The Kettle is coming !

"All packages sent to to one Douglas Ide are forwarded to you for a period of 6 months or until cancelled by recipient.""

Uhhhhhhh, I never ordered that lace stuff. Don't know why it was being sent to me………..

Those lace fishnet stockings – er I mean ultralight leggings – I've been mysteriously receiving along with packages from MLD and zpacks that I don't recall ordering sure don't seem to provide much in the way of insulation for my sleep system. On top of that they smell of cheap perfume and expensive cigarettes.

Number 27
Slick piece of kit.
Its been fascinating following Devin's blog.
I wish the Backcountry Boiler success.

Gabby and Boiler:

Badger Mountain in Background

Note the Boiler Number….

Sorry fellow hikers….I just have to brag a little. Great work on these Devin!

Thanks all! It's kind of hard to believe they're already out there and being used! So flippin' cool.

Dan – Please let me know if there's anything I can do on my end. It should be going to the right place – for domestic shipments, addresses went straight from PayPal to the label.

Steve – #001 – you've been waiting the longest. I hope it matches the anticipation.

Now that next project… :)

No "next project!"

Onto the next run for the rest of us!

No worries, Stephan. That "next project" is for the next run. ;)

Congratulations Devin on finishing the first run. It was fun following your well written blog.

Does anyone know if BPL has started shipping the boilers out yet? I'm leaving on a backpacking trip Friday and hope to take it with me.

Kettle arrived today, thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and share some pics!

Initial impressions were very high, as it was immediately obvious that this little cooker lacked no attention to detail. It is very well constructed. The silnylon sleeve is sewn very well, and really has a good fell to it. The weight of the boiler with sleeve came in at a scant 9.05 oz. I received number 58, as seen etched into the top of the boiler.

It came with two silicon corks for the two holes in the top, the neoprene sleeve, and the "Backcountry Boiler" logo stiched into the side. The interior of the boiler is cylindrical, and has a very refined look. There aren't any seems that can be seen, and the aluminum construction is gorgeous.

I took the boiler out for a spin on the front porch with my 2-year-old, and taught him how to drop sticks into the top after I had a nice fire going. It holds two cups of water with some room to spare, and the top and bottom pieces fit together flawlessly.

It took a bit to get the water going, due to most of the sticks in the yard being wet, but we made it happen. The two pieces tend to stick together when you pick up the boiler, but the neoprene keeps everything cool to the touch.

The whole thing has this feel of the scene where Tom Hanks is talking to his volleyball, "Yeeessss, look what I have created! I have made fire!" It's really just fun. Devin has made a spectacular product, and I'm really happy to be in on the first run of them. Keep up the great work!

Hi Devin,

Thanks for the offer. The problem was at the post office end, as the address is correct. The boiler is in the local area, so I think it will probably just be a day or two delay.

Meanwhile, I'll salivate over the pictures of everybody else's boilers. Looks like a real winner, and can't wait to see what you've got planned next!

The introduction of the boiler is THE event of 2011!

091 arrived in Little Rock a few minutes ago!

First impressions: Awesome packing job, beautiful construction, first class kit!

Great job, Devin!

Gonna try it out right now on the patio and field test it on the 1st when I take my scouts into the Ozarks!

#9 arrived in Seattle and it is beautiful!!

#011 arrived today! Looks like a very well made little boiler. Can't wait to fire it up.

@Brian: All the cool kids have a Kupilka 21 to go along with the Backcountry Boiler :)

Thanks Devin!

It's times like this that living in Alaska can be frustrating….hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. Patience is a virtue I struggle with! Lol

Well, I just like to try different stuff. Probably why I’m not married.

Anyway, so I bought one of David Vos’ alcohol stoves, the bigger one I think. I added 2 oz. of Everclear, and then put it in the Backcountry Boiler burn cup, elevated about 3/4 inch. Lit it and waited for the flame to come out the side holes (which took about 15-20 seconds maybe? Is that normal, I don’t usually use an alcohol stove and I’ve never used a side burner). Then put the BCB on it with 2 cups of water inside.

