A Winter Stove Suggestion

[300winmag]

Since winter camping requires heavier everything one way to save on fuel weight IF you're going to be in a forested area constantly ia a wood burning stove.

My 1st suggestion is a Caldera Cone Tri Ti wood. alky. ESBIT stove.
It takes large sticks of wood so does not need to be fed constantly as do other wood burners. I packs flat or rolled around a bottle. It's light and VERY efficient if made to fit your pot on a custom order or a standard range of pots available form the company. The CC Tri Ti has a clever interior inverted cone & grate system for improved fuel combustion.

2nd is the efficient Canadian made Bushbuddy. It's the most efficient stove at combustion but much less efficient than the CC Tri Ti at using that heat. Plus it needs to be fed small fuel sticks constantly. You can't step away from it.

3rd is the Zip Stove using a battery powered fan. Been around for decades and works as long as the batteries and motor does.

4th are various forms of "Hobo Stoves".

[Mountain Wildman]

Also, The Littlbug Junior or Senior.
I have the Junior and it is large enough to use finger size or larger sticks and breaks down into 4 pieces, It's un-assembled shape is half moon and will easily fit around a cooking pot, sleeping bag or pad etc...

[zelph]

I recently made one that works well. The compact folding Woodgaz stove.

These are videos:

[SassyWindsor]

My favorite is the titanium Sierra Zip wood-burner, it makes burning damp wood a snap and you can regulate the heat pretty well using the 2 speed fan. I can boil water very quickly with it. Next, I have and like the Evernew DX wood burner. I can use various pieces of cookware with it, but I use it car camping as a second stove to my zip. I have several other stoves such as a multi-fuel msr, esbit, ect, but I will only use these if wood/fuel is a problem where I'll be camping for an extended time.

[garlic08]

My wife tried the Sierra Zip stove (regular steel model) on her AT thru. I was with her part of the time. We liked the concept and the logistics were working out fine, but the stove rivets failed (from heat) after less than 1000 miles. The mfr honored the warrantee and we were thinking of upgrading to the titanium model. But then a fellow hiker field-made an alcohol stove for her from some discarded beer cans at a road crossing and we thought that was very cool so we've been using that ever since. But I remain a fan of wood-burners.

[laser58]

I have used the Sierra Zip stove and as far as the performance, worked great. I just got tired of cleaning the black soot off the stove and pots every time it was used.
Am currently using the MSR 'pocket rocket'. Advantages are size, weight and quickness to set up and start cooking. Disavantage is fuel canasters cannot be refilled so need to be recycled. Have not used it in freezing temps yet and heard that may be an issue.



If you don’t know where you are going … life will decide for you …. tim allen

[Del Q]

Check out the Vargo titanium wood stove, was going to leave today but knee is not healed from surgery 6 weeks ago, use fuel from the woods with zero carry weight and all that you want or need is out there!

[MedicineMan]

I've played with a lot of stoves over the centuries but never a Sierra Zip...
I'd like to ask Garlic if during those 1000 miles if one battery lasted the whole time, and for anyone else who's used one, just how much cooking time can you expect from that sole AA battery?
Thanks.

[garlic08]

I've played with a lot of stoves over the centuries but never a Sierra Zip...
I'd like to ask Garlic if during those 1000 miles if one battery lasted the whole time, and for anyone else who's used one, just how much cooking time can you expect from that sole AA battery?
Thanks.

It's been nearly ten years, but I don't recall ever changing the battery. We didn't use the fan much either, just mainly for ignition. And we only used the stove for one quick boil each day--not for coffee, purifying water, baking bread, etc--so YMMV.

[Roland]

I recently made one that works well. The compact folding Woodgaz stove.

Nice craftsmanship, Zelph.

[300winmag]

The Caldera Cone Tri Ti gets its "Tri" name from its ability to use 3 fuels, Alcohol, ESBIT and wood.

It has an alcohol burner, an ESBIT "Gram Cracker" fuel holder and the Inferno inverted cone & screen wood burner. This is the beauty of this versatile and very efficient stove. Plus it dissambles flat or can be rolled up for storage.

Since I dislike alky stoves I'd carry the nearly weightless Gram Cracker ESBIT holder and some extra ESBIT fuel tabs as a backup for wood.

