Esbit burner testing

heavy metal…

fair point Roger, but it’s a different technology. More contemplative. More suited to coffee.

I find a canister stove very suited to morning tea and coffee.

Cheers

Still this fascination with new technology, gadgetry, the machine, systems; – I prefer what I imagine to be Paleolithic tech, though light, maybe totemic also. Dematerialization…

There were some fairly sophisticated paleo tents, remains have been found; one complex was in a cave, as I recall (below). Tipi forms, but I think intersecting (above).

A tent made of animal skins as it must have existed in the Cave of Lazaret (near Nice in France).

I think we need tech that works well enough, but also strongly supports myth, dream, memory… and in a different sense, like the stone-faced tombs the dolmen builders built; and the essential items therein for the journey. Hwasoon has some such (tombs); I tried lying in one for size, many years ago. Peaceful.

Maybe for most of human prehistory, we have been journeying; maybe that is the more natural state of being than these settled lands and cities. Perhaps our tents and stoves and gear should speak of that.

“…Remains of one such dwelling in Pushkari, southern Russia, show a tented hut 98 feet long, with a row of hearths down the center, apparently one to a family. The mammoth skin coverings may have been supported by mammoth ribs and tusks (wood was scarce) and were anchored against the wind by the weight of mammoth bones, tusks, and teeth.”

Only someone with a phd in arch could envision an epic structure when looking at something like this:

Turn that into this:

I would thank the original architect for that! There are other buildings from I think that period that grip me, but I can’t remember their name or location. I’ll look around, see if they pop up.

Chapels on the West side of the Heb Sed Court had round roofs and façades that were “decorated” with dummy columns.

Perimeter wall of Step Pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt.

These have such sophisticated proportioning underlying them, that they strongly affect me, though I have never analyzed them. Sudan pyramids also.

Enticing thread drift.

But I gotta say that as a teacher of ancient historyI have always admired the “modernism’ in the design of the structures in the ceremonial “city” at Saqqara.

BTW, speaking of Egyptians, the Egyptian name for a party is “making a house of beer”. Love it!

As Ben Franklin said, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Amen Brothers.

** But back to stoves… has anyone ever done an efficiency comparison test on wood-fired gassifier stoves? Namely I’m thinking of comparing the popular BushBuddy to the similarly sized Trail Designs Sidewinder W/ Inferno insert. Seems to me the T.D. stove might be a bit more efficient with its dedicated pot sitting 1/2″ down into the cone on ti tent stake cross bars as opposed to same size pot sitting on top of the BushBuddy with heat escaping much more readily.

Also the Sidewinder and larger Tri-Ti stoves can take larger wood sticks and need not be fed constantly, unlike the BushBuddy. You can load them up with thumb sized sticks and have at least 5 minutes to tend to other things.

Thought this was an Esbit thread.

https://support.backpackinglight.com/article/48-are-forums-moderated-what-are-your-guidelines

A common misconception, Officer Dibble.

Eric, next week I’ll show you a stove set-up that can be used with esbit, alcohol and wood. The pot size is very close to your favorite 5″ diameter one. The one piece windscreen/pot support fits sideways in the pot. All the ideas for this kit comes from this thread.  There is a wealth of information here. The more times this thread comes to the forefront, the more new viewers will be able to read what we’ve learned and shared. Thread drift is common and I’ve gotten used to it. The drift is educational  I’ll also show the esbit stove that came into being from recent wood stove thread drift.  Ken will learn from this thread also. I like him 

Thread drift … and the Moderators are nothing if not inconsistent …

Cheers

Dan,

OK! OK! OK! back to ESBIT (& other stoves) (Ken, you are such a scold but we needed that.;o)

I think stoves that can use multiple fuels like the Tri-Ti and Sidewinder give the owner emergency options.

For example if I am doing a through hike with my Sidewinder and ESBIT and can’t resupply with ESBIT and there is a wood fire ban I can always stop in a town and get some alcohol (i.e. automotive fuel additive, grain alcohol, etc.) and use a cat food can for an alky stove. Problem solved.

Plus we hear about the necessity for emergency preparedness and on that front multi-fuel stoves give us necessary fuel options. Even my MSR Whisperlite International has 3 fuel options including kerosene.

But if there is a wood fire ban alcohol and Esbit, both which do not have a positive shutoff valve, would also be disallowed.

But if there is a wood fire ban alcohol and Esbit, both which do not have a positive shutoff valve, would also be disallowed.

The rangers look favorably upon no-spill alcohol stoves like the Starlytes ;-) I think it was Diane Pinkers/Jennifer Mitol?? that told us that. I do have some XL4.5’s that have the slide valves. Positive slide shut off valves.

This esbit kit is a good candidate for a DIY BGET or a comercial BGET

Esbit 585ml Cookset
ESBIT
585ml Cookset

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=22&v=XSV6jMPugik

Sadly every forest has its own management. I think my cone with your stove is safer than a canister. The fact that jellied petroleum is still mentioned shows how far behind they are.

That Esbit cookset Dan shows is a nice set-up. I have the earlier version somewhere (from quite some years ago); a touch on the heavier side (maybe not the same material), and the lid doesn’t hang on the side. Good size and proportions too, and useful nesting. I would want the stove to support twig fires as well – it has the right form, but I don’t imagine it would be suitable for that (?).

With this kit they have a support piece used to keep the tablet at the sweet spot height:

Nice little package. It looked like the ESBIT tablet holder had high enough ridges to contain the liquid residue a ‘la BGET.

Wonder if it still needs a small wind screen. Probably does in stiff winds.

I have never known a stove – of any fuel, that did not benefit from a good windscreen.

Cheers