Cat stove

[Gabe P]

Any techniques for warming up the stove? I end up wasting quite a bit of fuel before I can get the stove optimized. Thanks

[Bob Gross]

I use a cat stove with a priming pan underneath it. Plus, underneath that, I slip a thin piece of plastic to serve as an insulator (from the cold surface underneath).

It doesn't hurt to keep your alcohol bottle in a warm pocket for a few minutes before you ever try to prime it. In other words, it is easier to use alcohol at 80 F than it is to use alcohol at 40 F.

Similarly, before you pour your cold water into your boiling pot, it wouldn't hurt to set it in the sun for a while.

–B.G.–

[Gabe P]

Interesting What kind of time savings have you seen from this?

I noticed that when Jason Klass made the "snowcat" he added a Kevlar wick to the base, which he says made it prime almost instantly. Has anyone tried this out? Does it work? Is it worth the tiny amount of weight?

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Wicking in general works WAY better in the cold than just lighting liquid alcohol directly. Even if your alcohol is insanely cold, it should light no problem if you've got wicking material being lit. Check out Zelph's Starlyte stove. 15 grams, 15 dollars and it works awesome in the winter.

Here's a YouTube video of Dan (Zelph) lighting this stove at -24F using fuel that's also -24F:

[Steve Cain]

Yes! Wicking is a great way to prime! I added a few wraps of wicking around a WB stove using JB weld. After fueling up the stove, I dribble just a little alky around the perimeter of the wick and light the wick. The stove then usually lights by itself (Sometimes I have to light the main fuel) & the stove blossoms at least twice as quickly as not using wick.

[Author]

Posts