Stove of the Week: The Caldera Cone

They are a great little system. But all models do not fit in a Ziploc container

True. Even this one sticks out a bit. I put the blue Ziploc lid over the ends of the rolled up Cone. Then I put the lid from my Titan Kettle on top of that. Then everything goes in a stuff sack. It protects things fairly well.

If you really want everything to fit, then I guess you'd need to go with a caddy such as those sold by Anti-Gravity Gear.

HJ

Thanks for pointing that out. I went ahead and updated my Caldera Cone blog post to hopefully make that clear that the Ziploc’s lid doesn’t close all the way. Hopefully, it’s no big deal with how I have it set up, but a good thing to know.

HJ

Nice, but I like the the Ti Sidewinder with an Evernew Ti 600 or 900ml UL pot. Everything will nest into the theses pots and you can burn Esbit, alcohol, or even wood. Side note: the (2) Ti stakes will not nest inside the 600ml pot, and you need to trim the 10-12 alcohol stove base as well, in order for it to nest inside the 600ml pot.

Yeah, I'd love to try one of the Ti ones. Someday. :)

Wood though doesn't help a Southern Californian like myself much. Heavy fire restrictions, and a lot of popular areas have year-round, permanent fire closures. My aluminum cone does what I need. Still like to try a Ti one some day. :)

HJ

The sidewinder and ULC ones really are the way to go for packing reasons. I'd like to see Trail Designs offer another option to support your pot besides the two stakes option for those of us who value this multi-use. I'm picturing a single V shaped piece of ti. It wouldn't save much weight, but there would be one less piece to keep track of. It could also be make quite thin (picture a terra nova 2g stake) because it doesn't need to be used as a stake. A nice V weighing 5g's would be awesome. It would need to be a little springy to it could fit in the cone. I'm picturing two holes about 1/2" apart on one side of the cone, and then two holes on the opposite side about 3" apart. The V would need to be springy to get it in, which would also hold it perfectly place.

I have a Sidewinder with the Inferno option. It REALLY works as a gassifier type wood burner. I'm constantly amazed at the heat it puts out with even softwood fuel. With the 1/2" oak moulding scraps I have it gets hot and stays hot longer.

And the fact that it all fits inside my 3 cup anodized aluminum pot is sooo nice.

I don't like alky burners but DO like ESBIT and with the Sidewinder and the Gram Cracker ESBIT holder I actually use less ESBIT fuel than with my former Vargo Triad stove and MSR windscreen. At first I didn't believe it when Rand Lindsey said it would use less ESBIT fuel but over and over he's been proven correct.

Trail Designs deserves another award for the Sidewinder and yet another for the Inferno insert.

I just added some more photos and a technical appendix listing weights to the blog post.

HJ

Dan,

Do you have one of the sidewinder set ups? Do you have any photos of your set up?

HJ

Jim I have the same Sidewinder w/Inferno set-up as Dan does. Here is a pic of mine Saturday evening. Everything packs into the pot. I made a Reflectix cozy for mine that keeps the soot off me while keeping the food warm too.

Since there are no burn restrictions in MN, and it looks like most of my hiking will be there for awhile I decided to do a found-fuel project next year. But since I got it so fast I have used it a few times now. I will do a full review next year.

Pretty sweet! I'll look forward to your review.

HJ

I have both the Sidewinder and the ULC. I have the Sidewinder with an 1.3L Evernew pot that I use with my wife, and then I have the ULC cone for my 0.9L Evernew pot (ECA265) that I use solo. Of the two, I prefer the ULC for it's superior pack-ability and quicker setup.

The key differences are:

1) Sidewinder cones are heavier than ULC cones for the same volume (not dimensions) of pot, because Sidewinders work with wider pots, so obviously the cone is wider too. On the up side, wider pots are going to be even more stable (lower center of gravity for same volume of water) and I think they're slightly more efficient at capturing the stoves heat.

2) The Sidewinder cone is best packed in a tyvek sleeve (included) so setup/takedown is a few seconds slower.

3) ULC cones consume little space inside your pot, so there's room for other stuff like the a mug. This is especially important if you want to use a fragile mug (ie. a styrofoam one) and you need it protected. You won't fit a mug in your pot along with a Sidewinder cone. You'll get the 12-10 stove in there and then maybe a few tiny items.

Thanks for your insights, Dan. I haven't gotten a ULC or Sidewinder to play with, so I appreciate your taking the time to jot down your observations.

