1st try. Assam tea in Yixing pot and cups. Firedragon fuel in BCB stove. No windscreen. Trangia kettle. 67° F ambient. 3 cups 56° F water. Slight breeze. 6 min 112° 8.5 min 133° 10 min 145° 10:40 flame ended Conclusion: A toy compared to a real stove. Flame escaped out the front. Too big of a flame. Not enough efficiency to boil 3 cups. I saw a lot of bubbling fuel. I wonder if a wick of carbon felt would increase efficiency.
2nd try. 69°F ambient. No breeze. It is about to rain. It rained while drinking the tea. 3 cups water 61°F I added a layer of carbon felt. I guess 3/16-1/4 inch thick. Fairly dense. (I know not clearly defined.) I covered the whole bottom of the fuel container. It clearly was a great improvement. 6 minutes 144° F 8.5 minutes 172° F 10 minutes 195° F * Flame reduced at some time along this period. Temp continued to rise. 12 minutes (Boil) 203° F (Kettle removed, made tea.) 14 minutes Flame went out There is residue left in the felt. While warm, I removed the felt. Conclusion so far. This is a huge improvement. I believe that the bubbling fuel was able to burn slower. Even though there were still flame lapping out the front, it was slow enough to get to boiling point of 3 cups of water. Questions: Would more felt help? Would another windscreen, taken from another identical stove, and placed in the front, block the lapping flame? A bigger pot base, with more water. Will it boil 4 cups?
Hi, guys! I'm a newbie to this forum! I carry the PT-1 (Soviet Clone of Optimus Hunter 8R) with coffee kit and one butane-fired stove to please my friends with coffee and tea on the road. In winter I carry the Ukrainian PL-4 (in fact it is a gasoline blow torch but its evaporator is installed in vertical position with a flame deflector on it). Generally I collect soviet-time gasoline stoves.
Ken, is there a difference between roasted Lapsang Souchong and smoked Lapsang Souchong? @Desperado_MD Indeed, welcome!
Good question. I had not noticed that detail. I am not sure there is a difference. I bought this one at a new shop a few years ago. Wanting to support local, I bought a little. Later, I got the impression that he is a high energy salesman and a cut throat competitor. We no longer go there. So far my search is not turning up any information. I will search more later.
1. Most of the time; definitely during the winter. 2. Trangia 25 3. Stone Age simple (nothing to go wrong); complete (needs only fuel and ignition source); reasonably compact.
I have a Trangia 25 as well but in the car I prefer no liquid fuel. I have the most safety confidence with a canister. I do also keep a Sterno Inferno as well as I like the little pot that comes with it along with the Sterno which is good enough for patiently heating up water.
I consider methanol to be safer, as it is - of course - flammable but relatively non-explosive. Not to say that it can never explode, it can and will under certain conditions. However, the risk of explosion appears considerably higher with pressurized canisters. YMMV!
Managed to get a Camping Gaz Globe trotter complete for little money. So to use modern cartridges - I have used the valve part from a camping Gaz Micro Bleuet that takes CV cartridges and swopped over the burner/pan support. The jet seems to be the same on both stoves as is the burner. Seems to work well and makes a great stove to accompany me on my work travels.
@Steel Biker Great solution. Welcome to CCS, although it looks like you've been around for awhile already.
All: Since Marc's original post did name 'unicycles' I figure that means bicycles are probably acceptable...! I find a Trangia-25HA with a Ti clone alcohol burner is great for cool to cold and windy wildlife observation support, though I would admit it almost fills a bike pannier. There is no risk of it being blown away by the wind either! 50ml, 125ml Nalgene lab bottles make great fuel containers, though I am careful to store them separately from the T-25 stove at home, as I am told a tiny alcohol leak in storage can eat through a Trangia! Yikes!! Below is my rucksack and bike stove, the Caldera Cone Tri-Ti stove, in this case burning alcohol, it's titanium windscreen is exceedingly light, and squeezes every calorie of heat out of meths! The Ti foil base reduces the risk of accidental conflagerations, though the whole thing is just big enough for 1 boil in the bag entré, you have to hold your fire glove on the lid to keep the whole thing from blowing away in a high wind! I kid you not! However, it is hardly 1L in packed volume, with spork, matches, 30 or 50ml Nalgene fuel bottle, rolled windscreen and base, fitting inside the 750ml pot, with room for some small extras as well...this rides much of the winter in my pack, so much so that I am planning to replace its '10-22' pop can stove with a Ti Evernew burner which is much more resistant to constant vibration! Enjoy!
