GSI Halulite Minimalist + Gram Weenie Pro

I have the Halulite Minimalist and I use it with a Packafeather XL which just barely fits inside. It's not the lightest setup (my kit weighs ~8oz with windscreen and lighter), but it is compact and works very well. I've never used a gram weenie pro, but I would be concerned about the flame pattern which might not be very efficient with the fairly narrow minimalist pot.

I was concerned about that too. I've seen a couple videos of people using it with small diameter pots and the boil times look reasonable. Your stove looks pretty trick but I'm attracted to the simple bullet-proof design of the Whitebox stoves.

Do you have an accurate weight for the pot, cozy, lid and pot grabber? My Caldera Cone Keg-F is 7.4oz without the fuel bottle so we are not talking huge differences in weight and the GSI cookset would be much more durable and the coffee mug use is really what attracts me. I love my java.

I'll check when I get home and post it. FWIW REI lists the kit at 6.3oz which sounds about right. My weight includes the stove and a lighter which add about 1.6oz.

I should also mention that the pot grabber works well. I use it to lift the pot off the stove and drop it into the cozy. Once the pot is in the cozy I pick it up and pour from there. I wouldn't recommend using the grabber to pour.

Thanks but I found the weights in grams via a search.

Pot: 96g = 3.42oz
Lid: 42g = 1.5oz
Gripper: 12g = 0.43oz
Sleeve = 20g = 0.71oz

If I add those to the stove:

Gram Weenie Pro: 0.7oz
Windscreen: 0.9oz
Fuel Bottle: 0.6oz

And add the following:

My long plastic spork: 0.3 oz
Mini-Bic 0.3 oz

Where do you guys find a Mini-Bic for 0.3 ounces?

All I can find are 0.35 or more.

–B.G.–

I have one of the Gram Weenie Pro stoves as well as some of the White Box Stoves. The GWP is just a smaller version of the WBS. They use the same rolled top design so it is a super tough little stove, which is a great thing for alky stoves…

Here is a video that I did of my GWP stove:

http://vimeo.com/11846610

The reason I got the GWP is because of the small size, and the small flame pattern. I had bought a Backcountry.com 700 ml Ti pot and quickly found the flame pattern to be to large on the WBS to use with this cook pot. The flames were licking the sides like crazy and would sometimes even reach the top of the pot.

The Backcounty pot has a very narrow diameter base, 3-5/8" and I have found that the flame pattern on the GWP is great for a pot this small in diameter.

Keeping in mind, this stove is recommended to only boil 2 cups of water using 1 oz of fuel. I have found it takes an average of 8 minutes to bringing this amount of water to a boil, of course depending on conditions. There have been times that 1 oz has brought 2 cups of water to a full rolling boil before burning out (anywhere from 10 – 12 minutes) and I have had times that the stove only brought small bubbles along the sides and bottom of the cook pot before burning out. However, although it is not recommended on the site, I don't mind putting 1.5 oz of fuel in the stove if conditions are bad.

I think that the GWP stove would work fine with the GSI Minimalist.

Bob: I goofed…. they are heavier by my scale. I just threw one on the scale and it was 0.4oz. In my gear list I have them listed as 0.3oz so that is what I was going by.

I'm not losing any sleep over a 1/10th of a ounce and I typically carry two… one in the kitchen and the other in the bathroom.

Hey Stick…. watched your video on them!

I did some burn test on concrete with my Caldera and noticed it impacted the efficiency of the alcohol stove. That may be part of the reason why you didn't get a boil. When I put some insulation under the stove (3M pad) it significantly improved the boil time. You wouldn't think it would make that big of a difference but it was at least 30-45 seconds longer without that 3M pad.

The GSI is larger in diameter than your pot(4.2") so that should keep most of the flame under the pot.

Good job on the Blog.

I haven't thought about that, but it does make sense. Thanks for the tips.

"Total Carry Weight: 8.86 oz"

Kevin, I agree not to worry about 1/10th of an ounce. But then when you have the total carried out to 1/100th of an ounce, it attracts attention.

I'm still looking for a Mini-Bic. I have one or two left, and that is all. I would also like to find something smaller and lighter in weight. There are peanut lighters, but they use lighter fluid. I think butane is better.

–B.G.–

"When I put some insulation under the stove (3M pad) it significantly improved the boil time."

Do you mean like a 3M green scrubber pad?

During winter operations with a white gas stove on snow, I generally use a very thin piece of Masonite about 8"x8". I'm always looking for something better for spring conditions or for a concrete floor. For summer on dirt or gravel, I generally just put a piece of aluminum foil underneath alcohol, esbit, or butane.

–B.G.–

Yea… I'm just carrying significant digits on the gram conversions. My scale won't measure to that degree of precision.

Yea… just a green 3M pot scrubber. I use them around the shop and when I first tried the Caldera directly on a concrete floor I got longer boil times/used more fuel than expected. I'm at sea level so that is part of it but I scratched my head for a minute before throwing down a 3M pad and trying it again and low and behold… that cold concrete floor was cooling down the aluminum stove enough to impact the vaporization of the fuel. On dirt it doesn't seem to matter but snow certainly would.

Good information. I guess the green pot scrubber does not melt or anything.

–B.G.–

It turned a little brown maybe…. not much.

