I just got my new stove in the mail and the thing is tiny. I had to go buy the SnowPeak Trek 700 because my Trek 900 was not very stable and did not really fit, oh well shaved a few ounces off. Anyways, I had a couple questions. First, should I be putting anything (foil) in the esbit holder before putting my esbit tab in? Secondly, it says the tabs can be put out and reused but how does one go about putting out a 1400 degree flame? These may be basic questions but its my first time using an esbit stove. Thanks everyone.
JT Gish

JT,
It's fine to put fuel tab directly into holder. I extinguish the flame by blowing forcefully on it. If you prefer you can dump the tab into a small piece of foil and seal the foil around it. The first method is easier and lighter. Use of an aluminum foil windscreen is essential to get performance out of this stove. It's very sensitive to wind. I've used the old style 1oz steel version alot and love it.

As long as your stove is superlight, why not ditch that heavy duty Ti pot and swith to Dr.J's idea of the Foster's Beer can pot. It provides 22floz/650ml of useable volume and weighs .85oz/24gm with aluminum foil lid. It fits my steel stove fine. It doesn't fit the Ti version but BPL posters have informed me that your stove can be bent to fit this pot.

My snowpeak Ti pot of similar size weighs 3.1oz even after you lose the 2.2oz Ti lid and replace it with a light aluminum flashing lid.

Remember the lid is heavy as its made of steel. Use a homemade foil lid.

That's so funny GT... I bought one too and I found it too big!!! I use a Heineken can for cooking... and the BPL stove it just too big for it. I WISH they would make one sized for beer cans... or make the same one with bigger support tips that would come in far enough to support a beer can. Some say you can bend the legs to get it to work with a beer can... but I've had no luck with that... the feet no longer touch the ground solidly and it still feels pretty precarious where the pot sits. I mean... you can SORT OF get it to work... but it's far from idea and it really doesn't seem stable. For now, I'm just using a simple hardware cloth stand with the bottom of a V8 can for an esbit holder. Low tech... but it works.

To extinguish the flame, smother it... maybe with the lid of your pot or something. I don't know if blowing on fire is a wise idea.

Edited by davidlewis on 08/06/2006 06:09:46 MDT.

Al... you say you have the steel wingstove. Does it accomodate beer cans better? It looks like the wings come much closer to the center of the stove... so that it would accomodate a wider range of pot sizes than the Ti wing stove.

Edited by davidlewis on 08/06/2006 06:12:16 MDT.

BTW... sorry to "thread jack"... but I just posted a new webpage with my most current stove design if anyone is interested:

http://www.davidlewis.ca/stove/

I'm not crazy about the hardware cloth stand... still would like a cool (and light) Ti tripod style stand... but I'm gonna have to make one I think.

Anyway... it's 48 grams total (1.7 oz) for the 24 fl oz pot, solid lid with handle (not a tin foil lid), grabber, stand, esbit holder and windscreen.

The thing I'm most proud of is the idea of clipping all of the components together for stowing inside the pot. So I just have one piece inside the pot... instead of a bunch of loose bits. There is a movie on the site showing how this works. This will be really nice when I'm collecting water from a stream and have to empty out my beer can.

David'
Nice job on the clever design, construction and presentation of your stove. It looks to be very light and usefull.

I agree that the steel and especially the Ti wing stoves should be designed to fit large aluminum beer cans like the Heineken and Foster's. What's the point of a SUL stove if it requires a heavy pot? For one person (or 2 people cooking sequentially) there's no reason to have a pot and lid that weighs more than .85 oz.

My 16 year old steel wing stove weighs 1oz and fits the Foster's can. Unfortunately, the current 1.2oz steel unit from BPL doesn't. I've tried to bend both steel and Ti BPL wing stoves to fit this pot with no success. Others say it can be done.

Hey Al,

Thanks. Too bad the steel version doesn't work either :( Although... it's a bit heavy... relatively speaking. My plan now is to try and make my own Ti tripod stand based on the ion design:

http://www.ionstove.com/build.htm#Production

I've ordered the Ti from thru-hiker... but I have serious doubts about being able to actually cut the stuff.

Here are the plans I created this weekend for my Ti tripod stand... notice the notches cut out to accept the bottom of the can...

http://www.davidlewis.ca/stove/potStand.pdf

The reason for the Z shape is for stability (wide legs) plus the wings sticking out past the can help to space the windscreen away from the pot. The esbit would just sit right on the stand. I don't think you actually need a "cup" for the esbit.

Edited by davidlewis on 08/06/2006 13:51:42 MDT.

David,
Neat job! If you want to try something better than the hardware cloth stand, try expanded aluminum gutter screen. Make it into a locking ring, then cut out all non-essential extra to get the weight down. I snip notches out of the top and bottom and diamonds from the middle.

Vick,
I tried this with an aluminum can riddled with lightening holes and the heat of the Esbit tablet promptly weakened it whereupon it collapsed under the weight of a Foster's can filled with water.

Have you tried the expanded aluminum stand supporting a filled pot and heated by an Esbit tab?

Indeed, aluminum cans are too thin and will promptly burn up. Aluminum gutter screen is thick enough that it does not burn - although it does get red hot. I've gotten basically unlimited use out of it using a small ring - suitable for the Heineken can. And such small rings get hotter than the larger diameter rings for larger pots.

Watch out, though. The thin gutter screen that comes in rolls is too light and will burn up. I use the stuff that comes in pre-cut sheets with clips attached.

Edited by vickrhines on 08/06/2006 17:31:04 MDT.

Vick,
As always, "You Da Man!". Thanks for the info. I'm going to make a support out of a steel can and another out of expanded aluminum and compare.