Ultralight Outfitters Beer Can Stove System for Esbit Fuel

[Sunny Waller]

Bill..I am SO glad you are better. I use to leap tall mountains with a single bound until I had a collision with a drunk driver. My boss gave me a jack russell pup that has made such a difference in my recovery. After 9 years I am back on the trail again because of light weight gear. Dave: Some of your remarks imply that you might be one of those creative ultralight gear inventor geeks :0 I resemble that remark. My friends call it “fiddiling” and I am only happy while doing it. I fiddled with that stove again and this time it melted my silicon ring that was up at the top :( I like this stove too much to quit..now if somebody can just tell me where I can find a metal coat hanger…

[David Lewis]

Sunny… I know eh?!?! It’s crazy. You can’t seem to buy metal coat hangers anymore… just plastic. I want to buy them regardless of my “inventing”… for my closet. The plastic ones take up way too much space. The ones I used were from my closet… left over from another era I guess. I imagine dry cleaners still use them, but they’re probably really light and flimsy. I don’t think I bicycle spoke would be strong enough… but maybe if it was really heavy gauge.

[Joshua Mitchell]

I think Bed Bath and Beyond has SS hangers.

[David Lewis]

My Heineken stove is finally done. I just tested it with Esbit. I LOVE this stuff!!! It brought my water to a boil in half the time of my alcohol stove and once there, it kept the boil going for 4 mins! My alcohol stove often goes out just after reaching a boil… even with it’s full fuel capacity (which is quite small). The soot is nasty… but I’ll just scrub it off the pot and keep the esbit burning cup I made in a small zip lock. Alternately, I may use a second cut off lid for the burning cup as that would fit right to the bottom of the can. Oh… and the can grabber worked great!!! It was cool to the touch after boiling with the grabber in place. The heat seems more concentrated at the bottom with Esbit that with Alcohol… maybe… I don’t know… but it was very cool to the touch.

Total system weight (weighed as a whole) is 61 grams, 2.18 oz… not counting the tent stakes. Here are the specs when I weigh each peice:

Pot: 27 grams
Pot Grabber: 13 grams
Windscreen / Stand: 10 grams
Burner Cup: 2 grams
Lid w/ handle: 6 grams
Elastic Band (for packing): 1 gram

It worked like an absolute charm. I love it. Much less fuss than alcohol too.

My only last addition may be to make a Reflectix cozy for simmering (off the stove) “cook in the pot” meals. Enertia has a number of great meals that require 4 mins. of boiling in the pot to cook… which works out perfect for a whole Esbit tab. Once the tab goes out, take the pot off the stove and set it inside the cozy to cook fast and well and stay nice and warm :)

I’ll post pics and plans in a few days. Need to get ready for a trip this weekend.

[Jim Colten]

SOOOOO, who’s found the best price for the Safe Cut can opener?

Some folks have reported getting them at Walgreens … but the Walgreens in our town are all saying “we used to carry it, but …”

Kitchen Collections carries them and their retail stores here stock them but nearest one is a 40 mile round trip.

kitchen collections online store has them for $6.99 … $13.79 with tax and shipping.

Anyone found a better source?

[D G]

Check the good cook website for places that sell it, because it seems to vary from state to state. Here in Washington Wallgreens does not carry them but Safeway stores do. Regular price is like 14 dollars or so but with a the Safeway card I got mine for under 10 dollars. It may have been on sale.

[Hector Agdeppa]

I found the good cooks can opener (or a knock-off) at Target that works on the big Heini and Fosters cans for under 10 bucks.

[Yukio Yamakawa]

１０００ｃｃ缶の寸法
８０Φ　２００ｍｍ高さ
高さを切り詰める場合には、重ねると丈夫になるので
下記を参考に、加工してください。

http://ikaros.air-nifty.com/ikaros/images/2dannstove3_thumb.jpg

外側になる缶を、あぶって、変色するぐらいにトーチで加熱する。
重なる両面にバター（叉は　マーガリン）を塗る。
サンドイッチみたいに、２枚の板に挟んで、軽く数回に分けて叩く。
名付けて
Torch　and　 Butter 　（トーチ　アンド　バター）

[Yukio Yamakawa]

http://www.th21.jp/bbs/jsbjsb/thumbnail/jsbjsb_216864999.jpg?050711

hight=120mm
about 500cc

[John austin]

Arizona ice tea cans are taller and narrower and made with thinner metal–quite flimsey. heineken is thoughest

[Vick Hines]

Fastwalker,
Second your cook kit.. I call it a kit-in-a-can, and have found them to be durable and versatile. I’ll have to check out Taco Bell – didn’t know they had sporks.

I’ve made these form the 24 oz Heineken cans and their 12 ounce cans. The 12 oz. can doesn’t save much weight since everything else I have to carry with it stays the same. However, it is sort of fun to watch people’s faces when I pull it out and start dinner. Reactions run the gammot… including indignation. It’s amusing to watch someone go into high dudgeon regarding another hiker’s use of a diminutive cook set.

