Clarification on a Zip Stove

[Ladytrekker]

I have been reading the Barefoot Sisters Walking Home their book about their nobo journey.

They use a zip stove but reference gathering twigs for the zip stove. I googled zip stoves and found a sierra zip stove that uses fuel does anyone know what they used to cook on and how it was used.

Thanks.

[mweinstone]

the searra zip stove is the original and burns twigs.

[Ranc0r]

The Zip Stove typically uses a battery (9v?) to power a small fan, which blows air and increases draft through the stove. Yes, it burns twigs, small sticks, pine cones, etc. Might also look for Bush Buddy stove. Nimblewill Nomad also made stove, no power source required, that comes apart and folds flat. There are several wood burning options out there.

Ranc0r
.

[Ladytrekker]

the searra zip stove is the original and burns twigs.

So (trying hard to not sound totally daft) you tear up twigs instead of using any alcohol or fuel that seems really cost effective and you would not have to worry about carrying something extra.

Does it get really hot and boil quickly or is it much slower?

I was really curious about this stove I mean they used it for a year on the trail.

[weary]

The Zip Stove typically uses a battery (9v?) to power a small fan, which blows air and increases draft through the stove. Yes, it burns twigs, small sticks, pine cones, etc. Might also look for Bush Buddy stove. Nimblewill Nomad also made stove, no power source required, that comes apart and folds flat. There are several wood burning options out there.

Ranc0r
.

The battery for the Zip is a single double AA. It lasts a week or so depending on useage.

[mkmangold]

So (trying hard to not sound totally daft) you tear up twigs instead of using any alcohol or fuel that seems really cost effective and you would not have to worry about carrying something extra.

Does it get really hot and boil quickly or is it much slower?

I was really curious about this stove I mean they used it for a year on the trail.

The Sierra Zipstove is pretty much as described here. Its advantage is that fuel is plentiful and you collect fuel either on-site or as you hike. It will burn twigs (your most common combustible), pine cones, etc. There are three disadvantages that I found: it's relatively heavy; you need a power source (you can change the type of battery if you're so inclined); and it's messy. It gets hot enough to cook well and mine boiled 2 cups of water in under 10 minutes (there is a comparison chart between types of stoves somewhere on this site). I have a solar charger for 9-volt batteries which works well enough in direct sunlight but I'm unfamiliar with whether you would get enough sunlight on the AT. If not, you'd have to carry spares.

[max patch]

I have one of the early versions of the Zip; it uses a 9 volt battery, current versions as Weary mentioned now use a AA.

You can burn twigs that you collect as you go. Sometimes I bring charcoal from home.

Most people use a Zip like any gas stove - to boil water. I have a grill attachment which allows me to cook meat (the reason I take charcoal).

I think its a neat stove for a weekend trip. I wouldn't use it on a long distance hike because of the hassle factor of gathering wood. Gathering wood does not bother some other hikers.

[Mrs Baggins]

My husband has the titanium Sierra Zip Stove. It's light even with the fan and battery. He used twigs to boil our water for dinner and it was fast and easy to use. He absolutely loves it. I think you can also use esbit tabs in them, but I could be wrong.

[mweinstone]

a littium aa battery lasts alot longer than a week.it gets much hotter than most stove. it is not dirty if you allow it to get going before placeing a pot on. you dont gather twigs. you set up the stove, run your hand along the ground in front of you and gather the chip sized peices that are everywhere. it only uses the fan for a moment then you need to shut it off and on once in a while during cooking just to increase heat, not to sustaine it. it simmers great and its only concern is smoke and noise witch arent a problem if you cook about 50 feet away from folks. without a battery it still works perfectly fine when needed.it leaves you with a more campfirelike trail exsperience as aposed to the rocket science of a pocket rocket . its an old school way that gets alot of compliments and it shows the ladys your a real man who burns wood,...or that your a weenie that goes green. witchever you prefer. lol.its the single safest and funest way to introduce a child to camp cooking without the fear of pressurized fuels and liquid flamables that kids can be intimidated by. high fun factor. my sons first stove....sorry max, i sold it for food!lol.

[fiddlehead]

I did an AT hike with one.
Glad I learned how to build fires with wet wood back in the Boyscouts.
It came in handy a lot.
I also learned to pick up a good stick to break up with rocks into the right size pieces while walking close to where i planned to sleep that night (overused campsites and shelters are often bare of good wood)
I did carry a little firestarter material and made a lot of hot water for many hikers.
I also carried it on my "around the world without flying" trip in '91/92 and again, i made a lot of friends with that great stove.
I found a double A battery would last me a month or even more. (don't always need full power)
Black unburned coals (cold) out of a firepit make excellent fuel also.