You don't need it on dirt. It was just that smooth concrete floor with the large aluminum base of the Caldera stove that was the bad combination. I don't carry the 3M pad although it would be a good pot scrubber. I only boil water when I hike so I don't carry anything to clean the cook pot.

Nice sippy cup lid, and the cozy really works, too. Using a Super Cat stove I get like 5 min boil times on 2 cups of water using 0.8 oz or so of denatured, and it will hold 150 degrees for a half hour at 50 degrees ambient…you'll never have to drink cold java again. A nice outfit.
Have fun,
Steve

The minimalist is a sweet set-up especially for $25.00, definitely would recommend. The Spork doesn't work great for watery foods though, I take a generic plastic spoon instead.

@ Steve – What hole pattern are you using on your cat can stove?

When I tried some of the published super cat patterns the flames would be really high up the sides. I have been using a pattern of two rows of 11 holes that are very close to the top with a better windscreen but boil times are about 8 minutes. In the field it seems like the windscreen makes all the difference for good heat transfer.

Eric,
The one I'm using is per the instructions at

http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html#Build-Instructions

There are 2 rows of 15 holes, mine are 3/16 as i had a punch that size. I think it matters how tall the can is and how far down the holes are. It really does throw flame way up the sides of the Halulite, but I just retested twice and got 5 minute 30 second full boils using cold tap water in my kitchen…my above post may have been like the 22" trout that's "about" 2 feet long…and of course a full boil at 5000 feet is only like 206 degrees, although the temp is coming up so fast at that point that I doubt it would be but a few more seconds at sea level.
I only have a few homemade alcohol stoves and get similar results from all of them, and yes the air better be DEAD still without a windscreen. My windscreen is of Al flashing and fits inside the Halulite along with a 3 oz alcohol bottle and the pot lifter.
Have fun,
Steve

I made a Super Cat tonight because I was curious. It was $0.54 for the cat food (prices have gone up), and I bought the $0.97 punch at Walmart too. Some people said that the Walmart punch wouldn't work but after I removed the stop and took the spring loaded handle out and the other parts that in the way it worked great. Made the stove in 5 minutes.

I'm impressed…. first trial on a 4" diameter aluminum pot with 16oz of tap water took 5:30 to rolling boil. No windscreen in place but I was inside the shop. It took 30 seconds to prime and burns 3mL/minute so 18mL gives you some safety margin for the 2-cup boil. It is faster than my Caldera and fuel efficiency is very close on this initial test.

The only thing I don't like at this point is the stability. I'm going to figure out a way to JB Weld something to it to further stabilize the pot and I bought some lantern wicks to glue on there for priming.

I'm sold on the simplicity, weight, efficiency and speed.

This is the entire enchilada. Breakdown on weights:

Pot: 3.3oz
Lid: 1.5oz
Cozy: 0.6oz
Supercat: 0.2oz
Pot Grabber: 0.4oz
Windscreen: 0.7oz
Bic: 0.4oz
Spork (my longer one) 0.3oz

That is everything I need for hot coffee/water and the cup could easily be used to eat out of. The cozy makes it easy to handle and holds food without cooling off quick. Boil time with the Supercat is about 5:30-6:00 depending on how long you let it prime. Uses a little less than an ounce (20mL) of fuel to boil 2-cups.

Cost: $24 (shipped) for the GSI and $0.54 + $0.97 for the stove. I used an old wind screen.

Tested my Caldera Keg-F against the Super Cat + GSI. On 20mL of fuel the Caldera burns 30-40 seconds longer. The Super cat goes out faster but boils 30 seconds quicker so it is pretty much a push in terms of efficiency with maybe a very slight nod going to the Caldera. I can reliably get a boil with 18mL of fuel at sea level with the Caldera. I can reliably get a boil with 20mL on the super cat.

The Caldera is more stable, a little more weight, and takes up more space in the pack. It is probably much more windproof although I've not tried the super cat system in the field yet.

Glad to see this set-up getting some good attention. Also glad to see the homemade stove/screen is a wash versus the cone system.

I don't know if it is a wash yet. I'm concerned about the use in the field where wind may be a bigger issue. The Super cat is much more wind sensitive.

The GSI setup rocks though and everything but my spork & fuel bottle (I carry a 16oz. one) fit in the pot. Considering the entire set-up cost about $25 is just gravy.

Couple more pics.

Everything that goes in the cup.

Weight on scale with 10oz. of alcohol. This would be my entire kitchen, with fuel for about 4-days.

Everything fits easily in the cup. In fact, I've added a backpacking towel to keep things from rattling around.

With pack towel.

Another picture of everything.

I agree the super cat is wind sensitive. I am using a wind screen made from a piece of dryer vent aluminum, cut 3.5" tall. The first one had a bunch of holes all the way around the bottom and didn't work well in the wind, I made a different on with one 1/2" x 5" cut out on the bottom so the fully blocked side can be into the wind. (see photo) I only have two rows of 11 holes in the stove so the flame is a little less but it doesn't go up the side as much. I also have been putting aluminum foil under the set up to reflect more heat up. Get a boil in 7 to 8 minutes (about a minute of prime time) with .75oz of alcohol and 20oz of cold water at 5000'.

Will be trying in the field next weekend.