View Full Version : Stove of the Week: The Caldera Cone
hikin_jim
10-30-2011, 20:48
This week's stove is the Caldera Cone with 10-12 alcohol burner from Trail Designs.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-z1cBtMeVN-Y/TngDdL5EuKI/AAAAAAAADcU/sVe0G3uQL7s/s800/P1040703.JPG
The Caldera Cone with 10-12 burner is a stable, efficient, and wind resistant ultralight alcohol system that packs well inside a standard Ziploc container that doubles as a bowl.
Packed:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jCRv1Dx7b6o/TngDHy0F44I/AAAAAAAADa8/oJxkccuggPM/s800/P1070970.JPG
Unpacked:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2dUozlzEmcg/TngDb0DB64I/AAAAAAAADb8/CTauZhUhCDI/s800/P1040698.JPG
Believe it or not, everything in the second photo is also present in the first.
I've written a review which is now available on Seattle Backpackers Magazine and there's a supplemental post with further information on my blog. Both can be accessed via this link (http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/10/stove-of-week-caldera-cone.html).
HJ
stars in her eyes
10-30-2011, 20:53
I love my caldera cone. I use it as an esbit stove. Yeah, I'm one of those weirdos that likes the smell.
The caldera cone stove system is especially suited for the PCT, where wind is constant factor. The almost identical set-up from Antigravity Gear also has insulated covers for the blue plastic lid and the metal pot lid. Mine cost $80 in Aug '09. What's it now?
hikin_jim
10-30-2011, 21:14
Do you find that you get a brown build up on your cone? Or does the residue just get on your pot with a Caldera set up?
HJ
hikin_jim
10-30-2011, 22:37
The caldera cone stove system is especially suited for the PCT, where wind is constant factor. The almost identical set-up from Antigravity Gear also has insulated covers for the blue plastic lid and the metal pot lid. Mine cost $80 in Aug '09. What's it now?I bought mine used, and it's an older model, so I'm not sure my price would be relevant to what AGG is charging today. You could bop on over to their site http://www.AntiGravityGear.com and check it out.
HJ
Slo-go'en
10-31-2011, 11:11
This last spring, I crushed my Cladera Cone stove with my water bottle - dropped from 20 feet. Was trying to put up a line to hang the food bag. Missed the branch, but nailed the stove dead center - what's the odds of that? I uncrunched the stove best I could and it still works! I should break down and buy a new cone and stove - the one's I have are getting a bit beat up after all the abuse they've taken over the last couple of years.
Will NEXT WEEK's stove be better? :-?
for those who are so inclined;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VerP7-aiEBw
hikin_jim
10-31-2011, 15:26
This last spring, I crushed my Cladera Cone stove with my water bottle - dropped from 20 feet. Was trying to put up a line to hang the food bag. Missed the branch, but nailed the stove dead center - what's the odds of that? I uncrunched the stove best I could and it still works! I should break down and buy a new cone and stove - the one's I have are getting a bit beat up after all the abuse they've taken over the last couple of years. Wow. I haven't seen anything like that before. I've heard of guys have their 10-12 stove come apart and then successfully use the stove thereafter. Apparently, as long as you can stick the parts back together, it'll keep on working.
HJ
hikin_jim
10-31-2011, 15:27
Will NEXT WEEK's stove be better? :-?Not necessarily, but it it will be different. ;)
HJ
hikin_jim
10-31-2011, 15:29
for those who are so inclined;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VerP7-aiEBw Looks like his came out pretty nice. The cone is a pretty nice design whether homemade or store bought. It's really nice to save weight by combining the pot stand and windscreen, it's very stable, and it's a darned good windscreen.
HJ
Great stove, can double as a no bite cone for small animals.....
http://www.worldofstock.com/stock_photos/PPT3018.php
:)
hikin_jim
10-31-2011, 18:10
Great stove, can double as a no bite cone for small animals.....
http://www.worldofstock.com/stock_photos/PPT3018.php
:) lol
Now, I'm going to have that image stuck in my mind every time I use the stove.
HJ
LOL :)
Everything needs two uses.....
Is this is what most office bound hikers-to-be look like in January waiting for their hike to start....?
http://www.johnlund.com/page.asp?ID=2009
2 uses for the cone ?
How about adding : funnel, megaphone, pretend telescope...
Franco
hikin_jim
10-31-2011, 19:57
2 uses for the cone ?
How about adding : funnel, megaphone, pretend telescope...
Franco Two uses? I'm quite content using it as a) the pot stand and b) the windscreen. ;) Radical ideas, I know. :)
HJ
I love my Caldera Cone.
I use the Ti version but I have a shorter one in aluminium.
