Orders stop at midnight tonight so get 'em while you can!

I jumped on this one early in the count! Other forums are talking this up also (i.e. HammockForums.net)

I'm really glad to see Devin's dream coming true. Few would have had the perseverance that he has demonstrated, which we will all benefit from now. Thanks Devin!

My current go-to stove system is a Caldera Cone alky stove with a Vargo 0.9L ti pot. I only do "freezer bag cooking." I figure that I will save about 2/3s of the weight and volume carried when I also factor in the fuel.

Edited by mad777 on 11/19/2010 13:14:08 MST.

just put two and two together and think i figured out where Devin probably got the original inspiration for his kettle design....




COOK IT GOOD! Cant wait to get mine.

(sorry, couldnt resist, happy friday)

Edited by rbeard on 11/19/2010 13:19:00 MST.

My Bushbuddy Ultra may be up for sale once i test out Devins Kettle. :)

Mike, Don't forget to sell your pot also! :)

Congratulations, Devin!

Good job.

HJ

Hey, thanks all!

There will be regular updates to the blog until these puppies are shipped. As I said there, the support from customers and people who just think it's cool has been humbling.

Thanks. :)

Hey, Devin,

It looks like the Backcountry Boiler web site is down as of 12/3/2010 17:35 (PST).

HJ

Works for me. Maybe give it another try.

Yep, it's up. Must have been a temporary glitch.

HJ

A wonderfully designed boiler made by one of our own. Exciting!

What about a gasifier kettle? Tos save even more fuel?

Somehow, I must have missed the posts before this. I'm glad the site didn't implode. And thanks for the kind words, Jeff!

I think you just blew my mind, Alan. :) I haven't run any tests to determine how complete the combustion is with the Boiler. It's kind of a chaotic system in there and conditions change based on the state of the fuel used as well how densely packed it is in the chimney. On one hand, you can break up some twigs very small and batch load it like is done with gasifiers, on the other, you can also break them up into larger pieces and add them as you go - that flexibility is something I think is a real advantage.

But getting back to your point, more complete combustion would increase efficiency, so would doing something like making the chimney another several inches taller. The latter would actually both aid in combustion by increasing the internal draft as well as catching more of the exhaust heat.

In the tests I did perform, though, I found that it took just about 2 oz (a decent-sized handful) to boil 20 oz (so a bit less for the now-recommended 16). The thing to remember about wood stoves is that since you don't have to carry the fuel, it's environmental impact rather than pack weight that drives you towards efficiency. Given how small this already impact is, and that almost any measure to increase efficiency would add weight or complexity, I went the way I did.

But would I like to see a gasifier kettle? Heck yes. I bet you could just toss the kettle on top of a Bushbuddy...

Is the outside of the water vessel double walled?

It's kinda double wall in that the water is held by an outside wall and an inside wall. But I think you are asking if the outside wall itself is double wall, in which case it's just single wall. The neoprene cozy allows you to pick it up when water is boiling and probably helps reduce heat loss to some extent. If you google "chimney kettle" and look at the images you can see the basic layout.

Like:
Outside air:Neoprene:Metal:Air Gap:Metal:Water

Does that make sense?

Ourtside air : Neoprene : Metal : Water (or air if the water is low) : Metal : Air (burn chamber)

Nine hours to go! Good luck Devin.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1763800459/backcountry-boiler-hot-water-from-found-fuel

Thanks, Steve! I hope you and some of the other really early guys know that if you hadn't been there to say "yeah, that's cool," this probably wouldn't have gotten past the aluminum bottle stage.

Oh, and it is soooo close to 60K! It's not even about the small number of extra sales it takes to get there. I just want a nice round number. :)

Glad I saw this thread in time! Very inspiring to see the progression of your idea. Had to order the Signature model to do my part to get you up to that 60k mark. Good luck!