I just finished Andrew Skurka's new book and really enjoyed it. I was surprised to read that he thinks a beer can pot "wasn't durable enough to even last for a week long trip" and "the tall Foster cans had a horrible fuel efficiency". I surly respect Andrew's experiences, knowledge, and opinions, however, I also respect the members here and the beer can pot seems pretty popular here.

I am looking at the Caldera Cone / Beer can setup (alcohol or Esbit to be determined after some trail and error) and was hoping to get some feedback to the questions below from those using this set-up for week or multi-week outings.

1) If treated with the same care as our other SUL gear, how durable is this setup for multi-week outings?

2) Assuming most are not using the heavy caddies sold with this set-up, how to you protect / transport you cone / beer can?

I currently use a MiniBull Mini Atomic, a smaller beer can pot from Tinny, and his plastic caddie system to carry them. I only boil water once a day for dinner and it is less than 2 cups. This setup has been used on several 5-7 day trips, however, I am planning a longer trip this fall. My trips don't compare to many of Andrew's in terms of isolation and duration, however, they are in wilderness type places like the Winds, JMT, etc. I can understand the logic if one was not going to see a road / person / or town for 30 days or more, yet, I find it hard to believe all those using the cone / beer can setup on this site are doing weekend hikes or having to bail on longer trips from beer can pot failure.

Thanks in advance,

Rick

> I just finished Andrew Skurka's new book and really enjoyed it. I was surprised to read that he thinks a beer can pot "wasn't durable enough to even last for a week long trip" and "the tall Foster cans had a horrible fuel efficiency".

I thought that was odd, too, but he hasn't responded yet to that or a couple other issues I had. I know people have thru-hiked with them, and I haven't found its efficiency to be that bad (the very thin AL helps).

I don't put my pot in anything. I put all my cooking/firestarting gear in the pot and it goes near the top of my pack. I suppose if I fell hard on my pack it could get dented, but you should be able to pop out any dents easy enough.

No problems here with beer can durability, but I don't put it in a wood fire.
For protection, I have made a light cozy that fits around the outside of the can; I put my freezerbag food in the cozy when cooking but use it for some protection when packing. I also have a fuel bottle inside the can while packed that would prevent the can from fully collapsing from any force on it.

I've also wondered what folks did to protect their beer can pot. Stuff it with clothes, place in a outside pack pocket? I want to use my Fosters pot, penny alky stove on some weekend trips this summer to get some experience in, as in the past I have only used my Internationale for winter or my Pocket Rocket in Summer. Plus, throw in that I collect stoves now, so I have all of those in my stable too.
Hi Michael.
Duane

Hey, Duane! No pot protection for me. I just make sure it's above the food bag.

You might try adding ridges to your Foster's pot to give it more strength against squeezing. There have been a couple posts here on that if you search. I'm still using a Heineken "keg" can so it has built in ridges.

I can't comment on the carrying aspect as i've not used my Heiny keg yet, but i use a two piece home made cone with it that i scroll up, secure with a rubber band and stick in the pot, along with the burner, ti spork, coffee etc.
Guess i'll just (considerately) throw it in the pack, maybe wrapped in a fleece etc when i do get round to using it.

I always treat my beer cans with the proper care and respect they deserve. :)

Michael, I missed the thread then on diy ridges on the Fosters can. The main object was accomplished months ago, emptying it. :) I'll take a look tonight.
Duane

LOL. See this to get to 2 good video links.

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

Has anyone been using the Zelph's Ridgeline can for the Caldera Cone. I like the fact this beer can seems a bit more sturdy and I also like the smaller size, however, the cone now is taller than the pot which would seem to make packability a bit more awkward.

I saw a thread on BPL where Nick is using the Zelph's 1 cup pot in conjunction with their Ridgeline pot and these cover the cone and allow the lightweight stuff sack to work. I think I will go with this setup unless anyone has any other options.

Thanks,

Rick

The problem with a normal Fosters that even a little repeated flexing (not denting) the can will eventually create a pin hole in the only ridge on the can. Plus with the knowledge it is fragile, one might not pack it where it belongs... towards the bottom of your pack if you are not going to use it during the day (5S thinking here).

I have a GVP Cone set-up and the cone fits entirely into the standard can, but even with coddling it, I developed pin holes in two cans.

I recently bought the Zelph pot and cup. It is a little taller if I put the cone in the pot with the cup on top. But the cone sticks out of the pot if I don't put the cup on top. With my old Fosters cans I had a cuben sack that fit it perfectly. But it is a tiny bit short with the pot/cup combo... so I am getting a larger sack.

Zelp's pots are MUCH more sturdier. So we shall see how it works.

As to Andy's comments on efficiency, he is using a cat can stove with aluminum foil for a windscreen. A Caldera Cone set-up is amazingly efficient, IMO.

I use one with the Caldera Cone and it works great.

http://tinyurl.com/bqe58ze

If the can doesn't have a reinforcement ridge in it, could titanium be used to wrap around it (like the kind that titanium goat sells)? I would think it would weigh less than the caddy. Just wrap around it and secure with rubber bands or loop of string?

Steve

Something I'm working on that deals with the safe storage of a Foster pot and windscreen combination. I think you'll like what you see. I should have a video of it tomorrow.

http://www.bplite.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5381

My wife and I are at an RV Park as Hosts. We have WIFI internet access and it sure is slow. It took me 109 minutes to load this 5 min. video.
.

http://www.youtube.com/v/VMxmO5U4UrE&hl=en_US&feature

Edited by zelph on 04/20/2012 21:15:23 MDT.