The Bobcat Stove System

[hikin_jim]

I haven't been around for a while (lost a job and had some pretty serious financial reversals), but some of you may know of my backpacking stove addiction, er, hobby. Finally got around to doing stove reviews again. My current write up on the Bobcat system which works with either alcohol or hexamine (e.g. ESBIT).

I've been using the Bobcat stove system for my solo trips for several months.


I've found it to be a good system: reliable, stable, and easy to use. I particularly like that everything fits inside the pot, which makes things pretty handy.


If you're interested in such things, here's the full review on my blog:
The Bobcat Stove System

This article is actually part I of a series. Next in the series (Part II) will cover how I use the system to bake muffins out on the trail. Yes, not exactly typical "long trail" fare, but trust me the rest of the family sometimes mysteriously becomes willing to participate on my little outings when I mention that I'll be baking fresh muffins.


Part III will be on a "universal" alcohol stove, a stove that will burn ethyl (the major component of denatured alcohol), methyl (e.g. HEET), or Isopropyl (rubbing alcohol).

HJ

[lukabrazi]

For what its worth, I ordered from Flat Cat last year for a friend and was given good advice and quick customer service. Everything that we received was well built. I follow the Flat Cat Gear Facebook page and am always impressed with what he is able to do with his stoves. There are also constantly new products. If you want a UL stove that you can make a calzone with, this is it. The titanium esbit stove that my friend ended up getting will stretch an esbit tablet for almost an hour for baking/simmering. I don't do a lot of baking when I am out because of the mess so I am interested in seeing how Hikin Jim does it.

[attroll]

I removed all the negativaty posted here. Lets get back on track, please.
Thank you

[jrabbott]

I removed all the negativaty posted here. Lets get back on track, please.
Thank you

Thanks!!!!

[hikin_jim]

Thank you.

[swjohnsey]

I don't ever racall Zelph runnin' and infomercial over here.

[hikin_jim]

I don't ever racall Zelph runnin' and infomercial over here.

Is an independent review of a piece of gear an "Infomercial?"

HJ

[treesloth]

Thanks for the review, HJ. I've always liked Jon's stove innovations and ideas.

[hikin_jim]

You're welcome, Treesloth. I had a lot of fun testing Jon's crazy ideas (which actually work). Simmering and baking with ESBIT? Hunh? But Jon pulled it off. Baking muffins with a UL set up has been really fun for my family. It has gotten them to come out on the trail with me more often.

Here's the stove:
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And here's the process:

Adding the ingredients
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Starting the hexamine
P1150825.JPG
Bake in progress
P1150827.JPG
And, voila!, triple berry muffin
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Happy camper
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Yum!
P1150869.JPG

HJ

[treesloth]

Good stuff. I have a Featherfire XL stove, I'm going to try Jon's techniques with it. Choke the O2 intake all the way down on it, and I swear you can get a low flame for an hour on an ounce of fuel or less. It would also be interesting to see how my Trangia would work with the simmer ring on it. The Trangia is definitely not as efficient as the Featherfire. When I end up finally giving this combo a try I'll let you know.

[Tinker]

Thanks, Jim.

Welcome back.

Here's a link to alcohol stove users interested in baking: http://www.trailquest.net/baking.html

Good stuff. I met Brawney just north of the Kennebec River in Me. on her thruhike of the AT back in 2005 (?).

[hikin_jim]

Good stuff. I have a Featherfire XL stove, I'm going to try Jon's techniques with it.

I experimented back in April with baking with alcohol. The temperatures are much hotter which can give you fluffier muffins but can also cause burning if you use too much fuel, and you can warp your pot. I definitely would use a Ti pot to bake in.

A muffin baked using the Bobcat system with alcohol:
P1100772.JPG


You'll want to use a good baking pan inside your Ti pot. I use olive oil to grease the pan a bit. Parchment paper in the bottom can also help prevent sticking, but I found that with ESBIT I really didn't need it. Parchment paper might be a really good idea with alcohol.
P1100808.JPG

You can buy a baking pan from Jon at Flat Cat or you can just go online and get one. Jon doesn't make these; they're just regular aluminum baking pans. I think 4.5" diameter. I think you could look on Jon's site to get the dimensions.

I gotta say, fresh chocolate chip muffins beat the heck out of Freeze Dried!!
P1100774.JPG

Makes dandy buttermilk biscuits too.
P1160339.JPG

HJ

[hikin_jim]

Thanks, Jim.

Welcome back.

Thank you; it's good to be back.

Here's a link to alcohol stove users interested in baking: http://www.trailquest.net/baking.html

Good stuff. I met Brawney just north of the Kennebec River in Me. on her thruhike of the AT back in 2005 (?).

Wow! That's pretty intense. I'm a little lazy out on the trail, and I just do simple things like muffins, cookies, and biscuits. I know Jon has done lasagna and other complex things. I'm usually too tired and too hungry at the end of the day to try anything that complicated.

HJ