Hi Bob,

True enough!

I have received many helpful suggestions from the BPL members and guests on this forum.

Aside from saying a simple thank you the way that I express my appreciation is in freely sharing helpful suggestions whenever I can.

BTW after some test burns this evening I have concluded that I may pursue the stainless wire bail idea so as to lighten my cook kit further by eliminating the "lightened" MSR pot lifter.

Thanks to you for suggesting the idea and to Dan for showing me some examples of how he did it and where to source the eyelets.

Thanks again guys,

Party On,

Newton

Next we will be looking for titanium eyelets.

--B.G.--

Keep in mind that the updated total weights in the subject line do not include the 4 ounces of fuel and its bottle that weigh 106 grams / 3.7 ounces.

My idea of using a silicone "sip ring" wristband to pick up the hot pot did not work! The band did not keep the heat away from my fingers and after being stretched into place it was a little on the narrow side for my fat fingers.

I have another variation of an idea that was shown in another earlier thread on BPL using a wire "handle" that binds around the outside of the pot and locks into place. In this particular application the stainless wire bail idea seems lighter, less bulky and somehow more elegant and appealing to me.

The new smaller clone stove and lighter windscreen worked well.

Using the 1 cup generic pot a rolling boil was achieved in 3 minutes and 42 seconds using 10ml of ethanol fuel. Flame out occurred at 4 minutes and 56 seconds. It should be noted that these results were in my garage in 90 degree southeast Louisiana weather. I was using tap water and the temperature of the water was 80 degrees at the start.

I lit the stove from the side aiming my Bic lighter at the fiberglass wick material. The pot was not on the stove at the time but I see no reason why it wouldn't light in the same manner with the pot in place.

After lighting the stove got to full bloom in 4 seconds. I set the pot into place and dropped the windscreen into place around the stove and pot.

It is my goal to choose and implement a bail or wire handle method of lifting the pot. I could then retire my 19 gram MSR pot lifter.

In the future I would like to fill the stove, put the filled pot into place on the stove and then light the stove from the side as described above. I would then drop the windscreen into place and let the stove do its work.

The clone stove starts off with a well sized flame ring in relation to the pot. Later on during the burn the flames do tend to wrap up the sides of the pot. As the water begins to boil the flame starts to calm down and then dies out 1 minute and 14 seconds later. It is constructed from a cut down Vienna sausage can and a section of an aluminum beer bottle. I use 4 layers of 3M fiberglass cloth as the wick. After cutting it to size I fold it longways trapping the long ragged edges inside of the folds.

The stove size is 2 3/8" wide x 1 1/16" tall and the pot diameter is 3 1/4". I am entertaining the thought of building a smaller diameter stove in hopes of concentrating the flame ring under the pot. I really like the Fancee Feest stove design. I need to find some smaller diameter close fitting cans or aluminum bottles to build this smaller and hopefully lighter stove. ;-)

Party On,

Newton

Edit:

"I lit the stove from the side aiming my Bic lighter at the fiberglass wick material. The pot was not on the stove at the time but I see no reason why it wouldn't light in the same manner with the pot in place".

I was doing multiple test burns at the time that I lit the stove from the side. It worked well with an already "warmed up" stove that probably still had some alcohol vapors in the wicking material.

It would not light from the side with the pot on top of the stove from a cold start. It might still work if I dribble some fuel down the side of the "pot stand center ring" onto the wicking material and light it there.

NOTE: I haven't tried this method yet so it has yet to be proven.

BE CAREFUL WHEN EXPERIMENTING WITH ALCOHOL STOVES, ALCOHOL AS A FUEL AND "FIRE" IN GENERAL!

Party On,

Newton

Edited by Newton on 09/14/2012 16:07:20 MDT.

Congratulations. Now you can go to work on trail recipes for crayfish etouffee and beignets.

--B.G.--

Bob,

You've been away from here too long.

Don't forget the Shrimp Creole, Turtle Soup and Alligator Sauce Piquant.

L O L

I'm taking a day / night off from R and D because we're having some friends over tomorrow night.

Stay tuned. There will be further installments and hopefully further weight reductions in my cook kit.

Party On,

Newton

Newton, it is getting too difficult to find good freeze-dried crayfish.

--B.G.--

Bob,

Since we're on a bit of a thread drift, do you remember the bags of Bo Pic dried shrimp?

A little hot water, minute rice, olive oil, flour and Kitchen Bouquet, salt and pepper to taste and you have a rather crunchy trail version of Shrimp Stew.

Mmmmm

L O L

Party On,

Newton

"bags of Bo Pic dried shrimp? "

I have no clue.

Was that a delicacy of Leesville?

The only freeze-dried shrimp that I used to purchase was Mountain House, in #2-1/2 size cans.

--B.G.--

Hi Bob,

The packages were usually stapled to a cardboard display. There might have been 4 or 5 vertical rows of 10 - 15 plastic / cellophane envelopes of dried shrimp in each row.

They were usually found by the checkout in the stores that carried them. They were meant to be a snack type food.

They were tiny and were dried shell on, hence the crunchiness.;-?

Party On,

Newton

Newton, I love the idea for the lid/ring. I am in the process of simplifying my cooking system, and I have gotten quite a few suggestions from your search.

I did some searching at the grocery store today too, and it turns out that the Blue Diamond almond tins have a lid that fits the Foster's pot if you cut the can off below the taper at the top (I use a cut-down tin can as a ring/reinforcement at the top). The Frito's dip cans' lids also fit. I'm excited to try your new idea out once I get everything to fit into my pot.