HJ

I am sorry, I have the same pot as Eric, not Dan.

I have other Ti-Tris, all for narrow pots, but went with the Sidewinder for the wider pot that heats with fire better than my skinny ones would.

Ah. Makes sense.

HJ

I watched the myog video, which was actually pretty good, but it made me realize how lazy I've become.

I do mechanical design and have 3d parametric solid modelling capabilities at my fingertips- so when I need to generate a pattern, as in the shape need to for making the cone fit the pot, I just model it as a sheet metal part and have the software make me a flat pattern. Then I print it 1:1 scale, and tape it to my flashing as a template… Just an example of computers are contributing to the dumbening of the human race…

BM

I'd probably agree with you, but my computer is down and … ;)

HJ

For those of you who like DIY, I added a video (not mine) that I saw on You Tube that goes through how to make a Caldera Cone of your own.

HJ

>For those of you who like DIY, I added a video (not mine) that I saw on You Tube that goes through how to make a Caldera Cone of your own.

I really try not to be too much of a jerk about these things…..but no…..you can not "make a Caldera Cone". The Caldera Cone is patented, the term "Caldera" is a registered trademark of Trail Designs, and Trail Designs has not licensed the right to make the cone to anybody else. We typically don't fight people doing DIY projects at home….only if it enters the stream of commerce. The only reason I bring it up now is that the community has adopted the adorable label "Caldera CLONE" to refer to these DIY activities. While still a violation of the trademark, it at least helps folks understand that they are not getting a real Caldera Cone but something else.

With my annual rant over…..I thank you for listening…..and now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Rand :-)

I made my own cone once…it was okay but the workmanship on the Trail Designs stuff is so much better and the price isn't that different if you have to go out and buy a $20 roll of flashing because that's the smallest size the hardware store sells. I personally would buy from Trail Designs for just the sweet Dovetail attachment alone. It's so much better than anything I've been able to MYOG. If you start looking at buying Ti for a clone cone, you'll see it really gets expensive to DIY because you need such a large piece due to the curved C shape that is required.

I really try not to be too much of a jerk about these things…..but no…..you can not “make a Caldera Cone”. The Caldera Cone is patented, the term “Caldera” is a registered trademark of Trail Designs, and Trail Designs has not licensed the right to make the cone to anybody else. We typically don’t fight people doing DIY projects at home….only if it enters the stream of commerce. The only reason I bring it up now is that the community has adopted the adorable label “Caldera CLONE” to refer to these DIY activities. While still a violation of the trademark, it at least helps folks understand that they are not getting a real Caldera Cone but something else.

With my annual rant over…..I thank you for listening…..and now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Rand :-)

And of course Rand is right. If you want to see (among other things) how to make a “conical windscreen/pot support that looks vaguely like a Caldera Cone™” you can check out my blog. The video is not mine but is just one I saw on the internet and thought was interesting. The video is but a very small part of my review of the Caldera Cone™.

If you want a (real) Caldera Cone™, head on over to Trail Designs

HJ
Adventures in Stoving

I've talked to Rand about making a DIY piece of titanium sheet that would, with a slot-and-tab attatchment at each end, permit a cone to be expanded to fit a larger pot. Or it could even have the Trail Designs cool dovetail setup but that would be difficult to fabricate at home. Possibly a sheet metal fabricator could make a decent male and female dovetail.

I want to do it but hate to cut into my beautiful Sidewinder. It works with a cardboard model but still. it takes guts to cut into a 'spensive stove like the Sidewinder. I have access to a high speed water jet cutter or a laser cutter but still…

My experience is that going up from my 3 cup pot cone size to a 1 liter pot is about the maximum one could go and retain decent stability on the bottom of the cone and proper contact on the pot rim. Otherwise you have a rocking horse stove.

Anyone want to try an "expander"? Hikin' Jim?

Hmm. An interesting idea. The “Cone Expander” would basically allow you to have only one cone and then use an expander if you wanted to use a larger pot. I guess that would save you from having to buy a second cone.

I may not be following you, but I’m not quite sure why you’d need to cut. It seems that if one had the tools necessary to make a good Dovetail, then one could fabricate a piece that would fit with the existing dovetail on either side of the new piece, yes?

My experience with TD gear is that it’s really good stuff and that they knew what they were doing when they designed it. I’d probably just buy a second cone rather than trying to jury rig something together and possibly compromise some design elements. I certainly wouldn’t want to cut an existing Caldera Cone. Horrors!

HJ
Adventures in Stoving