Glad that I invested in the Ti because I don't need to be all that careful about folding/storing and I have melted a hole into the aluminium one experimenting with a gas stove. (my fault... but it works with the Ti )
Having experimented a lot with many alcohol stoves/windscreen combos , I like the balance i get between boil time/fuel used I get with the CC.
( I only boil...)
This is how I deal with using just the right ammount of fuel :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX9j7pF38Tw
(BTW, the cat you see in the video, recently departed, is Pip, about 18 years old at the time)
Franco
Odd Man Out
10-31-2011, 20:55
The CC advertises that it comes with a special alcohol stove tuned to work optimally in the enclosed space of the cone. Has anyone made a DIY CC and had problems with a conventional alcohol stove?
hikin_jim
10-31-2011, 20:57
I like the balance i get between boil time/fuel used I get with the CC.I like the way you said that. That's exactly right by the way. The CC is a good practical balance between efficiency and speed. I can boil water with less alcohol than with other set ups I've tried (http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/10/caldera-cone-vs-clikstand-alcohol-stove.html), but the water is still ready in a reasonable amount of time.
Thanks for the video link by the way. I use my Ti Sierra Cup as a snuffer for my stove.
BTW, the cat you see in the video, recently departed, is Pip, about 18 years old at the timeSorry to hear about Pip. :(
HJ
hikin_jim
11-01-2011, 14:18
The CC advertises that it comes with a special alcohol stove tuned to work optimally in the enclosed space of the cone. Has anyone made a DIY CC and had problems with a conventional alcohol stove?The 10-12 stove that comes with the Caldera Cone is an interesting design. It's a open side jet type stove. The side jets are about half way down the body of the stove which is interesting to me. Most side jet alcohol stoves I've seen have the jets near the top rim of the stove. The jet openings are very large, more like a three hole punch or larger. Most jets I've seen in alcohol stoves are more like needle or pin holes.
Having said that, I haven't tried other stoves inside the cone. If I do any such experiments, I'll post here. I will say that the 10-12 stove works very well with the cone.
HJ
I did several experiments with the Caldera stove vs. a Minibull stove I had last year before a 9 week section hike, and to my dissapointment (I really like the Minibull stoves) the Caldera stove had faster boil times AND used less alcohol. I used the Minibull Atomic in the test- your mileage may vary. I think the Atomic didn't like the lack of O2 in the cone.
cabbagehead
11-01-2011, 15:20
I make a great stove: bottlestoves.com
Doc Mike
11-01-2011, 15:46
I make a great stove: bottlestoves.com
troll alert
I have tried several stoves inside the cone but none worked as well as the 10-20.
They either burn too hot (flames everywhere) or get somewhat snuffed out (starved of oxygen)
The Caldera Cone put an end to my stove tinkering days...
BTW, some tea light types worked but are 2-5 or more minutes slower than the 10-20 for a very minimal ammount of less fuel used.
Franco
Odd Man Out
11-01-2011, 18:02
I have tried several stoves inside the cone but none worked as well as the 10-20.
They either burn too hot (flames everywhere) or get somewhat snuffed out (starved of oxygen)
The Caldera Cone put an end to my stove tinkering days...
BTW, some tea light types worked but are 2-5 or more minutes slower than the 10-20 for a very minimal ammount of less fuel used.
Franco
Thanks Franco, but I'm afraid that would just get be back into stove tinkering. If I'm going to build my own CC, I would want to try and build my own stove to use in it.
hikin_jim
11-01-2011, 18:07
I did several experiments with the Caldera stove vs. a Minibull stove I had last year before a 9 week section hike, and to my dissapointment (I really like the Minibull stoves) the Caldera stove had faster boil times AND used less alcohol. I used the Minibull Atomic in the test- your mileage may vary. I think the Atomic didn't like the lack of O2 in the cone. What you're saying is completely consistent with what I've read elsewhere. To be perfectly honest, I haven't even tried experimenting with other stoves because the 10-12 stove that comes with the cone works so well. Indeed, I am pretty sure it's the low O2 environment inside the cone that causes other stoves to struggle.
One thing for sure is that the cone and the 10-12 stove work together very well.
HJ
hikin_jim
11-01-2011, 18:09
I have tried several stoves inside the cone but none worked as well as the 10-20.
They either burn too hot (flames everywhere) or get somewhat snuffed out (starved of oxygen)
The Caldera Cone put an end to my stove tinkering days...
BTW, some tea light types worked but are 2-5 or more minutes slower than the 10-20 for a very minimal ammount of less fuel used.
Franco Yeah, I did a fair amount of tinkering with different combinations of stands, homemade stoves, etc. The Caldera Cone is kind of what I arrived at after all that searching. For fair weather lightweight overnight trips, it's my "go to" stove.
HJ
hikin_jim
11-02-2011, 14:45
I used an ordinary 8oz "bottled water" bottle to hold my alcohol; you can see it in the photos. The problem with using a drink bottle of course is that someone might unknowingly take a drink.