Hi Clayton,

Sounds like you've been watching the You Tube videos by IntenseAngler Outdoors.

I have also been researching eyelet kits for the wire bail modification. I found this one at overstock.com.



$15.49 with free shipping. It's the best price that I've found

http://www.overstock.com/Crafts-Sewing/Dritz-Eyelet-Pliers-Kit/3127725/product.html?cid=202290&kid=9553000357392&track=pspla&adtype=pla&kw={keyword}

If you are interested in an aluminum Fosters can ring check out this link.

http://www.outdoortrailgear.com/cottage-industries/smokeeater908/beer-can-pot-aluminum-ring/

I've been all over the net on this project! L O L

Party On,

Newton

Edited by Newton on 07/18/2012 04:48:00 MDT.

OK so I have 90 minutes before tonight's dinner guests arrive and I have a question.

Would Malin LC10, 131 pound test, .024 wire diameter, coated (coffee color), stainless steel wire leader material make suitable bail material for my Foster's pot bail project?



It is for sale at my local Academy Sports and Outdoors location for $2.49 plus tax for a 42 foot roll.

I'm looking for a lift up onto the shoulders of someone else with some experience in this area. ;-)

Party On,

Newton

Edited by Newton on 07/18/2012 15:37:23 MDT.

I have indeed seen that video and aluminum ring. I like Zelph's pots, but I have this crazy MYOG itch and the ring is easier to reinforce a can than coming up with some kind of bead roller.

Now those eyelets----I can see a multitude of uses for something like that! Not only will it work for a wire bail, but it could also be used for ULA Ohm style compression eyelets. It's funny how MYOG never ends up saving me money in the long run.

I did put a wire bail on my current Foster's pot. It's pretty unsophisticated (well--the whole pot is, thus the reason it sits on the shelf when I take a trip), but I just bought generic stainless steel wire at Wal-Mart. It seems to work fine, and I would assume that what you've found would do the job just as well.

Thanks Clayton.

What I found when I started to think about a MYOG, beaded / ridged and wide mouthed Foster's pot was that I couldn't tool up for as little as Zelph was charging including shipping.

I cut off the child safety part of the screw cap on my fuel bottle and saved a whopping 4 grams.



It is definitely lighter.



But I am not sure that I am really liking this modification. ;-?

Party On,

Newton

You could use smaller letters for the FUEL label and save some ink weight. You could cut out the letters like a decal and save even more weight. You could drop more by shaving off the clear plastic rim below the cap.

Pretty soon we are going to discover the Higg's Boson.

--B.G.--

Hi Bob,

Not in the near future, my super collider is 14 years old and is difficult to get into 2nd gear. ;-)



I'm trying to reduce the mass of my whole hiking kit so that I create less friction on the fabric of space and be able to hike farther.

Now if I could do something meaningful in the area pictured below.



It's interesting that you mentioned Higg's. I just watched a program on NOVA about particle theory. I just hope that the super collider project doesn't get the zipper on the fly of the universe off track. L O L

Party On,

Newton

My wire source says that he thinks the wire is 0.030" diameter.

--B.G.--

Thanks for the info on the wire Bob.

The stainless steel fishing leader material is .024 according to the package label. At $2.49 and a difference of .006" I'll be willing to give it a try. The "coffee" colored coating on the fishing leader might just add a rather stylish quality to my cook kit.

I got an email from Overstock.com telling me that my Dritz Eyelet Pliers Kit and eyelets have shipped via USPS. I'll swing by the Academy on the way home and keep an eye out for the Postman. ;-)

BTW I scratched the idea of removing the top portion of the child proof cap. It would only save me 4 grams total if I removed it from both of my fuel bottles. It was ugly and uncomfortable to the touch when tightening or loosening what was left of the cap. I'm on the lookout for another small travel size Listerene bottle.

During my latest stove tests I got a 1 cup boil from 10ml of alcohol. If I can get the same performance in the field 4 fl oz of alcohol would give me 12 boils. It looks like a may be keeping the dose cup in the kit.

Party On,

Newton

"I'm on the lookout for another small travel size Listerene bottle."

Is that glass or plastic or what?

I have lots of ordinary white polyethylene bottles, 0.75 oz, 2 oz, 4 oz, 8 oz, etc., with hard caps and squirt caps. Then I have some clear plastic bottles that are tall cylinders with hard caps.

Then there are other bottles that are really tough. I think they held Louisiana hot sauce. Boy, you take that hot sauce along and you don't need any stove.

--B.G.--

"Then there are other bottles that are really tough. I think they held Louisiana hot sauce. Boy, you take that hot sauce along and you don't need any stove".

L O L literally! My wife even asked from two rooms away, "What is so funny?"

Louisiana Hot Sauce is tame compared to McIlhenny's Tabasco, Wasabi and Chile de Arbol (those little red peppers in your Chinese takeout) in ascending order on the Scoville scale.

"Is that glass or plastic or what"?

It is a clear plastic bottle with the label peeled off and a black and opaque child safety cap.

I'll be able to get another, full of Listerine mouthwash / antiseptic, on my next outing to WallyWorld. ;-)

Walgreen's usually has a "travel kit" of 3 oz plastic bottles in the tall cylindrical shapes that are TSA friendly.

Party On,

Newton