Bushbuddy Ultra Wood Stove

Weighed On Our Scales » 5.1 oz (146 g)

Catalog No. BSH50067

The ULTRA version of the Bushbuddy is built exclusively for BackpackingLight.com and is imported directly from Canada by us, and shipped to you from the US. Customs duties are included in the price.

Need a Custom Matching Pot for Nesting Your Bushbuddy Inside?

Check out the FireLite 1100 Titanium Cookpot - designed especially for Bushbuddy Ultra users.

Overview

When Ryan Jordan was specifying gear for the Arctic 1000 expedition, a 600-mile traverse of the Western Arctic, any stove requiring nonindigenous fuel was out of the question.

So when Jordan and Fritz Handel teamed up to build an ultralight woodfire stove that employed secondary combustion, compactness, and light weight, the result was the Bushbuddy Ultra. Read about how the Arctic 1000 team incorporated the Bushbuddy Ultra into their cooking regime.

Features

The following video shows the compact and simple assembly of the Bushbuddy Ultra:

• Two parts to the stove - the firebox and the pot holder - nest for clean, efficient, compact storage.
• The Bushbuddy Ultra is custom sized to integrate with Backpacking Light's new 1L titanium cookpots, debuting at BackpackingLight.com in Spring 2007. The Bushbuddy Ultra nests perfectly into the new pots.
• The Bushbuddy Ultra's key feature is its double wall firebox. Primary air is drawn into the Bushbuddy Ultra's lower intake ports, where it is preheated within the confines of a double wall. That preheated air is then delivered to the combustion chamber (firebox), resulting in a far more efficient burn. From a performance standpoint, this means that (1) fuel is burned more completely to ash and (2) fuel is burned faster. Bottom line: The Bushbuddy Ultra delivers the most fuel-efficient compact woodstove design available.
• Environmentally sensitive design - neither flame, coals, nor ash scar the ground. Wood is burned completely to ash during combustion, and ash is contained in the firebox, allowing it to be buried or dispersed appropriately.

Why a Wood Stove?

So many other stoves are lighter, and I can always build a fire, so why use a Bushbuddy Ultra wood stove?

• Unlike a fire, and other wood stoves that are little more than "pot supports" for fires built on the ground, the Bushbuddy Ultra is a clean, environmentally-sensitive, and fuel efficient means of cooking.
• You don't have to carry fuel, making the Bushbuddy Ultra an integral part of an equipment kit that focuses on simplicity of form and function.
• Requires less fuel than a campfire, without the environmental impact, while preserving the light, warmth, and cheer of the open flame.
• Economy of operation - after the initial stove investment, it's literally FREE to use for the life of the stove.
• Economy of resupply - who said anything about having to resupply fuel? No more worries about finding compressed gas, white gas, alcohol, or solid fuel tablets. GREAT option for airline travel!

Usage Guidelines, by Ryan Jordan

Woodfire cooking is an art. Cooking over a Bushbuddy Ultra blends that art, with some really cool engineering, that makes the Bushbuddy Ultra a pretty neat stove to use for us that sit on the fence that divides our desire for technology with our desire for primality!

1. I never, ever, use a wind screen with the Bushbuddy Ultra. If you use it in wind, its performance will decline. It's best to locate the stove out of the wind. I have found that the very slightest breeze can improve performance by improving air delivery to the intake holes, but it's almost negligible and the negative impact that wind has upon the flame delivery to the bottom of your pot may be significant.
2. If you are going to take the Bushbuddy Ultra into damp conditions, you must have a good knowledge of firebuilding that depends on your ability to (a) locate dry wood and tinder, and (b) fuel a fire with damp materials. This takes practice, and above all else, this is where the "art" of firebuilding comes in. I used the stove on the Arctic 1000 expedition exclusively for hot meals and drinks every morning and evening, and my wood sources was damp willow wood. I did my best, and took my time, to seek out the dryest of the damp, which was usually dead wood found at the base of the willow bushes, or driftwood washed up along the banks and gravel bars of rivers. I burned a lot of dead leaves, too!
3. You must couple your Bushbuddy Ultra with a good firestarting kit. I recommend the Firesteel firestarter and Tinder-Quik firestarting tabs, with a few FireLite Solid Fuel Tablets for really wet conditions. When I was in the Arctic, I used Firesteel and Tinder-Quik exclusively, with 1/2 Tinder Quik tab for drier conditions, and up to 2 tabs for wet conditions. I've used solid fuel tablets only as emergency backup, and usually, when it's actually raining and the ground is soaked!
4. Practice, practice, practice, and you'll be duly rewarded with one of the most satisfying pieces of kit you've ever owned - one that blends beautiful construction, smart design, and real firebuilding skill into a cooking stove that may reflect our lightweight ethos better than any other, especially with respect to our desire to tread lightly on our environment.