Has anyone used the Caldera Cone Tri Ti Inferno (wood burner) in winter?

I've seen Hendrik's YouTube videos of it in winter but I'm wondering how well it really works in frigid temperatures, day after day.

Seems from the looks of it that it's about the most efficient stove in terms of CONSERVING heat, always important in winter cooking.

I reported on my experience last May:

"I used this stove over the last couple of days on a snow camping trip.

The good news is that the stove worked OK. It was a little slow, but that was because the wood twigs were a bit damp, and because there was a serious wind blowing. That, in fact, was the problem. I had four ordinary butane lighters, and I could barely get a flame out of any one for more than a nanosecond. The wind was the problem. Finally, after 30 minutes of trying this, I used matches and a ball of toilet paper. Then I threw on some firestarter sticks. Then I threw on the twigs.

Now I have a fresh black coating on my titanium cook pot, very thick."

So, in my experience, air temperature and conserving heat were not the problems. Wet twigs and wind were the main problems.

--B.G.--

How do you even find fuel in the winter when there's snow on the ground? I love the Ti-Tri for non-winter use but haven't considered it for winter use because of the fuel issue. If there's not much snow I guess you could dig down around trees. How do you get the twigs?

Most twigs are found on the ground. Some twigs may be found on top of flat boulders that are not covered by snow. I had about five feet of snow around the boulders, but zero snow on top of the boulders. That made for a dry place for the stove. Unfortunately, it put me right where the breeze was worst.

--B.G.--

many conifers have nice dry twigs for the taking- even w/ lots of snow on the ground

I use wood a lot on day trips, heating up soup, coffee, etc- works great, BUT for melting relatively large volumes of snow I'm thinking it could become a little tedious

A while back I had the "great" idea of using a bushbuddy on an 8 day winter trip. Long story short, it is a straight up unbelievable PITA to melt snow on it. It might be OK for a night or two, but it is not something you look forward to after snowshoeing for 10 hours. Maybe the Tri-Ti is more efficient but when it's freezing cold and snowing, you want to melt snow fast and with little hassle. Also, with an open wood stove like that,you aren't able to cook inside your tent (well, you can but it's not a good idea) and that is a major issue when you meet some nasty weather. As for fuel, where I am from, there is tons of downed trees to pick from. That's my $0.02. :)

Edited by Steve_Evans on 02/03/2011 18:05:06 MST.

After conferring with Rand Lindsly at Trail Designs it looks like I'll get the shorter Sidwinder version of the CC Inferno titanium stove.

He says it is as hot as the taller original CC Tri Ti stove but does now hold quite as much wood, natch. Also Rand mentioned that the stove used ESBIT's heat far more efficiently than other ESBIT stoves and that I may not have to use my usual 2 tabs at a time per meal, one tab being sufficient. That would be great for lightening my fuel load on long trips like the summer Colorado Trail trip I'm planning with another BPL poster.

The CC Sidewinder/Inferno woodburner works very well on snow, even in winds.

I put a sheet of 1/8" plywood (treated well with Thompson's Water seal first) under the Ti base sheet and there was really no melting of snow in my stomped out "kitchen" area.

The Inferno inner inverted cone seemed to cut down on the effect of winds ripping thru camp one evening. And it's so efficient that I needed only 2 hands full of small sticks to do my cooking for 15 - 20 minutes. I loved leaving the white gas fuel bottle and heavy Dragonfly stove at home. The Sidewinder W/Inferno is genius.

BTW, in windy conditions be SURE to keep yer pot or a rock on the stove to keep it anchored.
I'll be taking an extra Ti stake in winter to spear thru a bottom stove slot down thru a hole in my Ti base and plywood base to keep the stove in place.

Edited by Danepacker on 04/21/2011 13:42:35 MDT.

The Tri-Ti works but it's difficult to keep it from melting into the snow or finding a large rock to use it on (with ti base of course). The best I've found is a custom made 2x size bush buddy for winter cooking/snow melting. See article:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/winter_wood_sawchuk.html

I've had great success with my "heavily borrowed" 2 liter tri ti in winter. I just reconfigured the dimensions to fit a 2 liter pot, and voila. Granted, it will use more wood, but it can also handle larger diameter wood and it is a warming chiminea around meals. The good people at TiGoat sell the foil, ti stakes will work across the top (if just barely), and thanks of course to Rand for the inspiration and design.

I've actually made these things to fit my heinekin can, my msr cup, and my 2 liter pot. Not hard to do, but incredibly worth it.

Have fub,

Logan

I really like the Ti Tri as a winter wood burner. I use about a quarter to a fifth of a piece of cotton ball that has been stuck in vaseline as a fire starter with either a sparker or match. With twigs on top, the fire starts fairly easily even with quite damp twigs. The air circulation in the Ti Tri inferno really helps to build the fire. I have two systems I've used: one for a two liter pot, and one for a 1.3 liter pot. Both have enough volume that I only have to refuel about every 10 or 15 minutes. Note that when I start the fire, I fill the system to over the top with wood, and the wood fairly quickly drops down enough that I can put on the pot. Since I wait a bit before putting on the pot, and don't refuel often, I don't get much soot. My favorite part of using these systems comes after cooking. They make great fires to sit around warming hands or just looking into the coals. Even with lots of snow on the ground, I've not found it difficult to get the small amount needed either from bare spots, or from dead twigs on the trees.
Jim