My Forum

CALDERA CONE SIDEWINDER by TRAIL DESIGNS

I have the Trail Designs Sidewinder kit with the optional Inferno woodburning insert. The Sidewinder and Tri Ti come with an alky  (meths)  stove and a clever and efficient ESBIT tablet holder called a "Gram Cracker". AS I said, the Inferno wood burner insert kit is sold separately. A bit 'spensive but well worth it. You can cook in a gale with that stove.

The Sidewinder and Tri Ti are both made of titanium to withstand the heat of a woodburning stove. The Inferno insert cone and bottom screen create a Bushbuddy-like gasifier convection and re-combust most unburned gasses, making it hotter. I can cook for 20 minutes with two big handsful of finger sized hardwood sticks like oak. One handful of wood gets it going and I feed the rest as needed. Much easier to feed than a Bushbuddy, which requires constant feeding.

Sidewinder models roll up and fit in a Tyvek sleeve and then fit in the pot for which the stove is made for. The T.D. alky burner must be carried outside the cook pot. For my solo camping I opted for the 3 cup (750 ml.) pot/stove combo. I use only ESBIT tabs or wood. Alcohol (meths) is not my thing. Tri Ti models should come with a Tyvek sleeve but I don't think they do. You can always make one. It's much lighter than a plastic caddy.

IMHO there is no more efficient woodburner than the titanium Trail Designs stoves W/Inferno insert. And I'd bet they are the lightest and most compact woodburners as well.

BTW, whatever you get be sure you get a pot that is wider than it is tall for maximum efficiency.  i.e. "Mugs" are not efficient pots. This width-to-height ratio thing has been well proven in tests.

CALDERA CONE SIDEWINDER by TRAIL DESIGNS

I have the Trail Designs Sidewinder kit with the optional Inferno woodburning insert. The Sidewinder and Tri Ti come with an alky  (meths)  stove and a clever and efficient ESBIT tablet holder called a "Gram Cracker". AS I said, teh Inferno wood burner innards issold separately. A bit 'spensive but well worth it. You can dook in a gale with that stove.

The Sidewinder and Tri Ti are both made of titanium to withstand the heat of a woodburning stove. The Inferno insert cone and bottom screen create a Bushbuddy-like gasifier convection and re-combust most unburned gasses, making it hotter. I can cook for 20 minutes with two big handsful of finger sized hardwood sticks like oak. One handful of wood gets it going and I feed the rest as needed.

 Sidewinder models roll up and fit in a Tyvek sleeve and then fit in the pot for which the stove is made for. The T.D. alky burner must be carried outside the cook pot. For my solo camping I opted for the 3 cup pot/stove combo. I use only ESBIT tabs or wood. Alcohol (meths) is not my thing.

IMHO there is no more efficient woodburner than the titanium Trail Designs stoves W/Inferno insert. And I'd bet they are the lightest and most compact woodburners as well.

I made my cozy froim medium thickness polyester fleece closed with Velcro. It's rectangular, made to fit a 1 quart freezer bag. The fleece cozy is light and packs flat in my front pouch pocket.

 Usually my "Freezer Bag" cooking never requires more than 20 minutes. It's always very hot wehn I open the bag to eat. GOOGLE freezer bag cooking for great, inexpensive recipies.

BTW, I now carry a long-handled Lexan spoon so my fingers don't get down into the bag and messy.

The Eddie Bauer (USA) Alchemist rucksack comes in 30 L. and 40L. sizes BUT expands. The 40 L. size unzips and expands to 55L. and still carries very well fully loaded with 50 lbs of gear.

It has both frame stays and a removable frame pad/sit pad/bivy pad. I like its fit and carry comfort.

This pack can easily carry ski and mountineering tools and be the right size collapsed or expanded.

Frameless - Aaaarrgggghh!

As Osprey says, the extra energy expended carrying a frameless pack does not make up for the small weight advantage. (And I add "the extra discomfort" ain't worth it either.)

The ONLY way I'd use a "frameless" pack to carry 25 to 30 lbs. is if I designed it to take two halves (upper and lower) of a closed cell sleeping mat in tightly rolled and inserted into two vertical fabric tubes inside the pack's back.

THAT would give enough rigidity to adequately transfer weight to my padded hipbelt. Without good weight transfer to the hipbelt a pack mainly rests (umcomfortably) on one's shoulders. Obviously the rolled pad halves need to be tightly held down by top flaps over the fabric tubes with adequate Velcro strip closures.

So far no pack maker has tried this method. A good method of joining the halves of the sleep pad is needed. Again, Velcro comes to mind as a good closure material for this purpose.