Sierra Zip Ti

[canyon steinzig]

This stove is a wood gas/battery fan assisted double wall that burns much hotter than any other. The heat is not usefull (to me) in terms of boil times (which I don't care about) but to the ability to burn almost anything. The stove weighs about 11oz with a AA battery. I have not performed any empiric tests on battery life yet but have made many meals and am on my first one.
What is amazing:
The stove lights with minimal difficulty. Basically drop in any dry tinder and you will have a raging fire in seconds. This is nice if your fuel is a little damp. Keeping a fire going any conditions will be a non-issue. It is a blast furnace that makes any normally aspirated stove pale in terms of heat.
Limitations: I don't love the sound of the fan and some may find it a bit antithetical to using a wood stove.
Although it is very well made it could certainly break. Then there is the battery issue. Again, one is inclined to carry two, so that adds extra weight.
Finally, it will simmer for a while with the fan off, but it really NEEDS the fan to keep burning well. And by well I mean basically no smoke/super hot.
Suggestion for improvment:
Not a stove engineer, but my dad suggested some slider doors that would open to allow better natural draw when the fan was off. Turning it from furnace to regular wood gas. I'm not sure there is enough height for this but it would solve some of the (potential) relability issues.

Upshoot, my current go to stove becauseit is very easy to start and use. Is very stable, quite light and compact. I got it second hand unused for $70 instead of $120. For that price it was well worth it. At $120 one might need to have a good reason, such as camping in constantly wet conditions, to take it over the BB or less expensive Hobo stoves.

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