I've seen a goodly chunk of the stuff on the 'Bay for right around $5. It's a fair bit less costly than it used to be. Really is quite amazing stuff, as is kevlar.
No Simes, they’re longitudinal strands of asbestos-based twine that serve to contribute to better vapourisation of the fuel at the burner and to prevent bubbles of vapourised fuel getting back to the fuel tank. Nowadays, not asbestos-based but glass fibre. Neither the original or modern replacements have the absorption quality of wadding. John
They are really charming and simple. If one wanted to go off on a day hike and brew a cup of tea and cook a bowl of hot soup for lunch, the weight of the fuel and the stove hardly weigh more than the average chocolate bar. Tinny has given a lot of thought to minimalist pots as well. What I really like is that the entire stove and about 120 ml of fuel fits handily inside my small Trangia kettle. That's easily enough fuel for a day, Also, the ability to add fuel without losing heat makes a large difference, and would lead to considerable savings.
Well, obviously yes. They are cheap as chips and work well. Might not be quite the thing if you're looking to summit Annapurna in the middle of winter, but for a warm mug and a bowl of soup, why not?
Just returned from an overnight backpack using a Minibull "puck stove". It is Tinny's version on the Speedster burner or starlight burner. Tinny uses carbon fiber as the wicking and no steel mesh over the burner orifice. I used it with a Trail Designs sidewinder cone and the results were as good as using the starlight.
