mil beer can pot. Didn't need an Esbit holder - just flip the pop stove over and use the base. Works well.
My post was referring to the 'ti/inferno cooker', which (imho) seems over complicated and with far too many parts to break or lose. There are simpler ways (to burn wood) though I do appreciate they're obligated to keep with their main design, the 'cone'. Just my thoughts.
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| Edited: 31/05/11 12:29 |
"Nonstick", The Inferno has 3 parts. 1. inverted Ti cone 2. 1.5 cm. tall by about 20 cm circumference stainless steel mesh base support 3. stainless mesh circular flat piece resting on the 1.5 cm. high support. Three pieces which all fit inside the pot, along with the outer cone. Sounds fairly uncomplicated to me and is esy to set up. And it works very efficiently. Unlike the Bushbuddy, which need a constant feeding of wood, the CC Inferno has a large enough opening to be fueled well for a 5+ minute burn so other things can be attended. Plus the Bushbuddy, not being collapsable, takes up more room in your pack. All reasons I went with the CC Sidewinder + Inferno.
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It's a folding dish with designer holes. Simplicity itself and "very efficient" at emptying pockets. Sorry - couldn't resist. 8]
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| Edited: 01/06/11 16:02 |
"Nonstick", There's a word for such tightwads in theTagalog dialect - "kiriput.
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Wrinkled, eh? Then so be it. 8/
Seriously though, I'll pay for good stuff when it's needed but budget dictates that I wait for deals.
I want a top range down sleeping bag, 2/3 season, well under a kilo that compresses fairly small - and I'll gladly rattle along with 'caldera' clones and tin can stoves to make it happen. 8]
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OK, that's a horse of a different color. Saving for prioritized items makes the most sense rather than buying an (admittedly) expensive stove when you have good lower priced options.
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 Following a recent request, I've revised the script to allow any number of rows of holes. this is particularly useful for drinks can pots, where it's hard to get enough holes around the small can circumference. It also adds user control over the row spacing (in a rather roundabout way...).
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 I was hoping to use a sheet of ali I have to make a clone or two, but on digging it out I find it's perhaps too thick at 0.5mm? Other than the difficulty of working it - it wont cut with scissors easily, are there going to be other problems?
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I'm trying to visualize just how thick 0.5mm is, but you might be able to score the lines with a craft knife and ruler, though the curves you'd have to do freehand. Or maybe it's just a case of stronger scissors? Good luck with it.
ps - If I can suggest something. When you eventually drill the holes, I found it's a lot easier using a small drill first as a guide. It saved the bigger drill skidding about and maybe damaging the material. All the best with it.
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| Edited: 11/06/11 19:42 |
I think I'll give up on it. I'll need hands like a gorilla's to cut it with tinsnips and drilling it is going to be very tedious indeed. So where do you get suitable foil from?
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.JPG) Yonky (OM member) will sell you some Beth. He has an ad deep in the classifieds somewhere. Cheaper than the company (a metal supplier) that others might suggest. edit here you go
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| Edited: 11/06/11 21:07 |
Thanks Mole!
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Good luck - it's well worth the effort. I used a Starlyte stove by Zelph with mine for the TGO - brilliant simplicity unspillable and safe to light in your hand before placing in the cone.
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"So where do you get suitable foil from?" - Beth
I used litho plate from a printing press. They just chuck away.
It's 650mmx550mm and about half a mil thick - same thickness as yours it seems, though maybe it's softer or something as it's reasonably easy to cut.
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 My latest incarnation. Having no foil handy this was made from 4 aluminium cans, it's all held together with lap fall joints and JB weld.  It is only an experiment so i'm not bothered about the looks, though it's not as ugly as i thought it would be. I wasn't going to bother with a clone for the mini Heiny, buy hey, why not. Boil time for 300ml is 6.55 and the burn continued to 10.31 with 15ml of meths, which aint too bad imo. Next up, a flissure version and some nice new ali foil to do the job properly. Edit: forgot to mention, the burner is a tea light.
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| Edited: 12/06/11 17:23 |
Beth; 0.5mm is probably too thick to make a cone easily, and it would have to be stored rolled up, as I don't think you'd be able to flatten and form it repeatedly. That isn't necessarily a bad thing... I suspect it would need more forming to make a Flissure joint, to encourage the interlocking fingers to adopt pre-bent positions so they can be mated easily. The end tabs would probably need to be made quite narrow, to avoid the splitting problem found by sierradoug. But it would be quite sturdy, I suspect. BM: joining four cans together as a source of material shows dedication... 300ml/6'55"/10'31" is about 52% efficient, which isn't bad.
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For stability on rough ground I wonder if a rigid (thick foil?) base with edges (eg octagon with edges rolled up) and burner locating tabs would be useful. NB the inward dimple in pepsi stoves seems to stop them sliding about a bit compared to flat base alu containers.
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CP gave me a script to make a conic outer for my too light 30ml open burner (slid around) and it works: adds weight and keeps it centred in the cone; NB burner still rests on ground. For lunch cones, I wonder if a "never collapsed" cone would be worth the convenience: more like a jetboil.
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