Caldera Keg users.

Used mine for the first time last weekend. Also first alcohol stove I have ever used. I was very impressed and it met my needs perfectly.

My setup:
– Caldera keg
– Caddy
– Caddy sack with cozies
– Total weight is approx 8 ozs.

The caddy works great for:
– storing everything
– I use them as my mug
– when freezer bag cooking I place the bags inside the caddy and close. Then use the cozies on the outside. Works great.
– when eating from freezer bag I can leave it in one end of the caddy and just fold down the sides of the bag. Makes eating out of freezer bag easier and no worries about being to hot to hold.

The setup allowed me to take out a separate mug and bowl. Gotta love multi use items.

I found the stove to be very efficient and worked great even when the temp got down to 25 degrees.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Thanks Brad.
I've been using my Caldera Cone and Titan kettle set-up for over a year and am very happy with it. The only thing that bugged me was the volume in the pack the TiKettle used up.
I carried the Caldera gear and fuel in an outside pocket, but the kettle had to go in the main pack. The Keg setup should let me use a smaller pack. I use an older MLD Zip or ULA Conduit at the moment, and want to get everything in a MLD Prophet i have on order. :)
I'm pretty happy with my base weight now, but am always looking for ways to decrease the volume.
I've got the disease baaad! :)

Mike,

I've been using the Caldera Keg for more than a year. It comes with a plastic caddy to protect it, but I have been packing it without the caddy the whole time which saves several ounces. I have not had significant problems as far as dents in the can, although I do not pack it at the bottom of the pack and am somewhat careful about throwing my pack down, etc. I have replaced the original top with a cat food can lid to save a few more grams. I keep the whole kitchen in a silnylon sack. Total for keg, stove, cone, cat can lid, & stuff sack is 80 gms. Packed it is 17.14 cm tall by 8.25 cm in diameter. Hope this is helpful.
I really love this set up.

-Mark

Hi Mark,
Thanks for your input.
If you don't use the caddy, can you give me more information on how you carry/pack the Keg set-up to protect it. Some more detail on the catfood lid would be appreciated too. :)
My aim here is to decrease the volume of my cookset, as much as the weight.
Thanks.

Mike,

I roll the cone and invert it and slip it into the can.
The edge of the cone sticks above the can about 1.2 cm.
I invert the stove and slip it into the middle of the rolled cone which is in the can.
I put the flat can can top on top of the inverted stove and place in the silnylon bag. My pack has a top compartment which is were I carry it.
( pictures below)


The cat food can is the larger size. Many cans will work. Just pick one where one of the indentations on the top or bottom of the can will fit the lip of the keg. Cut away everything you don't need- Presto! a lid. I drilled a hole in mine as a vent.
I have flipped this over so you can see how the groove fits the rim better.

-Mark

Thanks Mark.
Very helpful. :)

Great info – thanks!

How much fuel does it take to boil 16oz of water (I know there are plenty of variables, but I'm looking for general numbers)? What I'm wondering is does it use more or less than the "typical" alcohol stove. And how does the boil time compare? I couldn't find these stats on their website.

It takes roughly 15 ml of alcohol to boil 16 oz of water. I pour between 15 and 20 ml for safe measure.

Not answering anyone's question but I get a chuckle when reading about Caldera or JetBoil users agonizing and wishing they could somehow pack away these monstrosities more compactly. :)

Nice try Ben.;)

Benjamin,

I find mine to be very compact and as efficiently packed as possible. I'm using a SnowPeak 600 and i'm sure i'm not the only one that packs this way, but here's my setup:

Fully Packed Kitchen Setup

Nalgene for Reference

Weight

Contents

Here's a breakdown of my contents:

Again, not ground breaking, but just a reiteration that you can efficiently pack a Caldera Cone. With Large Pots I found that you can utilize similar packing methods but the Solo cup fits inside the pot. ;P

– Dana

Dana:

Your set up takes up more than twice the space as my canister stove set up!

I fit my SP Gigapower stove, fuel canister, lighter, and towel all inside my SP600 pot — with the home-made lid fitting perfectly. I then put in the spork and cinch up the mesh bag. Basically same size as yours but losing completely the monstrous red cup!

For my alcohol stove set up, I fit my stove, screen, 4 oz. of fuel, BIC lighter, towel and spork all inside an even smaller Firelite 500 pot.

The caldera may be certain things to certain people — but compact it most definitely isn't — unless a user is willing to pack the cone flat and separately elsewhere in his pack.

I suppose what I am saying is that like anything else — it is what it is. Folks have their own reasons for wanting the caldera — but if they want to pack everything together — then they should just learn to live with the 2-3X bulk.

For me, I find nothing convincing as to why I should devote 2-3X the pack space for this solo kitchen set up. Ditto for the Jetboil.

"FOR ME, I find nothing convincing as to why I should devote 2-3X the pack space for this solo kitchen set up. Ditto for the Jetboil."

Exactly my sentiments. I'm guessing you don't do long trips where the weight savings in fuel of the Caldera would be of benefit. Aside from that, the stability and wind resistance of the Caldera are also importart TO ME. We do best to choose the system that suits our needs, and for me, the Caldera is perfect. I am not short of pack space.

