Reader Reviews

Rating: 3 / 5

EDIT: I would like to add to this review that most of MBD's products work as they should, and are priced well. I have always received items quickly, and the orders have never been incorrect.

Although most of the products that I have received from MBD have been pretty good, I had a question concerning one of the stoves that I have purchased, to which he responded with nothing less than an insult. Rather than asking questions to try and narrow down possible reasons for my difficulties with his product, or entertain the idea that the particular unit I was sent was somehow flawed, he made accusations, and provided me with a very rude response.


EDIT: Upon realizing that there was an issue between he and I, Tinny worked hard to make things right. He saw the problem, and tried to correct it via numerous emails and gestures. It's better to not have any problems to begin with, but one can't fault a guy for trying hard to correct his mistakes, which he did satisfactorily. That's good stuff.

Edited by clwilla on 08/26/2008 10:40:10 MDT.

Rating: 5 / 5

I have several MBD stoves and find all of them to be top notch in design and workmanship. Tinny has always filled and delivered my orders promply and the one time I had a problem with a stove, which was my fault in using bad fuel, he worked with me and in short order we had the problem solved and I had another good stove. I can say from much experience that it's hard to go wrong with MBD. Money well spent and good service to boot.

Rating: 5 / 5

I have purchased many stoves from Tinny at minibulldesign. I love these stoves and have even bought duplicates of a few just in case anything happens to my primary stove. I have always found Tinny to be extremely responsive and very friendly. I highly recommend his products.

Edited by porch13 on 08/29/2008 08:59:35 MDT.

Rating: 5 / 5

I have probably a dozen MiniBullDesign stoves. All of them are high quality and excellent performers. For me they out-perform all other alcohol stoves out there. Hands down.

Yeah, Tinny can have an "eccentric moment" now and then and yes, I do cringe when I hear him occasionally flame somebody. But heck, he lives out in the woods of Maine, runs his shop on power generated by a windmill he built from scratch and he's surrounded by soda cans!!! I personally have experienced him to be a great guy. Very, very helpful, patient and incredibly knowledgeable on lots of things... especially UL alcohol stoves and cook-sets.

I do wish the Backpacking Light staff would give more attention to reviewing MiniBullDesign gear. And not just a stove or two from 5 or 6 generations ago. How about putting a Mini-Atomic, a Magic Mouse or a BIOS through their paces???

Rating: 5 / 5

I have now made two purchases from Tinny at Mini Bull Design and think the products and workmanship are great. I've used his alcohol stoves and beer can pots on several occasions and am very happy with the results. Customer service wise, I have never had any issues. Tinny answered some questions I posed to him very quickly and the shipments were always sent in a reasonable time.

I suggest stopping by his website often because he always seems to be trying new ideas or implementing feedback in his products.

Overall - VERY SATISFIED.

MBD gear I use:
BIOS 2 alcohol stove
Mini Atomic alcohol stove
Superpot (24oz Foster's can with wicking, top, lip guard and double bottom)
Pot Stand

Rating: 3 / 5

Just trying to find out how to contact Tinny at minibull designs. I have looked all over the website and cannot find a contact link or email. I just recieved the product I ordered and the plstic container is broken, and not from shipping. Any help would be appreicated.

Rating: 5 / 5

Tinny's email address is a little bit hard to find, but it is on his website: tinny@minibulldesign.com. I've always found Tinny to be very responsive to questions or problems. He's been very busy this past year which may be the reason he seemed a bit short. Just keep you emails short, to the point, courteous.

Edited by rnovak on 03/20/2009 19:15:15 MDT.

Rating: 5 / 5

Apparently as of this evening, Tinny's website has been hacked and is down. Anyone else heard about this?

Rating: 3 / 5

Hello folks,

I've done a little test, BIOS3/Atomic/MiniAtomic/Trangia at home and would like to share with you the result.

Water Temp 15/Room temp 17 centigrade
Water 400ml/Fuel 30ml

BIOS3/Evernew Titanium 600ml Pot

boiling time 4min, extinguished in 12min 36sec.

Atomic/MBD Heineken Pot/MDB Pot Stand

boiling time 7min 38sec, extinguished in 13min.

Mini Atomic/MBD Heineken Pot/MDB Pot Stand

boiling time 7min 30sec, extinguished in 12min.

Trangia/Trangia TR-281 Pot Stand/Evernew Titanium 600ml pot

boiling time 7min 40 sec.

Trangia/MBD Heineken Pot/MDB Pot Stand

boiling time 8min 11 sec.

BIOS3 is an extremely hot and efficient stove if you learn to pre-heat and blossom well before you put the pot on. It took only 40 sec to blossom this time.

I do not find both Atomic/MiniAtomic great stove, and to me, they are specifically designed to work with MBD products.

I think I will continue to use BIOS bu t not really Atomics. They work enough, but not good enough for the price.

To me, Tinny has gone beyond his "eccentric moment". He has been pestering in his video to click the YouTube recently. In his 2/19 Cell phone video, he even mentioned he will no longer publish video if we don't click. He got a lot of unpleasant comments and now he disabled it.

I unsubscribed and will no longer bother to see his video.

I liked him very much but I always thought his hiking experience very limited. I mean, not applicable to Japanese hiking.

I am very disappointed and just wanted to know what others think of him now.

Has he got too rich? Or his expensive Bongo doesn't sell well and having a hard time?

Anyway, what do you think?

Sincerely from Tokyo, omatsu