I was wondering what might come of these overlapping ideas about windscreen design as I saw what looked like a potential conflict.
This thread is what made me aware of the Ocelot HX plate. Looking into it, my first two thoughts were 1) wow, excellent idea, and 2) wouldn't it be nice if the plate were somehow designed with a little more elegant engineering such that it didn't nearly double the weight of a BRS 3000T stove? Gosh, who'd have thought that the elegant engineering needed was the lid off a can of peanuts (or whatever Zelph's parent aluminum disc is from). Okay, in this community, who'd think that the best solution isn't going to turn out to be a recycled aluminum can. ;-)
So, is there a way that we can genuinely support each other in continuing to design really creative products and techniques without stifling each other's creative insights and improvements on each other's designs?
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
Here’s the deal. A lot of time an energy goes into develop and validating a product. The Ocelot HX has been in development for at least 6 months now. The Ocelot design also support 4 different HX pots Inferno, Fire Maple, Bulin and Stash). More importantly, the verification and validation steps to ensure that it works correctly is the most time-consuming part. The Ocelot HX has been proven to be extremely robust in the wind, surpassing almost every canister topped stove other that the MSR WindBurner.
The ironic thing to me is that Zelph is the very first person to point out when anyone imitates one of his designs. Calling his version “The Ocelite” is just another blatant passive aggressive shot at me which he has done multiple times on another site. I have always tried to stay above board when dealing with Zelph in fact my suggestion for Zelph is to pursue his own original design (which at 2 grams per boil is pretty fantastic product).
As Oscar Wilde said: ” Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”
One thing I can offer is that the flatcatgear Ocelot plate is robust, enough so that I cut out one of the 'spokes' to make room for my copper HX strip, after which it remains plenty strong enough to support the Sterno pot as well as the somewhat heavier Olicamp XTS pot. I don't believe that a lower grade metal will permit this, and there might be other short- or long-term drawbacks revealed by field testing and actual use on the trail.
I used the setup, as in the pic below, on the trail a few times last winter with no problems at all.
20210402_132430.jpg
The Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter ~ Cam "Swami" Honan of OZ
BTW, that image is of the Original Ocelot HX using 0.02" stainless and weighed 40 grams
The new Ocelot HX (rev 2) is made of 0.060" aluminum and weighs 22 grams. Lighter and more robust.
IMG_4697.jpg
After extensive weekend testing this is what the winning combination of holes and attachment looks like. Weight is now up to 5 grams....bummer
Stability of a full pot of water on the plate is awesome. I'll even be able to put a slot in it to accomodate a "moulder strip"
The Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter ~ Cam "Swami" Honan of OZ
Ok, good to hear that. I'm selling off all I have in inventory and will not be making more.
What are the dimensions of the lid? Thanks Ron