Michael, when you said "on a sunny day" did you mean while hiking with it in your fanny pack? Or do you need to set it out for a while?

I have to set it out. Come to think of it, if I replaced the netting with clear plastic on the lumbar pack that may not be an issue. That will be my next experiment.

.

Edited by chris.kattenburg on 04/01/2007 15:28:12 MDT.

Hey Dale,
Thanks for that link. It's a great site. Do you think they give samples to just anyone?

I purchased some Platys today and read the tips on the wrapping for the first time. They said you can both heat and freeze water in a Platy. Actually, I doubt that you can simply place your Platy over an Esbit or alcohol stove and heat the water inside - has anyone made experiences with that? Or is there anyone who would like to try it with an old Platy?

From what I recall the manufacturer claims you can ADD boiling water to a Platy, not boil IN the Platy. Be careful.

That said, you can (I have tried it for kicks and it worked)boil water in virtually any container, including plastic, paper, or a big leaf. I'm no scientist, but the water takes most of the heat that passes thru the container, so the container doesn't burn up until the water is gone.

I wouldn't do this to a Platy of mine, though. My 2cents.

Your doubt is actually correct.

You can pour boiling water into your Platy -- that's 212F. But an open flame (alky stove or whatever) is at least a couple of hundred degrees higher -- and will burn up your Platy!


Edit: Just read the above post... I too remember (vaguely) that water effectively lowers the temperature, etc. -- but I still suspect that the plastic edges of the Platy that don't come into direct contact with the water will likely melt away.

Edited by ben2world on 04/05/2007 11:56:17 MDT.

You can set a Platy into boiling water. A one pot meal for spagetti is to put the Platy with the sauce in the same pot you are cooking the spagetti. When the noodles are ready the sauce is hot.

I've had success with Snapple aluminum Energy drink bottle and a stove made with fiberglass wick material. The bottle sits inside of the stove. It is the design that the current Ring Of Fire stove evolved from.




zelph

Edited by zelph on 06/18/2007 11:11:56 MDT.

I had some difficulty loading photos in the above reply but I finally edited the daylights out of it and got it down pat.

I had also found that a Brunton water flask worked great for 4 cups of water. Bought the flask at a local thrift store for cheap.

More information can be found about the stove that I used to heat this brunton flask at this web site :
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18201

The thread contains a lot of information on how the stove was made and concerns that others had using these types of bottles. If anyone has any questions please send me an email.

Here is a partial quote from a thread at http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showpost.php?p=360364&postcount=112 ""

2 cups water @ 70 degrees

18ml of Iso 91 alcohol (no soot)

water boiled in 6 min. average for three test burns.

Stove is made of aluminum and fiberglass wick.

Combined weight of stove and Rockstar pot is 2 ounces. The configuration of these two components may fit the needs of someone wanting a slimline stove. I know this is a bassackwards combination, the pot fits in the stove and all the flames go up the sides. It goes against all stove rules but it seems to be working. Just 2 ounces for pot and stove combined.""
Using Iso91 alcohol in this type of stove leaves no soot on sides of pot. If you try to heat from the bottom using this same stove it will form soot. I don't know the reason for this as of this posting. Maybe someone out there can explain why there is no soot with the ring of fire type of stove.





Here are some photos:

Edited by zelph on 06/18/2007 12:25:56 MDT.

I found this stainless steel bottle: http://www.dhki.com/Defense/p_steelb.htm

I have an email to the manufacturer that hasn't been answered yet. The design is on the right track, but I'm sure it's heavy. Something like this in titanium would be the perfect solution.

I also found that the Camelbak one liter water bottle fits nicely in the Snowpeak 600 titanium cup. Unfortunately the Camelbak bottle is 7.3 ounces.

Another work-around to a fanny pack kit like this would be to use one of the ultra-Spartan hydration packs like the Playpus Hiker Hydrator http://www.platypushydration.com/product_detail.aspx?ProdID=15. I have some older hydration packs that are just a simple sleeve with shoulder straps and zero add on's like bungee cords and pockets. The Salomon Raid Revo 15 http://www.rei.com/product/734325 is just 8 ounces and would make a great combo with a fanny pack kit. Team the hydration pack up with a beer can Esbit stove and you have it.

Does anyone think this one might fit the bill?:

http://www.aluminumbottles.com/cgi-bin/webman/scan/se=atk/sf=category/se=prod/sf=rtype/ml=1/fi=elemental/sp=elemental::level3