300winmag
05-29-2011, 02:04
I recently got the CC Sidewinder (Ti) stove with the woodburning Inferno insert inverted cone. It is made to fit a companion pot. I got the 3 cup pot and can carry everything in there except the alky stove. No biggie B/C I don't use alky anyway.
The Sidewinder comes standard with an ESBIT tablet holder ("Gram Cracker") and an alcohol (meths) stove. The Inferno woodburner is optional but it's nice to use the Inferno's inverted cone with either alky or ESBIT in windy conditions. It also seems to direct the heat better in any weather condition.
With the Inferno woodburner I can cook for 20 minutes with only two large handsful of twigs. It works on the same double wall principle as a Bushbuddy or Bushcooker which preheats some combustion air and creates a downdraft.
The Sidewinder and the other Caldera Cones use ESBIT more efficiently than my previous ESBIT setup which was a Vargo Triad base with an MSR roll-up heavy foil windscreen. If I need a longer cook time with the Sidewinder I just lay one ESBIT tab on the other.
I found the Sidewinder W/ Inferno to be a good winter stove because (with dry wood) it means you don't have to carry bottles of fuel for a weeks's trip. Yeah, it takes a little longer to melt snow than my MSR Dragonfly white gas stove but with long nights melting snow is a way to pass time.
BTW, if you take the Inferno woodburning insert be sure to take enough ESBIT tabs for backup in case dry wood is not available. Also ESBIT tab pieces can be a good fire starter.
Eric
The Sidewinder comes standard with an ESBIT tablet holder ("Gram Cracker") and an alcohol (meths) stove. The Inferno woodburner is optional but it's nice to use the Inferno's inverted cone with either alky or ESBIT in windy conditions. It also seems to direct the heat better in any weather condition.
With the Inferno woodburner I can cook for 20 minutes with only two large handsful of twigs. It works on the same double wall principle as a Bushbuddy or Bushcooker which preheats some combustion air and creates a downdraft.
The Sidewinder and the other Caldera Cones use ESBIT more efficiently than my previous ESBIT setup which was a Vargo Triad base with an MSR roll-up heavy foil windscreen. If I need a longer cook time with the Sidewinder I just lay one ESBIT tab on the other.
I found the Sidewinder W/ Inferno to be a good winter stove because (with dry wood) it means you don't have to carry bottles of fuel for a weeks's trip. Yeah, it takes a little longer to melt snow than my MSR Dragonfly white gas stove but with long nights melting snow is a way to pass time.
BTW, if you take the Inferno woodburning insert be sure to take enough ESBIT tabs for backup in case dry wood is not available. Also ESBIT tab pieces can be a good fire starter.
Eric