[Helios]

Nimblewill's stove doesn't use batteries. You blow through a plastic tube attached to a copper tube to increase oxygen for the fire.

http://www.thru-hiker.com.ws015.alen...subcat=2&cid=9

[max patch]

Good firstarters Ive used are 1. cotton balls saturated with vaseline and 2. dryer lint.

[mweinstone]

fiddlehead is correct. the coals from firepits are gold. and i forgot the amounts of water you can boil for folks saveing them lots of fuel and allowing folks to eat all together by reason of making water for them while you eat.great friendmaker. it simply dosnt alow for a cold supper where running out of fuel can.and yeah, i didnt want to sound weird, but fiddlehead knows, the battery lasts forever and the low setting is really all you need unless your in a hurry or the fuel is damp. it burns paper trash keeping your trashbag lighter and smaller and also it makes good warming fires without risking cooking fuels.simply put, we all should use them.anything else is simply for speed cooking by virtue of moments saved setting up when useing gas or alc.a fire takes 5 minutes. if your in a super rush to get away from the hiking exsperience this stoves not for you.

[jlb2012]

another nice thing about a woodburner like the zip is that the smoke keeps the bugs away while you eat

I used one for a while when I was first beginning backpacking - the original zip was about 16 ounces and after a bit I decided to switch to alcohol for a lighter system

with respect to burning left over (cold) coals - that can be a bit of a problem if it has rained lately - that charcoal really sucks up the water and can be very difficult to get going

[mweinstone]

but when its dry its gold. also , if your headlamp or other devices use aa batts, you only need to use the used batts from a headlamp, thereby keeping it brighter more of the time.

[weary]

The only fire starter I used on my thru hike were scraps of paper found in shelters and birch bark from blowdowns and broken limbs.

I early lost track of battery use, I switched batteries between my zip and my flashlight so many times. I know I always seemed to have a battery with enough power to keep my fire going.

There's a definite learning curve to the Zip. But I doubt if anything else is really lighter weight. The zip weighs around 17 ounces, but generates 10 times the fire of an alcolhol stove. My zip purified water, cooked real meals, requiring far more than boiling water, and cut food costs and weights in the process.

I sometimes carry a cheap cannister stove on short overnights. On a long trip nothing works better, and allows greater time between resupply than a Zip. Nor is anything kinder to the environment..

[Slo-go'en]

I have one of the early versions of the Zip; it uses a 9 volt battery, current versions as Weary mentioned now use a AA

I have a very early Zip stove and it uses a "C" cell which will last nearly forever. Okay, maybe not forever, but a really long time. The new AA versions should also last a reasonably long time. Once it gets spinning, the little toy fan motor doesn't take much juice to run. I don't think they ever used a 9V battery.

As already mensioned, the down side is it's size, weight and the way it turns your pots black from the soot. However, if your going on a long trip where finding liquid fuel is a problem but finding combustables like wood isn't, then it is well worth it. I did a 4 week trip into the Canadian Rockies with the zip stove and it was ideal there.

[Tinker]

I have been reading the Barefoot Sisters Walking Home their book about their nobo journey.

They use a zip stove but reference gathering twigs for the zip stove. I googled zip stoves and found a sierra zip stove that uses fuel does anyone know what they used to cook on and how it was used.

Thanks.

I just finished Walking Home. It's a great read.
I also bought and used a Zzip stove in the late 1990s, though never on a long hike. I had just started to go "ultralight" when I bought it, and now use alcohol as my primary fuel.
Inspired by the book, I took my Zzip out of storage, changed the battery (expiration date 2006 ), and fired it up to heat up some soup in the back yard. Once you get the fire going well it will match or better any stove on the market as far as boiling speed. Simmering is much easier than on my Supercat stove (though I have made a simmer ring for the al stove which works pretty well).
If you put the stove in a sack before putting it into your pack the soot isn't a problem. It's bulky, though, and the best way to pack it is to buy a pot into which you can fit the stove.

[YohonPetro]

I've used the Sierra on a few wilderness canoe trips in Canada. The advantages of not carrying fuel are clear. However from usage, personally, I find the disadvantages outweighing that advantage.

Disadvantages: Noisy, smoky, slow boil, difficult to light in certain circumstances, another chore after a long day, sooty pots, heavy, and top heavy, as the battery starts to die the fan begins to lose power a bit at a time making the fire weaker as it drains. Oh, and, at least with my model, if you put the battery in the wrong way the fan turns the wrong way! The first time that happened I didn't figure out why the heck it wouldn't light for a long infuriating couple minutes.

[max patch]

I have one of the early versions of the Zip; it uses a 9 volt battery, current versions as Weary mentioned now use a AA.

I have a very early Zip stove and it uses a "C" cell which will last nearly forever. I don't think they ever used a 9V battery.

I checked my Zip and you are correct it uses a C. Don't know where I got 9 volt from.