I had an Olicamp Space Saver Cup ( https://olicamp.com/space-saver-cup.html ), famous for nesting conveniently with a 1 qt. Nalgene bottle, and I wondered if there was a stove to go along with it in order to make a complete kit similar to the military canteen-cup kits.
The stove nests over the Olicamp cup, to make a nice, compact kit. Because it's all stainless steel, it's probably heavier than a backpacker would want, but it sure is sturdy! (For those willing to make the ruggedness / weight / cost tradeoff, there are also aluminum and titanium versions of the space saver cup.)
As suggested by one of the Amazon reviewers, I made a slight modification to the stove to improve use with a Trangia burner (creating a gap between the top of the stove and the pot). Outside, with a slight breeze, I got 16 oz. of boiling water in about 9 minutes.
I'm interested in seeing if it would work at all with a Sterno can. The internet consensus seems to be that Sterno is a pretty miserable fuel for this kind of use, but the appeal is for long-term storage, especially in the trunk of a car. Maybe it would take twice as long to get boiling water, but it would more convenient and/or safer for storage.
Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
I prefer Esbit tabs to Sterno for a durable, storage capable fuel source. Even better is a canister stove, which will easily boil water in something like three minutes or so. There are all sorts of burners available for canisters but I stick with my old faithful Pocket Rocket. it does need a wind screen occasionally, which is easily improvised.
I usually have Esbit tabs packed away in my kit. There are times when they are just what you want.
For what it's worth, I did try the stove with a can of Sterno (2.6 oz size, Ethanol gel).
After 20 minutes, there were definitely some bubbles at the bottom of the cup, but it would be a stretch to call it "boiling." At best, the water was maybe hot enough to make tea or coffee.
So I can confirm that Sterno is not a good choice for an emergency stove of the simple stand type.
Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
I would suggest some sort of alcohol burner. A wide variety of fuel types are available, including high proof booze. I have actually used Purell hand sanitizer (60% alcohol) with success, although expensive. Premium would be Everclear, usable as a disinfectant and stove fuel, as well as drinkable.....
Digressing slightly into solid fuel stoves. The British Army is experimenting with a new one for the crusader cook kit, called the FlexiStove.
It's not made from sheet metal, but some layered stitched together material. Packs flat, and when pull it open forms like a shelf for the tab to sit on. And the whole crusader mug drops down into it, effectively making a windshield.
One advantage seems to be it doesn't hold heat for long, so can pack it away soon after use.
The fuel looks especially interesting as an alcohol-based replacement for Esbit tablets. It is more expensive (about $1.50 apiece), but that might be OK for occasional or emergency use.
The reviewers on Amazon seem to love it. Here's one that's typical: "These gel fuel tabs are awesome. Burn hotter, better as well as cleaner then the older trioxane, and hexamine tabs. Doesn't leave that heavy residue on my mess tins. Doesn't smell so toxic like the other fuels either."
The fuel looks especially interesting as an alcohol-based replacement for Esbit tablets. It is more expensive (about $1.50 apiece), but that might be OK for occasional or emergency use.
The reviewers on Amazon seem to love it. Here's one that's typical: "These gel fuel tabs are awesome. Burn hotter, better as well as cleaner then the older trioxane, and hexamine tabs. Doesn't leave that heavy residue on my mess tins. Doesn't smell so toxic like the other fuels either."
Anyone here have first-knowledge about these?
The stove is basically an Esbit folding stove, but with a little extra metal plate to act as a windscreen for one of the sides. It is a separate piece and it kind of rattles around in the stove in storage.
The fuel comes in much bigger cubes than Esbit. Apparently also usable as handsanitzer. Have not compaired them side by side. But i was never really impressed by fuel cubes in any form.
My order of "BCB Adventure Fire Dragon Solid Fuel (6 x 27gm Tablets)" came today. I tested them out.
Each tablet is packaged in small container with a peel-off foil lid. Size is about 2-7/8" x 1-3/4" x 1-1/8" (72 x 45 x 30 mm). The tablet itself is denatured ethanol in a wax-like gel substrate. It is labelled as fuel, but the instructions assume it is being used as a fire starter under charcoal or tiner. The instructions also state, "Can be used as a hand cleaner."
Because it melts after being lit, it must be contained within something if used as a fuel. I put it in a 3" diameter metal tin.
First, I tried heating 16 oz. (455 ml) of water using the Olicamp cup & G.A.K. stove. The tablet burned out after about 7.5 minutes. There were only a few bubbles at the bottom of the cup, but not even close to boiling. Then, I repeated the experiment with 8 oz. of water, and got very vigorous boiling after about 5.5 minutes. I suspect the optimum amount of water for one tablet would be about 10-12 oz.
So it's way better than Sterno. Due to the limited burn time, if nothing else, it's not competitive with the Trangia alcohol burner.
The tablet produced a very big yellow flame. There was a slight breeze outside, but there were frequent large flares of flames out from the side of the stove. Sterno and the Trangia produced much more focussed flames.
When the tablet was done, there was a thin layer of odorless white plastic residue at bottom of tin. It was pretty inoffensive, and I could peel or scrape most of it out with a screwdriver. There was a slight bit of sooting on the bottom of the cup, as might be expected from the yellow flame. In my experience, pure methanol or ethanol burns with a very clean blue flame, so maybe the soot was due to the gel.
I don't think I would ever use these if I knew in advance that I wanted to boil some water for tea or coffee; I would just bring the Trangia burner and a small fuel bottle of alcohol.
But I like the idea of these tablets as a backup - something to toss in a daypack just in case. They are compact and clean and odorless and leakproof, and the whole cook kit, complete with a few of these tablets, would fit in a 4" cube.
When the tablet was done, there was a thin layer of odorless white plastic residue at bottom of tin. There was a slight bit of sooting on the bottom of the cup... so maybe the soot was due to the gel.
I would say the soot came from the plastic container. If I understood you right you did not take the gel cube out of the plastic box? Or did I missunderstand?
In this case I did remove the tablet from the container - it was just the tablet itself that I burned. Although I believe that when used as a fire starter, it is OK to burn the whole container (except for the foil lid).
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