Super Cat for Super Dummies

[jayfin3]

Hello everyone,I have made a Super Catstove.jpegwith a windscreen**** it.jpegand I have a 700 mL pot with a foil cover I madepot.jpegand it all goes together like this.whole.jpegExcept I can't cook anything!I put 1 oz of Heet in the Super Cat.I put 2 cups of water in the pot.I light the Super Cat and wait 30 secs, then put the pot on top, then cover it.It's 40 degrees out.First 4 times I tried it, I got a few bubbles, then my fuel ran out after about 8 min.Today I tried it in a slight drizzle, with an aluminum square underneath the Super Cat for insulation from the cold concrete, and my flame lasted for like 30+ minutes, but still did not boil the water.What am I missing here?Also, sorry all the pictures are so small..

[jayfin3]

Having tried 3 soda can stoves in addition, and failing at all of them, I have now come to you, whiteblaze. Help me please.

[Amanita]

Are you sure the alcohol is boiling when you put the pot on? I had some trouble with my supercat, but waiting until I can see that the alcohol is done heating before I put the pot on seems to be important.

[jayfin3]

Are you sure the alcohol is boiling when you put the pot on? I had some trouble with my supercat, but waiting until I can see that the alcohol is done heating before I put the pot on seems to be important.

Would 30 secs be enough?

[blackbird04217]

It seems to me that with that design, putting your pot on would require most of the flames and heat to travel up the side of the pot instead of underneath - losing a lot of it in the process. I think you'd need a pot with a larger radius. I'm not sure about the super cat, as I used soda cans with jets, but mine only took 5 to 10 seconds to prime at most. And the way I had my pot, the flames coming from the jets would hit around a "ring, in the middle of the center and outside" of the bottom.

[Rusty Nail]

I have the same pot and made a super cat as well with nearly the same issues.

[Rocket Jones]

Use a tighter windscreen. It looks like there's too much room around the perimeter of the pot.

Also, look down into the Supercat and make sure you see the fuel bubbling before putting the pot on top.

[Rocket Jones]

Oh yeah, and someone did some real testing and the heat rising up the sides isn't as inefficient as you'd think. Your pot is ok.

[jayfin3]

Thanks for your responses guys. I will try again tomorrow, tightening the windscreen and making sure the fuel bubbles. If that fails, I guess I'm gonna be getting a bigger pot.

I can't tell if the headache I am getting is from the methanol or the repeated frustrations...

[jayfin3]

Rusty Nail, we are like brothers.

[Amanita]

I found that the 30 seconds listed on Jim Wood's recommendations was not enough to get the alcohol to boil, esp if it's colder out. Fantastic guide he wrote other than that little catch though.

[Storm]

My stove looks exactly like yours and will bring two cups of water to a full boil with one ounce of fuel. The on difference I can see is that I don't have any holes in my windscreen. I just use some folded up aluminum foil. Not sure if that would make any difference or not.

[Big Dawg]

I love and have been using my SuperCat for years, and get a boil every time. One of the reasons may be because I also added kevlar wick to the outside bottom, as suggested on Jason's website. I put a few drops of fuel on the wick, then fuel in the can, light,,, and presto,,, it seems to prime in no time.

[Big Dawg]

Use a tighter windscreen. It looks like there's too much room around the perimeter of the pot.

Agree. There should be approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inch space between the pot and the windscreen all the way around. Doing this will help to concentrate the heat on your pot better, helping you achieve boil. Plus, your windscreen only needs to go up the sides of the pot an inch or 2. Your pot size is just fine. I've used many sized pots successfully w/ the SuperCat.

[Rocket Jones]

I second the idea of kevlar wick around the outside. Works like a champ. Also, when the weather gets colder I carry a base for my stove made out of a cork trivet wrapped in foil. Lightweight and good insulation for under the stove and pot.

[Spools]

Get a pocket rocket... some folks swear by alky's but after making and trying all sorts of different designs, my giga power still works the best.

[Big Dawg]

Get a pocket rocket... some folks swear by alky's but after making and trying all sorts of different designs, my giga power still works the best.

My pocket rocket has been sitting in my "extra gear" tub for years. I was recently considering using it for an upcoming hike, but after thinking about the past issues regarding fuel, I decided against it. I can't tell you how many 1/4, 1/2, 1/3 full, etc, fuel canisters I have sitting in that same tub. I love that my empty alky fuel bottle is 1/2 oz instead of a 4 oz canister. I also love being able to bring exactly the fuel I need on each trip, instead of having to bring 1 canister that's 1/3 full just so I can use it up, then another full canister, which I ultimately bring half of home. I got tired of carrying fuel I never used or needed in the first place.

[ken209]

I use the same pot with a homemade fancee feast stove, use less than an oz of fuel for a boil.

[V Eight]

Jayfin3,
I just made that exact setup last week. Already had the GSI pot and my plastic lid is still useable. I made a super cat from directions I found here. When I did my first test, the weather was around 40* drizzle, 10/15 mile wind + gusts. I Put about ½ oz denatured alcohol (room temp) in the cat and about cup of “tap” water in the pot. This all set a smooth flat rock that sits out side near my shed. It is there for only one reason, Stove testing. Anyway, it took a couple of try’s to get it to stay lit. It seemed like it took forever before I could set the pot on the cat.


2^nd try, I put a primer tray from another stove under the cat. I set up the windscreen, so it would be closer to the pot. Dropped 10 or 11 drops of fuel on the tray, and 1oz of fuel in the cat. I Put the cat on the tray and lit both, the fuel in the tray & the cat. In about 20 sec’s, I had the pot setting on the cat. I had refilled the pot with about a cup of tap water. I had a good rolling boil going for about a minuet before running out of fuel. I do not use a stopwatch, so all times a guess’s


So, that worked for me. Today I am going to hike one of the local county parks. It’s not the AT, but it is a nice walk in the woods. I will be making lunch with the super cat. I am also working out the kinks of using smaller pack. Moving from a 65 liter to a 35 L. I have a couple of week long AT sections hikes, planed for later this year and I will be carrying LESS weight.

[burger]

My understanding is that because of their flame pattern, supercats are better with wider pots. I have an evernew 1300 mL pot, which is substantially wider than yours from the look of it, and I can boil 2 cups of water in 5 minutes with 1 ounce of fuel in almost any weather conditions. Maybe think about a wider pot.

Also, you are using yellow heet, right?