I use a very slightly different set of stuff in my cans: 1) a one ounce measure for alcohol to avoid getting the fuel bottle close to the burner. That’s just a safety precaution. It’s a cut-down 1 oz. bottle with aluminum tape marking 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 oz.; 2) Oven-liner lid with handle made from a fold of aluminum flue tape – simple, neverfail, light; 3) book matches in a 2×3 ziploc; Heineken can with a band of stainless 19gauge wire holding a simple wire bail – instead of a pot lifter. Everything else is the same. The only thing I have had to replace is the spoon , windscreen (too much folding), and the matches — in hundreds of uses. I don’t think Heineken cans wear out if you just boil water.

[Anonymous]

Vick,

Your “Kit In A Can” list looks good its as they say “Keeping with the ultra-light philosophy of simplifying and keeping things light”

As far as wear goes my Heineken can is starting to show a few dents and isn’t as pretty as it was when I first started using it this spring, guess its time to pop the top on another cold one.

By the way here are some other sources for Free Spork’s:

Taco Bell
Rally’s
Kentucky Fried Chicken
Popeye’s Fried Chicken
Toronto Eaton’s Center Food Court ([email protected])
Taylor’s Fish Bar ([email protected])
Plate Lunch Places in Hawaii ([email protected])
Bojanges ([email protected])
Taco Mayo ([email protected])
Cumberland Farms New England
Your Local 7-11 retail market ([email protected])
Lee’s Dragon Chinese ([email protected])
Tom Thumb ([email protected])
COSI – Ohio’s Center of Science and Industry Cafeteria ([email protected])
Syracuse, Kansas Love’s Convenience Store, located at the intersection of Highway 50 and Johnson St., 2 blocks east of the only stoplight in town ([email protected])
Kona’s Sandwiches ([email protected])
Pucker Belly Bobs Cajen Cuisine ([email protected])
Bob’s Meat Shack ([email protected])
Food Lion ([email protected])
QuickTrip Convenience Stores ([email protected])
Chick-Filet’s ([email protected])
Chester Fried Chicken ([email protected])
Boler Bump Ski Hill in London Canada ([email protected])
Many Pre-Packaged Meals ([email protected])
Hardee’s ([email protected])
yokihoma rice bowl ([email protected])
Pima County Adult Detention Center – Tucson, Arizona
El Pollo Loco
Jail (turtle#[email protected]) – I’ll take his word for it! –J
Lee’s Famous Recipie Chicken ([email protected])
Beau Schott’s House of Chicken in Spokane, Washington ([email protected])
Wang’s Chinese in Arizona ([email protected])
“Use of Spork, Luke!” ([email protected])
Kenny Rodgers Roaster’s ([email protected])
Castles and Coasters ([email protected])
Boston Market ([email protected])

(While your there don’t forget to collect a few hot sauces or other condiments on the way out. They can make all the difference in some of those “boil in a bag” meals)

[Vick Hines]

Roger,
are we talking about the same thing? The runcible spoon? A spoon with tines?

I suppose I haven’t been in a fast food joint in a while.

[Anonymous]

Yes Indeed Vick,

Half Spoon, Half Fork, All Miracle!

[Douglas Frick]

> Half Spoon, Half Fork, All Miracle!

Agree with that, but I carry either a lexan or titanium spork since I broke one of those fast-food plastic sporks.

[paul johnson]

Roger,

great list. i’m still chuckling as i write. not to ignore the other list items, but “Pima County Adult Detention Center – Tucson, Arizona” (didn’t know “guests” were allowed to have anything pointy?) & “Lee’s Dragon Chinese” (a rich man’s chopsticks?). BTW, lately i’ve been using take-out chopsticks on the trail (i figured, i use them at home for most meals, so…). they’re also lighter than my Ti Spork and more robust than a hard, plastic spork – haven’t broken one yet. some years ago, i came across a “soft”, somewhat flexible plastic Spork – too soft to snap; worked really good. Wish i knew where that was now or where i got it (was it served with a meal during a stay in Ward 8??? can’t seem to remember. electro-shock has a way of doing that!!!).

[EndoftheTrail]

Love my freebie Taco Bell sporks. I sold my heavier Snow Peak ti spork.

[paul johnson]

Ben,

i don’t frequent any “fast food” joints, so are the Taco Bell Sporks hard plastic or softer, more flexible?

would really like to find a Spork like the one i’m remembering – virtually unbreakable – could bend it nearly “stem to stern” and twist it. it still was stiff enough (due to “dorsal ridges” to borrow an analogy from the Spork website a prev. poster included – had Comp. Anat. myself many yrs ago, so really enjoyed that link) to hold up a mouthful. yeah…it would have fatigued and broken eventually, but man, what a spork! a real “man’s spork”, no doubt.

