I just received my bushbuddy ultra
http://bushbuddy.ca/
What a beautifully crafted stove.
Did a quick test on it, works great. Can't wait to take it on a long hike.
Does anyone else have one here?

I am very anxiously waiting on mine. I ordered mine directly from the manufacturer in Canada so it will take a lot longer to get here. I can hardly wait!

just looked at their bushbuddy website

the ultra is

115 canadian (98.97 us) ?

is shipping including ?

I bought it from this site. I tried to call him but his number was disconnected ??

Just cooked on mine for the first time this weekend.
Well, I boiled an egg.. technically that's cooking. Right?

One tinder tab and a couple dead lower limbs off a juniper and I was cooking!

Great craftsmanship. This little stove is well constructed and designed. Preheated combustion air enters the stove through primary (undergrate) slots and secondary air enters in the upper combustion chamber. Burns hot and clean. I make my living in solid fuels, so I know sound design.

I'm going to pack an alcohol burner inside it for convenience and it'll be ready to go anywhere.

Seems like a great design and the weight is right but YIKES, it's pretty expensive. Has anyone done a comparison betwee the Bushbuddy and the many DIY wood-burning stoves out there made out of coffee cans to see if the price is really justified by the performance? Just curious.

I ordered from the web form and payed via Paypal. I got a very prompt personal email, I think a few hours later, and the price did include shipping. I didn't try to call. Do they have phones in Canada? ;)

Edited by jjpitts on 03/27/2007 20:52:47 MDT.

The craftsmanship with which Franz has put these stoves together with is far superior than what the layman DIY'er can do. He has chosen very fine materials and put them together with precise welds. The pot stand rests inside the combustion chamber so that when it's riding inside your pack you can't hear a constant clanging sound. Even the mesh grate on which the fire burns is superior to the average DIY hardware cloth grate.

Yes, a skilled craftsman could put together the same stove for half the price but it would take a significant amount of time. I think that with practice even an amateur could build a stove that would work well but it take quite a bit of practice to match the work done by this master.

The price of the stove will ultimately pay for itself anyway as there is no fuel cost. If you were to put the Bushbuddy into a long time comparison with other stoves You'd see the cost to benefit ratio moving towards zero as other stoves continually rose as more and more fuel was purchased.

That plus the "nifty factor" for this stove is very, very high... the only way it could get higher is if they found a way to put functional LEDs on it... as you may know LEDs automatically raise the nifty factor of anything.

(just joking) ;)

What kind and how much (per use) firestarter material do you plan to carry?

Also, in a no fires restricted area, what would you use? An esbit instead of gathered wood?

The Bushbuddy stove burns a fistful size quantity of pencil-sized twigs. To light this one can use either a bit of kindling, a home-made firestarter or a few drops of lighter fluid.

My plan on my upcoming thru-hike is to bring along a small quantity of solid-fuel tablets to use in the event of a no-fire zone such as in National Parks or during fire restrictions.

My Bushbuddy just arrived... weeks earlier than I expected. I guess things move faster than Fritz may have thought (12 days from order to my door). It is indeed a work of art. It came in a nifty little pine box... the only stove that comes with it's own fuel. LOL! Anyway, the manufacturing is absolutely first rate and very precise. It makes me think of my Martin guitar... flawless when I first opened it up. The odor of the pine box as you unwrap it helps this illusion along. Fritz, if you are reading this, that's quite a compliment. I have high hopes for this baby and hope it tests out on the trail. Can't wait... new toy... can't wait.

Edited by jjpitts on 03/28/2007 15:08:49 MDT.

>What kind and how much (per use) firestarter material do you plan to carry?

>Also, in a no fires restricted area, what would you use? An esbit instead of gathered wood?

