Your pop rivet is much lighter than my T-nut/allen screw solution. I assume you used an aluminum rivet. You might have even gotten by with one of those rivet washers (I can't think of the proper name right now). They're about 3/16" thick, which should be thick enough to tap and secure a screw thread. The key is get a seal on the filler hole so the vaporized alchohol doesn't escape though it.<br><br>I've never worked with high temp silicone. How does it compare? The J-B Weld is okay to work with. I used too much and the heat chars the excess. But the seals still hold so I'm not concerned with beauty!<br><br>Of course, we'll see how it truly performs in the field. Next month I'm taking a crew of High Advnture scouts into the woods for what will be a cross-country day hike (see Owasippe BioBlitz for moer info). I'll have my wind screen done by then so I can take the stove with to cook lunch or at least make some tea (how's that for a tie into another forum thread?). I'll post my experiences afterwards.

Yes i used an aluminum rivet with a brass screw, i think your talking about a backup plate for the washer. The silicone is just about as messy as JBweld, i used it because it was sitting there and i didn't want to have to look for the JB weld (it's in the garage somewhere).<br><br>I haven't really used it in the field mostly just to warm up lunch on the tailgate of the truck. It has worked very well and packs nicely into an msr pot (the one that the handle folds over the lid) along with the base, pot support, a small container of alcohol, and matches. The wind screen is several layers of heavy aluminum foil and i keep it wrapped around a can of soup.<br><br>I'm sure everyone else on your hike will want one just like your's;>)

That's it! backup plate. Do you think that would be thick enough to tap? The rivit you used and the T-nut I used have longer shafts that extend down into the stove cavety, which prevents one from filling it all the way. Although I suspect filling it all the way to the top would not be good anyway as there needs to be some headroom for the vaporized fuel. <br><br>I'm not an avid backpacker, so I didn't want to spend a fotune on titanium cook sets. I found an inexpensive aluminum set from Snowpeak. It called the Personal Cooker I and it sells for $12.95 plus S&H. It's not ideal, but seems to be functional (and the price was right. <br><br>I'm worried that the wire screen that supports the pot will scratch the heck out of the pot. So I was thinking of wrapping the edges with something. My first thought was duct tape, but I worry that the flames from the stove will burn it on the top edge (the bottom edge is far enough away to be okay. Any ideas?<br><br>For carrying the alchohol, I have my eye on recycling a small Stable (spelling?) bottle. Stable is the stuff you add to gasoline for small engines to keep it from gumming up the works (can you tell that I'm not a mechanic? <s>). It has a built in measuing chamber on the side that you can fill to a specific level by squeezing the main chamber. It seems to be an easy way to measure out fuel, and it's small enough to carry. But I wont use enough from my bottle to try it this season. I wrote to the manufacture some months ago about getting an empty one, but never received a reply.

I think that a backup plate would be sufficient for tapping threads into. I made a "practice" stove first just to see how it was going to work, used a drywall screw with no added reinforcement. Fired it half a dozen times and it worked just fine, but it was starting to get a little loose.<br><br>The wire on mine gets to hot for anything to be wrapped around the top, but i did file the edges of the wire so that all of the edges are smooth. It hasn't scratched the bottom of my pot but it's stainless which i believe the personal cooker 1 is also.<br><br>Didn't think of the stable bottle, it should work well. I used a two ounce flip top bottle because it packs well inside of the pot. A bottle that carries more than the one i use would be better for hiking.

>>I'm worried that the wire screen that supports the pot will scratch the heck out of the pot. So I was thinking of wrapping the edges with something. My first thought was duct tape, but I worry that the flames from the stove will burn it on the top edge (the bottom edge is far enough away to be okay. Any ideas?<<<br><br>I wouldn't use duct tape or anything remotely flammable.<br>Wouldn't it be easier (and lighter) just to cut the screen a bit taller, so there are quarter-inch or so wires sticking up, then bend them double toward the inside at the crossing wire with needlenose pliers or somesuch, so the pot would only contact the bent ends instead of the cut ends? I would think that would prevent scratching pretty well.<br><br>Interesting that a "campfire" discussion that turns very practical doesn't cause the "wrong forum" angst that a "survival" discussion that turns philosophical seems to. :-)<br>I guess the switch might have been my fault.

Backpacking stoves seems to be a good topic for the campfire!<br><br>I like your idea on bending the extended ends down (and in). The trick, although not too difficult, will be to make sure the hieght of each prong is the same so the pot sits level. <br><br>Perhaps I could start by making a loop of heavy gauge wire as a guide. Then wrap the prongs down and around the wire loop and then remove it once the wrap is complete. You could leave the loop in, which would add some rigidity, but I widen the screen to pack it on the outside of the pot. It's too tall to pack in the pot. Have you made your's shorter? Then the base, stove and support screen could fit inside the pot.

