Ready Fuel… REALLY??

Solid rocket fuel doesn't actually produce very much heat per gram because it is a mixture of solid fuel and solid oxidizer, whereas an esbit tab uses air as the oxidizer, so the solid part is all fuel.

Theoretically a candle stove should substantially outperform Esbit in terms of heat per oz, but in practice it is difficult to get enough air into the flame to completely burn the wax vapor. A lot of it escapes unburned (soot).

The less toxic (borane-free) metal hydrides, like lithium aluminum hydride, would make for a very energy dense and extravagant solid fuel. For a few hundred dollars you could save an ounce or two over a package of Esbit tabs. Or you could just burn the cash.

Have you seen this wax stove?

http://www.gattgen.com/#!home/mainPage

I wish someone would buy it and give it a review.

wax has about the same energy density as white gas and butane

I've tried putting 1/2 ounce parafine in one egg's worth of an egg carton – maybe 1/8 ounce. heat in sun or oven to melt so parafine melts into egg carton. use in some sort of stove like that cone shaped one. worked okay except a bit sooty.

See our article on candle stoves:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/candle_stoves.html

Cheers

Jon, I'm interested in that little wax burner, too. Here is a good video of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eHCGmOr1gQ

Here is an amazing video of a prototype stove (same inventor) burning wax with forced air:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxgNEJxiytQ&list=PLQhuGvnUoAky2ShBRcOLSLof8YY_r8Z3g

In the first video it seems that the flame might be somewhat sooty, particularly when the pot is removed. In the second video, though, the flame is blue. It seems that a little more air is all it needs to burn very cleanly.

If this stove could be made from titanium, with a lightweight (aluminum?) wax reservoir and a little fan with a Lipo battery to supply air, I think it could compete with the performance (heat per unit fuel mass) of butane/propane stoves, but without a gas cylinder (just a bag of wax bits).

One of the good things about a wax stove is that the wax fuel is not banned by TSA for aircraft baggage. Sure, it will burn, but it isn't very risky as fuels go.

Wood is also acceptable, assuming that you can't find wood twigs on the ground.

–B.G.–

Roger,

I have read thise articles. This new implimentation seems to have taken wax as a fuel to a whole new level. The blue flame is impressive.

Have you seen this wax stove? http://www.gattgen.com/#!home/mainPage
I wish someone would buy it and give it a review.

Looks interesting although I’m not sure how much fiddle it is or how practical it is. It’s very diminutive. Anything more than a mug might be unstable atop it.

The website says “Cold water boil 1 min/oz”. So, a two cup boil would take about 16 minutes and a liter would take over half an hour. That’s a little slow, but who knows maybe it’s really efficient.

They’re showing “sold out” right now, so I’m not sure when anyone will be able to take a look.

There are a number of videos available at G-Micro PSL Wax Stove.

HJ
Adventures in Stoving

Well, if you look at th efiddle factor compared to a wood stove, the time may not be an issue. The plus sides are that you can travel anywhere with your fuel, if you use beeswax, it is enviromentally sound and if you are on a date with your significant other, you can scent the wax with your favorite "mood enhancer" (vanilla anyone?). My 2 cents – Jon

I hadn’t considered the scent factor, Jon. It’s completely changed my thinking. ;)

Yeah, the part about the fuel being TSA acceptable is nice although I wonder what they’d say about the burner. I guess you could just say “it’s a really big candle.” I’d still worry about it some.

It’s pretty cool albeit small. I sent the guy an email asking some questions (including when it will be back in stock). We’ll see.

HJ
Adventures in Stoving