Bush Buddy Ultra as Alcohol Stove /Esbit/ Campfire?

[Edward Z]

Ok, newbie here. Can my new to me bushbuddy ultra be used well with alcohol (trail designs stove) and Esbit tabs, and as a comfort fire in small quantities? I bought it, and now a Snowpeak 900 set for that reason and I'm doubting my purchase. From youtube it looks pretty versatile. But is it that easy? And is sparkng wth my scout Jr instead of a lighter that easy really? Looking for reassurance more than anything. I have a jetboil, a caldera cone system for the snowpeak 700, and now the snowpeak 900 plus bushbuddy and combine all methods. Was I smart? Advise me, suggest things, teach……… lol.

[Jeff K]

Not exactly answering your question, but I have had a mini -campfire in the Ti-Tri for the MLD 850 pot. On my trip I had way to many Esbit tabs, so I put two tabs in the graham cracker and enjoyed a little ambiance.

It worked just fine.

[Jeff Antig]

[BER —]

The bush buddy can burn alcohol without an additional stove if desired. Works best if you put a disk the size of the BB fire grate in the bottom to limit the burn rate.

Discussed further here:

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19745

For those unable to view this link, the basic idea was to pour 1 oz alcohol directly into the bottom of the BB, light it and then drop in a 3" diameter disk of windscreen aluminum to restrict the burn. The BB pot stand is not used, and instead 3 aluminum spacers ( I used tubes of rolled aluminum foil approximate 2mm thick and approximate 1" long) bent like large staples over the top edge of the BB. Total weight for the disk and spacers was 4g. Two cups of 70F water boiled in 4:30-4:50.

[Lisa Frugoli]

Edward –
I used the Bush Buddy for roughly 600 miles of the PCT this summer. I'm a BB newbie & was a bit afraid to commit to it at first.
It's really easy to light (even for a newbie), and yes it can be used for "ambiance". I would cook up my dinner, and keep the stove going while I ate so I could have tea after dinner. Also keeps the bugs away.
It also works really well to bring along an alcohol stove & a bit of fuel for your morning cuppa.

-Lisa

[BER —]

The MBD miniatomic or the trangia work well in the BB if you prefer to use an alcohol stove inside. I have not used esbit, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.

[Edward Z]

Thanks. I can't wait to burn something tomorrow! It kills me to know that its sitting on my desk at work right now… lonely… scared… hoping to meet its new owner.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

FWIW, The BB Ultra doesn't work well with the Trail Designs 12-10 stove. The 12-10 stove is too close to the pot to work well regardless of whether the stove is placed in just the main compartment, or set on the ground and the top of the BB is used as a pot support. You can use both parts together and it works okay but you need a really tall windscreen. Also, once things get heated up the BB downdraft thing starts to kick in and the stove combustion flips and starts burning out of the air intake holes instead of the main center hole. It really gets rocking with all the oxygen the BB's 'secondary combustion' provides but it burns the alcohol really fast like this.

[Nigel Parrish]

When I burn a fuel tablet I just use the top detachable wind support as a pot support and light the tablet under the pot that way. Works fine

Nigel

[Mike Hensel]

This works for me, dryer vent to make the esbit holder.

Basicly it is the back up for wher I cant use the BB Ultra.

[Michael Meiser]

This may not be exactly what you had in mind, but in its own elemental way it accomplishes all your objectives and then some.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmeiser2/5803497211/

I think by any standard it fits into the ridiculously ultralight category. However I have foregone the whole woodgassification notion. I find an appropriately sized connection based wood stove, aka a glorified fire ring, to burn extremely clean, stable and efficient. Whats more this titanium 2oz stove is also a superb windscreen for any alcohol stove weather storebought or improvised. And that goes for esbit as well. On the other hand its diameter can be varied from small and efficient wood burning to a large diameter or even an open heat reflector around a small campfire.

As per the other gear pictured. My venom energy drink pot with twine handle is a superb boiler, but if you prefer any 700 old 900ml small bottom pot will work superbly. Indeed my evernew 700 is another option I like.

As per the ridiculously light platypus bladder bowl and the light my fire titanium sport there are none better.

[Josh T]

I carry a MYOG paint tin version of the Bush Buddy for cooking on the trail. After being worried about fuel on a particularly wet walk, I carry a Trangia burner filled with metho to drop in the stove, same as Jeff above. The only addition I've made is that as my stove is a bit deeper than the real BB, I cut the bottom off an aluminium can, and use this upside down as a stand inside the stove. This raises the burner to a useful level.

On the campfire side of things, a few friend and I are getting together to see how big we can take the BB concept. The aim is make our way up to a cut-down 20L (5 Gallon?) paint can as the outside shell, with a 4L can as the fire bowl. If this works, the grand plan is to make a giant one out of a 44 gallon drum, i think we'll call it the hobo inferno.

[Kate Magill]

platybowl = brilliant

Now I feel really dumb for throwing out that Platypus I left in the freezer too long/too full that the ice burst the seam around the mouthpiece…

[Curtis B.]

Ok, that one goes in my list of "Best Practices." Nice recommendation.

[Dan Yeruski]

Ryan Jordan had the best advice concerning the BB…..Practice, Practice, and more Practice building fires in it. Be prepared to feed twigs in it till you get your 2 cups to boil. Same advice goes for "sparking" a fire instead of using a lighter. Practice, Practice and more practice.

I'll be back later to show you some Companion Burners that are used with alcohol and the BB. I'll also direct you to a thread at bplite.com that shows my tests with the BB.

[Ben P]

i use a pop can stove with my bushbuddy, but rather than putting it inside but instead use the pot stand part of it directly on the floor with a foil windshield

my set up is a meths stove inside and tinder inside the bushbuddy. surround this with the windshield. sit this in my msr ti kettle, then sit the whole lot in my pot cosy

it all nests rather nicely

[Dan Yeruski]

Here is more information on the companion burners and information on the BB:

http://www.woodgaz-stove.com/companion-burner-for-woodgaz-and-bushbuddy.php

http://www.bplite.com/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=4538

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Tha Caldera Cone Sidewinder or Tri ti with comes with both an alky burner and an ESBIT tab holder (the "Gram Cracker") and if you order the optional Inferno gassifier wood burner insert you now have a 3-in-one stove actually MADE for three different fuels and highly efficient at all three.

Plus the Sidewinder W Inferno option rolls up, slides into a Tyvek sleeve and fits inside the pot for which it was made – thus the name Sidewinder.

Just sayin'…

[Author]

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