Got a boil in 4 minutes, 7 seconds, just as the alcohol was burning out. One cool thing, when the stove starts burning out nice red and blue flames begin shooting out the top of the BCB about a foot high! Whoa! Here’s a video.

So anyway, with the right alcohol stove, you can use the BCB with alcohol as well, and the stove and small bottle of fuel will fit in the cone of the BCB. I have no idea if 2 oz. of alcohol is a lot to get 2 cups of water boiling, as I said I don’t generally use alcohol. But it could be a good backup if you can’t find any decent wood to burn.

FWIW.

It should take 1 Tablespoon = 1/2 ounce of alcohol to boil 2 cups of water

If flames are shooting a foot high you're wasting fuel

I made a stove and it took 1 ounce to boil 2 cups and someone clued me into a different design that took 1/2 ounce

Try 1 Tablespoon and see if it boils the 2 cups

Nope. I TBL won't work, it'll burn out too quickly. Probably the air flow making the stove burn super hot and sucking up the fuel.

But that's okay, I didn't care if I was wasting fuel, I was having a blast!

2oz of alc for 2 cups boil is pretty high. Usually .75 to 1 oz is good for 2 cups.

HJ

Well, I guess it's a lot. But, to be fair to the BCB, it's not made for an alcohol stove! Still, nice to have a backup option.

Hey Doug
do you live close the the Equator ? Ecuador ?
Franco

"do you live close the the Equator ? Ecuador ?"

Nah, I just wanted to see how well the BCB would burn if I tipped it on its side. Pretty good, don't you think!

Yes , amazing, I am speechless and that is why I have to write this down.
Franco

I looked at these when thenumbers when in the high 90s, and really regret not ordering.

Just picked up mine from the post office, as I was away on a trip. Freaking thing of beauty! Congrats Devin

Quick question, mine came with the tiny rubber stopper taped to the side. The instruction say not to unplug this stopper b/c its hard to get back in. Well, seeing as how mine came taped on the side and for all intents and purposes, is already out, should i try to stick it back in? I imagine this is more important if I plan on using the kettle as a water container as well? thanks!

Thanks so much guys! It is soooooo cool that it appears to be living up to expectations. :)

Amos – on BPL – it looks like they don't have them yet. The delays there have been have been either on my or my suppliers, I know BPL will turn these around very quickly once they get them.

Landon – great review and description – I hope #58 was all that you had hoped. This bad boy will work with wet wood, but it does take some coaxing at first.

Larry – cool! The scouts should love this. It would have been right up my alley when I was one.

Dan – right on. I think the Kupilka is the perfect mug to pair with the Backcountry Boiler. Forget the cold, hard titanium (blasphemy). :)

Chris – it should be on its way, even to AK.

Doug – that video looks awesome, and man that was fast! It looks like a jet's afterburner.

On Al stoves in general – I've gotten it to boil 2 cups on .75 oz, but it does take longer than – holy smokes – 4 minutes. I haven't announced it yet (so I guess I sort of am now), but there will be something pretty sweet for whoever can design an easy to make optimized stove for the Boiler. It will work on a hole slew of existing AL stoves, but something optimized for high efficiency is in order.

Konrad – Thanks! The "Boiler in the Raw" originally wasn't going to include anything other than the metal bits. But since I had to add that second hole for anodizing (and I thought it might be hard to find one of those small stoppers to fit it) I included one for if you mod your own stopper for the larger hole. If you do want to permanently install it, just push hard, twist, and repeat. Then use scissors to cut off the excess sticking out. If you decide at any point that you do want "the fixin's" to accompany the Boiler, just let me know and I'll sell them to you at cost. As it is, if your Boiler isn't going to be used to carry water, leaving that second hole open, as someone pointed out, does make fast pouring smoother.

Oh, and remember guys, this isn't just some lame old "kettle," this is a BOILER! :)