FireLite Titanium Esbit Wing Stove

I own a Firelite. The pivot rivet broke & I had to replace it W/a tiny bolt and nut from Loew's. A little drilling of the center holes was necessary to get a fit and now it works fine.
(I'm not the only one that has experienced this problem.) Don't put any bending force on that rivet if you're not prepared to replace it.

I'd grind anything in the legs that you don't want, if possible, as opposed to bending them.
This stove and 6 ESBIT tabs is a great back-up stove or survival kit stove. It DOES need a good wind screen to be effective. I like REI's windscreen kit W/ its base reflector.

Eric

I do not want to hijack this thread, but since the stove is under discussion I want to ask about this stove. I am considering purchasing the stove. Any comments from anyone that has one.

Eric,

Why do you think that the rivet went on such a new stove?

Rather than purchasing a windscreen, does anyone have any suggestions on how to make or a good design of a windscreen to use with the stove. I intend to get the new 14 g Firelite Solid Fuel Tablets (break them in half) with the stove for primarily heating water with either my 600 ml Snowpeak Ti mug or my .9 l Evernew Ti Pot.

Thanks.

Rich

I got one for Christmas. I've found it is not a good fit for my pots (small pot from the GSI Anondized aluminum double boiler OR Fosters beer can pot). I don't feel safe using either, since they aren't stable on the stove, so I guess I am going to be buying a Ti cup or one of the new Firelite pot when they are back in stock, or forget about using the stove.

Richard, If I understood your request, I have two ideas

Make a 'Caldera Stove': if your cup is wider than your stove supports, you might try putting a strip of gutter aluminum around your pot/cup such that it extends down below the cup a couple inches, then hold it on with a pipe clamp and punch some holes. Thus your windscreen is attached to your cup. Sort of like this Caldera Stove
http://www.antigravitygear.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=216
And similar to a previous posters picture today.
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/5995/index.html?skip_to_post=44246#44246

Or, make a wind screen by cutting 1/3 of the circumfrence from a short wide can, leaving the rim intact. This would work for solid fuel tabs.

I haven't tried either yet(!), just repeating ideas I've seen.

Pamela,

Looking at the photos for the stove, here at BPL, they show the stove being used with amongst others the Antigravity Gear 1L Ktchen Pot, MSR Titanium Kettle, and the Snow Peak 600 Titanium Mug. I personally would plan on using the stove with either my Snow Peak 600 Titanium Mug or my .9L Evernew Titanium Pot.

Bret,

I hadn't seen the FireLite Small Titanium Windscreen:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/titanium-foil-windscreen?ppo=ppoMDAxMjItLTAwMzY0

I could possibly cut this to work with the larger .9L Evernew Titanium Pot and wrap it around the smaller Snow Peak Titanium Mug. I could also cut the Windscreen for the smaller Snow Peak Titanium Mug and I could borrow the Windscreen from my Thermojet (smaller) for usage with my .9L Evernew Pot.

I will look at your links for additional suggestions as well. Thanks for the info.

Rich

I’ve never been able to get the wing stove to fit a beer can very well. I just use a simple hardware cloth stand with a mini aluminum can bottom to hold the esbit. Same weight… or less. Try to find non-galvinized hardware cloth tho.

Here is my stove design

48 grams for pot, fitted lid, handle, stand, burner cup and windscreen.

David L.,
Your cooking system design looks absolutely amazing. I'm definitely going to build one of these. Thanks for the idea and great instructions!

David,
Great job. You can make it dual fuel by filling the Esbit support cup with fiberglass insulation (but not with a hole in it) Turned fiberglass-up it will burn alcohol, turned over, it is your Esbit holder.

> Why do you think that the rivet went on such a new stove?

This is not an official BPL response – only Ryan can give that.
Imho, the rivet was set wrongly at the factory. It was first set with excess spacers or something similar, then to tighten it up they 'thumped' it. This often distorted the rivet rather than fix the initial problem. Most annoying.

Your solution, of replacing the rivet with a small bolt, is excellent. I would suggest a stainless steel bolt if available. I would add a brass washer on the underside too. You may need to slightly burr the end of the thread over to stop the nut from coming loose. Then it is fine.

Roger,

Do you know if this issue has been resolved? Are the current shipping stoves less likely, or just as likely, to pop the rivet?

Thanks,
Ken

> Do you know if this issue has been resolved? Are the current shipping stoves less likely, or just as likely, to pop the rivet?

Well, I have one and it does not seem to be inclined to fall to pieces. I could see the problem with the way the rivet had been set, but it did not occur to me at the time that the rivet would actually fail. So the one that did might have been an extreme example.

I am sure that if you got one that did fail you could discuss the matter with the vendor – that always applies.

Otherwise you would have to ask Ryan, not me.

Thanks Miles. I love it. I've used it on trail and it's pretty foolproof. My favorite part of the design is how all the bits and pieces all come together into one neat package (with handle!) for stowing. It makes using my can to get water super easy (i.e… pull the stove bits out of the can in one step… no loose parts… set them aside… get water… give the can a shake to dry it out… put parts back in).

While I'm talking about getting water… another neat trick I like it that I use a contact lens case to mix my chlorine dioxide solution. I keep the lens case and chemicals in the beer can. I use the case so I can just mix the solution… fill my water bottles… and keep on hiking. I don't have to balance the little mixing cap precariously on a rock and wait 15 minutes. I just keep on hiking… and after 15 mins… take a short break to dump the solution in my water. Of course… any tiny waterproof container would work for this "trick".

The rivet bottom flange in the Ti wing stove broke B/C it couldn't withstand a bit (& I mean a little bit) of accidental torsion when I folded it up.

I'd use aluminum from a large baking tin (found in most supermarkets)for the windscreen. Make it's top edge go up to within 1/4" of your pot rim (so you can still get your pot gripper on the rim)

Punch some 1/4" holes about 1" to 1 1/2" apart around the bottom of the 'screen, say 1/2" from the edge. This will give you an updraft which carries heat around the sides of the pot as well as on the bottom.

And make the 'screen a close fit at the top near the pot sides so you trap more heat. But remember, ya still gotta be able to get the pot in and out of the 'sceen easily.

Have fun! Tinkering with backpacking gear is one of life's relaxing pleasures. Plus it gives greater pride of ownership if the tinkering is successful.