Hi George

Ryan relates that he carried the Tinder-Quick tabs on his Arctic trek-

"When I was in the Arctic, I used Firesteel and Tinder-Quik exclusively, with 1/2 Tinder Quik tab for drier conditions, and up to 2 tabs for wet conditions. I've used solid fuel tablets only as emergency backup, and usually, when it's actually raining and the ground is soaked!" Ryan Jordan

If you plan on four tabs per day, that should be plenty. I put mine in a little snuff box sized tin (from JAS Townsend) and 18 fit in it comfortably. 24 or more fit if you work at it. 50 tabs cost around $11.

I find it a little bit difficult to light the tabs way down in the bottom of the stove with the firesteel. More practice needed I guess. Also would think that a half tab would need to be set on a small piece of bark or it'll fall through the grate.

I'll back it up with an alcohol burner for times when I'm in a hurry (read getting dark) or fires are restricted.

Ahh the joys of new toys!

Edited by samurai on 03/28/2007 18:20:01 MDT.

Sam,

You said "I find it a little bit difficult to light the tabs way down in the bottom of the stove with the firesteel. More practice needed I guess. Also would think that a half tab would need to be set on a small piece of bark or it'll fall through the grate."

With the tinder quicks, can should be able to light the stove by simply:
1) Opening (aka fraying) the end of the tinderquick slightly.
2) Drop it into the bushbuddy (even if it drops through the grate, that's fine).
3) Toss your handful of dry sticks into the bushbuddy

Is this what you're doing?

Please realize, I don't have any direct experience with the bushbuddy (yet), but have played with numerous home-built stoves of similar ilk and I've used the tabs a lot. The tinderquick tab doesn't have to be in contact with the dry sticks to get them to light (actually they may light better if the tab falls through the grate)

Edited by jdmitch on 03/29/2007 08:28:15 MDT.

Good info from all

Having to avoid windy conditions with the bushbuddy looks like the only caveat

Fistfuls of sticks are everywhere

Firestarter options are light

I wish there was one that would fit in my MSR Titan Kettle
: )

I'm still considering the purchase of one (it'd be nice if fistfuls of $ where everywhere too)

Joshua,

As you said "have played with numerous home-built stoves of similar ilk and I've used the tabs a lot. The tinderquick tab doesn't have to be in contact with the dry sticks to get them to light (actually they may light better if the tab falls through the grate)"

You're probably right. I'm sure once the tab burns down some it's bound to fall through the grate anyway. You won't see that through the smoke and twigs. The openings in the wire grate measure 0.5 on center and about 0.9 off the bottom of the stove (FYI). It lights fine.. I just have a hard time striking the fire steel, hitting the tab with the sparks, and not banging my stiker hand into the stove. I end up just lighting the tab on the ground and tossing it in before it takes hold. Don't have a good reason for using the firesteel to light it.. just wanted to know I could if I had to.

See ya

I lit my Bushbuddy today on the picnic table in my backyard. I used a bunch of sticks, nothing larger than my index finger. It wasn't totally dry wood but close. Frankly I was amazed. One tinderquick tab and it was going quite nicely. I boiled a liter of water easily. It is a very impressive stove. I didn't do anything too analytical this run... just practicing with the process of lighting and feeding it. Really, this could be one of the biggest "revolutions" in how I backpack in a long time. I still have a long ways to go with testing it but if first impressions mean anything then the stove did really well.

After I let it cool down I went back out and checked it out. The wood had burned to an ultra fine white ash/powder. Zero charcoal. Amazing!

Edited by jjpitts on 03/29/2007 23:05:58 MDT.

what size(s) pot have you tried?

I pretty big one.. 6.25d x 4.25h inches. Certainly larger than I would use when backpacking. I was just fooling around with the stove the first time I lit it.

My method is to hold a fluffed up tab BETWEEN the knife and the firesteel - scraping the firesteel through the tinder. I just aim the tinder so it falls into the kindling I've already placed in the stove.

This works consistently w/ dry leaves, paper, cotton balls/vase, even very thin sheets of bark. As long as the knife can scrape through the material into the rod. No need to pick up the lit tinder.