Benjamin,

I would only respond by pointing out that Mark does, in fact, have a wikid compact way of packing his Caldera Keg. :)

I'm not familiar with the SP600 pot, but I assume that it is 600mL? Whereas the Keg will hold about 4 cups, right? (Though it is most efficient at boiling about 2 cups.)

The guys who complain about packing the Caldera Cone are the guys using pots that require taller or more curved cones. If you pick your "pot" carefully, I think the Caldera Cone is a winner, for short trips. (Just like your cannister fits neatly in your pot.) The Keg is a wonderful variant.

"I am not short of pack space."

You weren't the one asking the question and neither was the response directed at you.

As for long trips where pack space and weight efficieny both become more serious concerns — one often "graduates" to canister stoves in pursuit of both. Work out the math — it's not hard.

Re-read what OP was asking. Coming in at 2-3X the size of other alcohol stove set up's — it is NOT compact. So unless the user wants to pack the thing separately — it is what it is.

"If you pick your "pot" carefully, I think the Caldera Cone is a winner. (Just like your cannister fits neatly in your pot.) The Keg is a wonderful variant."

Sure, if you NEED a big pot regardless of the cone, then yes, you are correct. But for most of us alky stove users whose "cooking" is merely boiling water and whose pot need is maybe a pint — then one should compare one's set up packing size to the Firelite 500.

Marks photos of his Keg system have convinced me. A whole kitchen in a beer can sounds pretty compact to me. :)

Benjamin,

That sounds an awful lot like you are saying "My pot holds 500mL and my kit takes up 500mL, whereas your pot holds 1000mL and your kit takes up 1000mL, so mine is better."

I know that's not what you are saying, but I'm trying to make a point- similar to Lynn, actually. We all have to figure out what we want. Is your cannister stove lighter for a 2 day weekend trip? Probably not. (Probably…) Mike likes his Caldera, but wants advice on making it smaller.

If you want to change this into an argument about who uses less boiling water, we can do that. I'll make it short- you win! Maybe Mike likes a cup of coffee with dinner. Maybe he's cooking for two. Who knows?

Now, how can we help Mike? I maintain that Mark answered his question best.

I don't think anyone "graduates" to anything- I think we just pick appropriate tools for the job. And we have ALL done the math, Brother. You're preaching to the choir. That subject has been EXHAUSTIVELY explored here and elsewhere. We acknowledge that alcohol stoves loose their weight advantage on longer trips- as I sort of alluded to in my last post. (They are fun, though.)

There! You win again!

Also, I suspect that you missed the fact that Lynn was AGREEING with you. You didn't have to get snippy with her.

I always have a coffee or tea with my evening meal, so i need enough water for that, and rehydrating my meal. I've used a few alcohol stoves, and the Caldera Cone is by far the most reliable i've used for my hiking area. I camp in mostly tree-less terrain, so the wind protection offered by the cone is a big factor in my choice. I know there are smaller alcohol stove set-ups out there though. Like i said, i love my present CC/TiKettle system, but want the smallest Caldera system that will suit me. The Keg set-up will fit nicely in an outside pocket.

Features that won me over on the Caldera Keg is its light weight, and its effective windscreen that also functions as a pot support.

I also like the simplicity of using alcohol…pouring in 15 ml of fuel, lighting it, getting 16 oz of boiling water for my MH meal in about 5 to 6 minutes, and everything is clean as far as the burner is concerned.

Sure I have lots of other stoves, but this one is so effective and so simple, it's fun to use.

To each his/her own I suppose.

"The Keg set-up will fit nicely in an outside pocket."

Good to know an outside pocket is available — cause the "Tower of Pisa" set up would just be awkward inside. I have seen others try to protect the awkward screen with a hard-sided Nalgene water bottle — but that just adds weight to the existing bulk!

If I ever get one (who knows?) — I'd probably just give up on any kind of "all in one" set up — and just pack the darn screen separately — say, flat in between my sleeping pad.

Mike,

Glad I could help.

To anyone that is intereseted,

Wow, a lot has happened on the thread since yesterday. Ben seems to be stirring the pot or perhaps the mug.:-)

I have found, as Charles notes above, that the simplicity factor is my favorite. While my friends are fiddling with their aluminum foil wind screens and try to get their pot balance on top of the stove or pot stand, I just slip the keg in the cone, light the stove and set the cone over the stove and forget about it. Never had the stove blow out in the wind, never had to chase a wind blown foil wind screen across the campsite, and never had my pot tip over since I switched to the Caldera Keg. All good stuff.

-Mark

P.S. Ben- if you look at my pics the cone projects about 1 cm above the can lip. I would not call that a "Tower of Pisa".

Stirring the pot/mug can get ideas flowing… All good stuff. :)

I'll continue to tune in and see if ye caldera users can come up with something much less than 2.5X the bulk of regular alcohol stove kitchen set up.

Ben.
I agree with you. I like it when someone stirs the pot.
-Mark