[Anonymous]

Reference Lightweight Backpacking 101:
Lightweight Backpacking Defined, Lightweight backpacking involves using the lightest gear to meet the needs of an overnight (or longer) wilderness walk.

So opens the questions…

Does one need an indestructible high-tech titanium spork with a lifetime guarantee?

Is it “The Spork that makes the Man” or is it “The Man that makes the Spork”?

Bottom line… Yeah there are trade-off’s in durability but the same can be said for the some of the finest ultra-light gear out there such as the G6 Pack, Stealth Spinnaker Tarps or Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles.

Regards,
FastWalker

[paul johnson]

Roger,

perhaps in all cases but one, i would say it is “The Spork that Makes the Man”. why? basically, if i don’t get my 3 hots and a flop (ok, so the spork has very little to do with the flop unless i use it as a tarp/tent stake or, in my case, tape it to my forehead when turnin’ in to hold my bivy off of my face) i’m not much on the trail the next day. so, the Spork feeds me and allows me to exhale water vapor out through the bug netting of my bivy.

the one case i’m thinking of where “The Spork…doesn’t…make the Man” is in the case of Bill Fornshell. why? he’s made his own spork!!! (see another thread). so, in the case of Mr. Fornshell, we all must say that “The Man makes the Spork” – and what a spork it is!!! Bill, u da MAN!!!

Edit:
Roger, after posting this reply to you & displaying the posts in reverse chrono order, i noticed the title of this thread. man, we’re talkin’ spork in the wrong thread. my apologies to all. i’m outta’ here.

[Sunny Waller]

I went out and tested my UltraLight Beer can stove. I used the recommended Fosters Beer can with the winscreen and stove stand that came in the kit. For a top I used the cut off lid instead of aluminum foil. I also added a pot grabber-the MSR LiteLifter which adds 1 oz. The grabber, esbitt fuel, lighter and REI ti-spoon (its shorter) all pack up inside the can. I put the top back on and secured it with a rubber band. When packed up it has some rough edges that can snag your gear so I wound up putting it in a stuff bag. I used the setup on a weekend backpacking trip in extremely windy weather. I was pleased with the results. The stove is simple and very easy to use. I had no trouble lighting the Esbitt tab in the wind using the windscreen as a block. One tab boiled a can full of water (3 cups) which is enough for my meal and my hot drink. If I only need water for coffee or soup half a tab will work. When you are done the entire stove packs up in a way that covers up the part of the pot that has Esbitt soot on it-which is great. This stove will definitly be the one I use on weekend trips. I highly reccomend it for anybody that takes groups out because it allows everyone in the group to have their own stove and it is much safer for rookies to use than other type stoves.

[Mitchell Keil]

Addendum:
Although it is definitely not a gram weanie approach, I have a suggestion as an add on to this stove. I really like to have a cup of soup or tea or some other hot drink while my hot freeze dried meal is rehydrating (and I don’t like drinking from my pot which may be in use reboiling water.)So I have modified a GSI 16 oz lexan straight sided mug by cutting off the handle and adding a wrap of 1/16 inch evazote foam around it. Hot liquids in the cup stay hot for a very long time even in cold weather. And here is the best part of it. The cup inverts and becomes the cap on my Beercan stove kit sealing in the fuel, spoon, lid and protecting the better part of half the entire stove kit from damage in my pack. I have etched marks in the lexan for 4oz, 8oz, and 12oz levels so I can accurately messure liquids for boiling or serving. The added weight of 1.5 oz is a small price to pay for creating a compact kit that also has an additional serving utensil which protects the whole thing and keeps liquids hot.

I was looking for the specific GSI mug on their site and can not find it. Apparently, they no longer make the one I have had for several years.

You may want to look at cutting down a lexan water bottle from Nalgene which will also work. It is just a matter of finding one that will fit as a cap on the stove. I guess I am lucky in having had this mug on hand.

[Vick Hines]

Our friends ar Ziploc make an 8 oz-capacity storage cup (blue lid) weighing about 10 grams (about 0.35 oz.) If you like a larger cup, the bottom half of a Platypus works, too, and folds into the pot easily. You gotta use both hands with it, but it also makes a good dipper at shallow springs.

[Yukio Yamakawa]

日本で有名な龍角散の丸容器

フタに小さい穴を開けて、中央をやや凹ませる。

グラスウールなどがあれば、内部と底面に敷く
５５mmΦ*２２mm hight　７ｇ
容器にエチルアルコールを入れて
丸い皿にも少しアルコールを注ぐ

BEER-can ESBITstove との絶妙な組み合わせ（予熱皿付き）
マルチ燃料ストーブへの誘いでもある

応用範囲が広いストーブは、何かと便利です

[Joshua Mitchell]

Yukio,
Or someone who can read Japanese. very nice. Did you use a mint can to make that stove?

[Author]

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