Mini Caldera Cone awesomenessness

[Piney]

I forgot about Trail Designs using the two stake design to raise the pot for different modes. What I meant though is punching holes for a stake as a second point of support in esbit mode so you can eliminate the silicon band – see my setup here:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=75650

[Andy Duncan]

Thank you Jason for posting the details of your esbit stove. I contacted Traildesigns and ordered a cone after reading this. They were out of the Evernew Ti mugs (companion cup with handles) but he sent me a link on Amazon. I used it on a 7 day Sierra trip with great results. I really like the compact size, much smaller and more durable than my Caldera Keg GVP system. To keep the handles cool enough to use I keep the esbit at the opposite side of the cone while it's burning.

The only drawback I found is that the beer band burned off the first time I used it. I ended up using stakes to hold the cup.

BTW, this size cone also fits my Ruta Locura 550 and 850 ml Ti mugs, although the 850 is probably too big for efficient cooking.

p.

[Eric Lundquist]

Great to know it fits the Ruta Locura 550ml mug!

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I use a 3rd Ti stake to hole the cone in place in windy conditions.

The 3rd stake is run down through a bottom slot in the cone and into a hole I drilled in the Ti base sheet and into the ground, stake hook down against the cone slot hole. This stake is placed on the windward side of the stove, base Ti drilled hole sheet rotated to the windward side.

You can drill two holes in the Ti base sheet for two stakes, one on each side of the cone, in very windy conditions. But of course only ESBIT or alcohol should be used in those conditions to pevent wood sparks from being blown away into flammable forest material.

[Eric Lundquist]

"BTW, this size cone also fits my Ruta Locura 550 and 850 ml Ti mugs, although the 850 is probably too big for efficient cooking."

Andy, I assume the cone should also fit "sidewinder style" into the Ruta Locura 550 mug for packing?

[Richard N]

Resurrecting this ancient thread to note my experience trying this setup with a Kojin stove. With the pot sitting on stakes at the lowest position, I aborted my boil test with the Kojin after 3:50 because the handle wrap and silicon band were burning too much from stray flames.

The pot diameter is fine for narrower stoves (e.g., Toaks Siphon) in different setups, but it did not work for me with the unmodified Kojin.

[Andrew S]

That’s good to know. This is actually one of the reasons I was not sure about this specific setup. I was looking at this setup a month or 2 ago for my attempt of the Pfiffner traverse. I ended up going with the 570ml Evernew (https://www.traildesigns.com/products/evernew-570ml-ultra-light-titanium-pot-cup-eby278r) + sidewinder instead though because I cook in and eat out of my pot also. The 570ml was only marginally larger than this 400ml setup but lets me use it as is with the Kojin. My entire cook setup fits in the pot and I can cook all of my recipes in the pot as well. Everything weighs out to 0.38lbs before fuel. A 2oz litesmith bottle fits in the pot with everything so my fuel carry capacity is around 3.3oz if you fill the Kojin also. Fuel weight for this comes out to another 0.21lbs. Below are some pictures of the setup. I even made a custom insulated DCF stuff sack to contain everything.

[Richard N]

That stuff sack looks super tidy!

I think the 400 will work well for me as a coffee-only setup with various stoves, and I’m looking forward to trying it out in the cone with Esbit for really shedding volume and weight on short trips, but you’re right that upsizing is a lot of bang for the buck.

I usually use the Evernew 900 with a cone, and that’s plenty for two if you’re only boiling water while still being absurdly light.

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