...but is it worth the trouble? I can quickly make whatever fittings or appurtenances I wish, but an 8-32 threaded pop-rivet JB epoxied into a 7/32" hole (NOT 1/4" - and no need to rivet it in, altho one may) works so well, why bother (I didn't)? I re-read the designer's blurb about "taking up volume" inside the stove and frankly, I don't agree that it is at all significant. Variation in trimming the cans to height - even a tiny fraction - will have a more significant effect on interior volume... not that even that should make any noticable difference. I used a height-gauge to scribe the cans because I have one (or two) - and there is nothing sacred about the 1.5" height anyway - consider it a guide. Use an 8-32 threaded insert pop rivet and make the cans about 1.55" high if volume is a worry... <grin> The other thing I found useful about the pop rivet is that the un-threaded portion lets me keep a stopper bolt long enough to be managable with my fingers yet short enough to only need a few twirls to open or close.<br><br>On the drill bit (#70 or thereabouts) vs needle construction - I merely snapped off a proper diameter needle at an appropiate length and put it in a pin vise <tap><tap> with a small brass hammer and precise control of location and diameter - too much of a hassle to use a drill bit that small at those angles and thin material. Smallest bit I keep in stock is a #60 anyway <grin>.<br><br>All the ones we made (varied the hole numbers and so on) seem to work very well - the lads are very pleased with themselves. First one took a bit of time, but then they flew together. Handy idea - and I like the cost (nothing - everything was "in stock" at our house, even the denatured alcohol).<br><br>The Stabil bottle idea of Bill's is great - but I think I have to get a smaller bottle of Stabil next time for that. I tried it out last night with a partial bottle (decanted the remaining Stabilizer into another bottle) and it was nifty. I think I will cut a better cap seal (gasket) that will hold up to repeated use, but otherwise a super idea. Not sure about extreme low temps and the bottle, but I'm sure it will be fine above 0 deg-F. If the lads continue to use these stoves into the winter, we'll come up with something cheap (free) and suitable.<br><br>Had a bit of aluminum flashing roll so that's what they used for wind screens... ditto hardware cloth (altho it was 1/4" mesh). Good thing I like tuna fish salad sandwiches...<br><br>Alternate (more complicated) ideas for safe and effective stoves are fermenting. I'll post anything if anything nifty comes to life.<br><br>Alternate opinions welcomed!

I suspect my choice was a function of my ignorance. I scanned the pop rivet section at Ace hardware and didn't noticed anything that resembled an "8-32 threaded pop-rivet." I suppose I could have asked for help, but that would have threatened my masculinity! ;-) <br><br>I stumbled upon the allen screw and liked it's knurled top. I figured that would be easy enough to open with my clumsy fingers. I plan on making a few more with my boys, so perhaps I'll swallow my pride and ask for help in my search for a threaded pop rivet.<br><br>I already have a small twist drill, but I don't recall what size the bit was. But I liked the easy of controlling the drill. You simply hold down on the swivel top with your index finger and spin the drill back-and-forth between your thumb and middle finger.<br><br>I have the small bottle of Stabil. I think I'll go buy a bigger one and transfer the remaining fluid to the new bottle. On the one I have the decanting opening is level with the top. The web site shows a "new" design where the decanting chamber top extends above the bottle to serve as a nozzle. That might make it easier to pour into lawn mower gas tanks, but it's not as nice for backpacking. :-(

Hmm. I think I'm expressing myself poorly- what I had envisioned is using the top horizontal wire of the grid the way I think you're suggesting using a wire loop- in other words, bend the vertical wire ends inward at the top horizontal wire. If I remember how the stuff handles, you have to be careful bending every "other" wire, the ones that bend away from the crosswire instead of over- you run the risk of breaking solder joints. Maybe alternate directions with the weave would be better, so they're all going "over".<br><br>Didn't mean to misrepresent the suggestion as experience, I haven't made one yet. I've thought about it from time to time.. like most people, I think, I have the gut feeling that there must be an easier way to do the filler...and the windscreen seems very dependent on the pot you're using, which varies from trip to trip... <br><br>I was a little surprised that he recommends snips for the soda cans. The operation he describes for scoring the line will produce a nice clean, straight cut if you persist for several rotations- I've done it with a penknife for other reasons. The thicker cans are another matter- haven't tried it.<br><br>I still use my old Svea if the trip is too short to require refueling, and a multi-fuel Whisperlite if it's longer. They're heavier, of course, but without having done the math it would seem that the extra energy in white gas would make a lighter total package (stove, fuel, bottles) for long trips.

Im just going to wait till you two guys work out all the bugs and request a unit for field test and review LOL. Seriously, keep us posted.