Eric

[SassyWindsor]

I have used the Sierra Zip stove and as far as the performance, worked great. I just got tired of cleaning the black soot off the stove and pots every time it was used. .........

The black soot makes the pot(s) heat a little more quickly. Just place stove inside pot and place all in a small stuff sack. I also use the sack to collect wood or as a sandbag (if needed) when in camp.

[zelph]

Thank you Rolond My wood burning this year has led me to be a vertical stacking, top lighting convert. I used to bottom light.

I clean my pots once every year with liquid chaffing fuel.

My pots get a hard shell coating, not much soot. I'll see if I can do a new video of how I clean them.

[BlueRay]

I jut got a 'Svea 123' from Optimus, working white-gaz. It's not the lightest, but very reliable (!). Self pressured. I LOVE it!

[unclemjm]

I recently made one that works well. The compact folding Woodgaz stove.

These are videos:

Nice craftsmanship, Zelph.

+ 1 on the Craftsmanship

I have this particular stove as well as several other from Zelph's creative productions and they are all great.

The best part about the Woodgaz, beyond the cool factor of folding and lightweight, is that with one top load fire, I have boiled 2 pots of water, (2 cups per pot), in 6 minutes each and one more pot of the same volume to near boil, (bubbles forming on the bottom but not rolling), in 6 more minutes without needing to add any wood. (That last pot would have made it to boil in another minute or two I bet but half time was over and I had to get back inside to watch the rest of the football game.)

It's a great stove and I highly recommend it.

[Tom Murphy]

SVEA 123R if we are talking about the deep cold.

[zelph]

+ 1 on the Craftsmanship

I have this particular stove as well as several other from Zelph's creative productions and they are all great.

The best part about the Woodgaz, beyond the cool factor of folding and lightweight, is that with one top load fire, I have boiled 2 pots of water, (2 cups per pot), in 6 minutes each and one more pot of the same volume to near boil, (bubbles forming on the bottom but not rolling), in 6 more minutes without needing to add any wood. (That last pot would have made it to boil in another minute or two I bet but half time was over and I had to get back inside to watch the rest of the football game.)

It's a great stove and I highly recommend it.

Thank you unclemjm for the awesome feedback. The more you use the stove you'll be more inclined to find reasons to heat water. It was exciting to do the research this past summer on top lighting and how to stack the wood in order to get consistent ignition. The woodgaz is slighty larger than the BushBuddy and can get double+ the boiling capacity in one load of wood. I know many of the wood stove users claim to enjoy feeding twigs to get a boil. With the Woodgaz my twig feeding days are over. No more having to put up with getting smoke in my eyes.

Thanks again unclemjm

Merry Christmas to all!!!!

[300winmag]

Murph,

For over a decade (70s+) I used a SVEA 123 year around with a SIGG Tourist cook set. Great little stove. Then I got an MSR Dragonfly so I could also bake. An even safer/better stove with its remote fuel tank and low simmer ability.

But a Caldera Cone Tri Ti with the wood burning Inferno inverted cone is very efficient for winter B/C the outer cone, which surounds your pot, conserves heat better than any other wood stove I know. Thus it would be fine at below 0 F. temps., especially if you had access to dead hardwood sticks, as you do back east.

Eric

[zelph]

Murph,

For over a decade (70s+) I used a SVEA 123 year around with a SIGG Tourist cook set. Great little stove. Then I got an MSR Dragonfly so I could also bake. An even safer/better stove with its remote fuel tank and low simmer ability.

But a Caldera Cone Tri Ti with the wood burning Inferno inverted cone is very efficient for winter B/C the outer cone, which surounds your pot, conserves heat better than any other wood stove I know. Thus it would be fine at below 0 F. temps., especially if you had access to dead hardwood sticks, as you do back east.

Eric

Hi Eric, do you have any favorite video links of the Tri Ti being demonstrated?

[JaxHiker]

Check out the Vargo titanium wood stove, was going to leave today but knee is not healed from surgery 6 weeks ago, use fuel from the woods with zero carry weight and all that you want or need is out there!

Do you have one of these? I've been tempted but haven't dropped the jack yet.

I like my Svea 123 for cold weather. As it's been said, it ain't light, though.