I saw this photo on the web:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LPDIRMrRkr8/SskRENBGRyI/AAAAAAAAB_U/YmjNKUbeUWk/s800/Caldera+Cone+07.jpg
The two flattened type bottles fit in together, but it's unlikely that anyone would confuse them with drink bottles. You'd have capacity and safety at the same time.
HJ
hikin_jim
11-03-2011, 17:38
One more thing I'd like to mention on the Caldera Cone is that per Rand Lindsly, owner of Trail Designs, they are now reinforcing the dovetail joint with titanium. I've seen some complaints of the dovetail joint becoming bent during transport in one's pack (although I've had no such problems myself). With titanium reinforcing, it seems like that joint should now be really solid.
HJ
The 10-12 stove that comes with the Caldera Cone is an interesting design. It's a open side jet type stove. The side jets are about half way down the body of the stove which is interesting to me. Most side jet alcohol stoves I've seen have the jets near the top rim of the stove. The jet openings are very large, more like a three hole punch or larger. Most jets I've seen in alcohol stoves are more like needle or pin holes.
Having said that, I haven't tried other stoves inside the cone. If I do any such experiments, I'll post here. I will say that the 10-12 stove works very well with the cone.
HJ
A few comments: The 10-12 is not a side jet stove. The holes in the side are air-intake holes so that the air mixing with alcohol vapor is pre-heated. The flame just comes out the top of the stove.
I have made a DIY pepsi-can stove for a CC, but I basically copied the 10-12 design as close as I could in case it really makes a difference what kind of stove you use. It worked just fine.
I agree that the titanium cone vs aluminum has decided advantages (at a cost). The main one is that a twig fire can be used in a pinch if you run out of alcohol, or if you want to save on alcohol fuel weight (for example when melting snow in the winter, I always use a twig fire in the CC rather than alcohol, which I save for cooking my food)
The CC design, possibly/partly because of how it contains stove heat and applies it to your pot and/or blocks wind, is one of the few UL alcohol stoves that will boil 4 cups of water at a time. I do this a lot when cooking for two or if I want a big 16 oz hot drink along with a big dinner that uses 16 oz hot water.
It has become the stove that I use year-round. Love it. Have two cones that fit 3 pots (one for the 1.3 L Evernew, and one for a Stanco greasepot that serendipitously also fits a 0.9 L Evernew)
hikerboy57
11-04-2011, 12:57
sorry to interrupt, but wasnt this last weeks stove?
hikin_jim
11-04-2011, 17:10
sorry to interrupt, but wasnt this last weeks stove? Well, not exactly. I did a post in early October where I compared a Caldera Cone with a Clikstand. This post is a review of the Caldera Cone. The stove is common between the two posts, but the content is entirely different. If you do click through to my blog, you'll see a mini table of contents listing related posts (see also below), and you should see both.
Getting Started with Alcohol (http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/11/getting-started-on-alcohol.html)
Caldera Cone Alcohol Stove Review (http://seattlebackpackersmagazine.com/2011/10/25/a-practical-ultralight-alcohol-stove-system/)(on Seattle Backpackers Magazine) (http://seattlebackpackersmagazine.com/2011/10/25/a-practical-ultralight-alcohol-stove-system/)
Caldera Cone Review Supplement (http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/10/stove-of-week-caldera-cone.html) -- Additional Photos and Technical Appendix with Weights
The Clikstand Alcohol Stove -- a Brief Introduction (http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/10/cooking-with-clikstand.html)
Caldera Cone vs. Clikstand Alcohol Stove Tests (http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/10/caldera-cone-vs-clikstand-alcohol-stove.html)
What's the Best Alcohol for Stove Fuel? (http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/08/alcohol-as-stove-fuel.html)
HJ
hikerboy57
11-04-2011, 17:16
thanks!!!!!!!!!!
hikin_jim
11-04-2011, 17:17
A few comments: The 10-12 is not a side jet stove. The holes in the side are air-intake holes so that the air mixing with alcohol vapor is pre-heated. The flame just comes out the top of the stove. lol. I just assumed that any stove with holes in the side was a side jet stove, but if flames aren't coming out the holes, then I guess it isn't really.
I agree that the titanium cone vs aluminum has decided advantages (at a cost). The main one is that a twig fire can be used in a pinch if you run out of alcohol, or if you want to save on alcohol fuel weight (for example when melting snow in the winter, I always use a twig fire in the CC rather than alcohol, which I save for cooking my food) Definitely the Ti cones have that advantage.
I don't know if I brought it out clearly, but the aluminum cones have, according to Rand Lindsly the owner of Trail Designs, titanium reinforcing in the dovetail joint.
HJ