Caldera Cone System

To me the biggest advantage to the cone is using your stove in windy conditions. Last year I took my Snow Peak Giga stove and a kep cone set-up to do some comparison testing… just for my own knowledge, not to post any kind of a report.

I had a lot of wind on that trip. Struggled contantly with the SP, with and without their heavy 2 oz wind screen. Even tried using my sleeping pad to block the wind. The cone worked beautifully. To be honest I like the convenience, boiling time, and adjustability of the SP better. Deserts tend to get windy in the afternoons, and I now always bring my cone. For mountian hiking, I switch back and forth. There are some disadvantages to each. In a way, I don't like the cone for various reasons, but it is the stove I use the most.

The SP600 w/ Caldera is my favorite system. The SP600 is still pretty small and the right size for most of my meals. I haven't done any testing, but 2+ cups of water consistently starts to steam and bubble on about 3/4 oz of Heet. A couple of weeks ago I needed to purify water (batteries died on my Steripen) and an oz of Heet brought 2 cups to a boil and kept it boiling long enough for me to feel good drinking it :)

I like the "fire it up and forget" aspect of the Caldera.

Hey Gordon, thanks for running the numbers. For comparison. The cone on a full size weighs 1.3 oz
The Caddy weighs 2.8
I think these are the numbers that we would be concerned about, since the SP 600, and the stove itself should weigh the same between both our systems.

However, as mentioned, I can use half the caddy, and nest it with my sp600, and still store the cone and everything. So instead of hauling 2.8 ounces of caddy, I can take half, and save 1.2 ounces (the side that nests into the sp600, is the heavier side of the 2)

So the lightest I can take my system down to is 1.3 oz cone + 1.6 oz half caddy = 2.9 oz total.

Comparing that with 1.625 oz off your cone setup. I'm around 1.275 ounces heavier. It would take more test to determine when my efficiency would trump the added weight, but for shorter trips, I think your system is superior (outside of very harsh weather, as discussed by many of the other posters)

Interesting stuff

1. What's the latest with the Carbon Monoxide situation with the Caldera Cone? I looked at the Tech Report test from years ago .. but can't tell if something has changed since or if people are just fine with it, esp. used outside.

2. Can the Caldera Cone be used with a canister stove + a pocket rocket? Is there any way I effectively increase its height, so it serves as a pot stand + windshield on trips when I take the canister stove instead?

3. I have a Snow Peak 1400.. if I order the Caldera Cone for that and decide in a few months to get a lighter small pot (say like the Snow Peak 600 or the Walmart Grease Pot) , would I be able to use the cone with those?

Dont, let me take a wild guess at this. I think it might be possible to rig a Pocket Rocket to work with a Caldera Cone. The risky part is that the Pocket Rocket does not have a remote canister. That means that the butane canister will be right down there at the bottom, all contained within the cone of the Caldera, so you take a good chance at getting enough heat on it to explode the canister. Now, what _can_ you do? I think it might be possible to rig enough of a heat shield out of aluminum foil to help protect the canister. You might have to open up the Caldera to let heat out, and that would screw up some things. I was also trying to think of a way of elevating the Caldera up above the ground so as to reduce the amount of heat hitting the canister. It would be a lot safer if you used a remote canister stove instead of the Pocket Rocket. Then you could have the canister outside the Caldera. Probably there is a way to use the Caldera as a simple wind shield without making it too risky.
–B.G.–

1. No idea. But if you're outside it shouldn't be a problem.

2. The aluminum will melt, plain and simple. If you can't put a wood fire under a normal Caldera Cone you certainly can't put a blowtorch like the pocket rocket under there. Maybe the Ti version would be a better choice for raising up like Bob suggests below.

3. You'd need a cone for each pot, they don't size down.

Yes, and I am going snowcamping in a few hours, so maybe by Monday I will know. I am thinking optimistically that I can find wood, even though there is ten feet of snow on the ground. If wood, then I would do all of the primary snow melting and water boiling with the Ti-Tri Caldera. If I can't find wood, then I will have a backup stove, and that is a Pocket Rocket.

An idea just struck. I have a titanium insert for the Ti-Tri Caldera to help it with wood. Normally, that insert is used inverted. If it use it non-inverted, it could be part of a heat shield for the butane canister. Then, if necessary, I can settle the canister on cold snow.

I'm busy packing now. Talk to me in a few days.

–B.G.–

I figured I would bump this thread rather than create a new one.
I can not begin to say how awesome the guys at trail designs are. I sent off an email at 11pm last night (friday) and had a response within 15 minutes, and from the guys who actually make our products to boot. Rand helped me find exactly what I was looking for (even though it was a slightly custom job), and I had an order from within an hour. Try doing that with just about any other company. I would say these guys are probably the best Cottage Gear manufacturer I've dealt with to date (and I've dealt with a few). Every time I think of going to a different stove, I just remember things like this and I always come back.
Not to mention how much fun they are to play with :). I can tell you right now that there's no other stove that would have me up that late on a friday fooling around with it.

Yep, Rand and the boys are great to deal with. Waiting for the Evernew 1.3 ultralight pots come in, then I'm going to order a Sidewinder Cone, and the aforementioned pot. Its a slightly larger pot than what I need, but will allow me to stow the cone,alcohol stove, and stakes inside the pot. A wider pot is also much more efficient when using the alcohol stove as well, as most of of the flame is contained on the bottom surface of the pot. I also like to to a single 24+oz boil, 12oz for a meal, and 12oz for my coffee.