In praise of the Ti-Tri Caldera

Nice pics.
Saves me looking it up, what pot are you using and is it from Trail Designs, AGG or Ti Goat ?
How much ?
Franco

Pics?? That would have been a good idea, as it's amazing to see the whole cone filled with glowing red-hot embers and large flames poking out the top.

I'm using the AGG 2L anodised pot. Can't remember how much as I've had it for many years now. Since it's already black to begin with, it doesn't suffer that unbearable cosmetic blemish you can get from Esbit and wood soot ;) Of course, in wood burning mode I can use any smaller pot as well. We sometimes use the AGG 3 cup pot too.

Thanks for the post, Lynn. I have a ti-tri and I was just talking with Rand at traildesigns about getting a larger model. I was looking in the 1.4-2.0L range… for larger groups and snow melting. I was thinking that this would restrict me to fire only. Good to hear that Esbit is working for you. Any chance to try out alcohol?

I stumbled across the following webpage where the person was able to get reasonable boil times on their 1.4L Ti-Tri by using a Trangia burner.

http://www.larsonweb.com/stoves/id3.html

edit: forgot to add the pot size

Hey Kyle, I've tried alcohol and it works just great. I just prefer Esbit. Almost any open style burner will work, but the TD 12-10 stove is optimised for the Caldera. I found I can use a 'snuffer' cap with the 12-10, and recover almost all the unused fuel, which increases fuel economy when using alcohol.

Thanks Lynn.
That 2 L cone sounds like a good idea if you like to have a very contained wood fire, should make it easier to dry some stuff too.
I like that "windscreen for canister stoves too" as I usually have my Kovea on low anyway.
Franco

Kyle-
My 2L set-up is a Caldera Cone (aluminum version of Ti-Tri) for the MSR 2L pot. Burning alcohol I boil a pint on about 13 ml and boil a quart on about 23 ml of ethanol.

As soon as I get some money together again, the Ti-Tri is near the top of my list. I almost bought the Snowpeak700 version of the Caldera Cone at Campsaver for 20% off, but decided it'd be better to hold off till I can just afford the more versatile Ti-Tri. It sounds like I'm making the right choice.

"I like that "windscreen for canister stoves too" as I usually have my Kovea on low anyway."

I leave the cone with a slight opening away from the wind (I use the stakes to hold the edges apart). This prevents over-heating, allows me to monitor the temp of the stove, and adjust the valve. I would personally never run (or recommend) the stove completely enclosed in a Caldera, but no problem at all with a remote canister stove.

Okay you pushed me over the edge… Trail Designs just shipped me a Ti-Tri with 2L AGG pot. My expectation is that this will be my wood burner, but I am excited about experimenting with ethanol and esbit after reading this thread. Now I just need to drive over to Wisconsin to stock up on Everclear 190!