Bushbuddy – First Impressions

My thoughts on the panels at the bottom are that perhaps they help to prevent ground fire scars. Anyone else?

to encourage tinkerers to hold their breath while trimming weight

Please excuse my physics but I'll take a stab at this.

The inner panel (or floor) just below the screen seems to keep the air and gases at the bottom, between the chambers, segregated from the flame. This would allow the air/gases to preheat and rise before being ignited by the flame at the top "jets", just below the pot. That is where you want the heat.

The bottom panel (real floor) I would guess keeps the air/gases mixture seperated from the (cold, wet?) ground. Maybe as important it adds structure and stability. As you said, the stove is made of quite thin light stainless steel. Plus, do you really want another piece of gear (foil) to keep track of? Only a few grams difference at best. I don't think the fiddle factor would be worth it.

I would definitely find a way to protect the stove in a solid container of some sort. A pot of the right size (or larger) is one obvious choice.

Anyway, the opinions expressed here are do not reflect those of anyone who really knows the science, but hopefully more than a WAG. Thanks for the great pics. I haven't tried your method of firing up the stove, but I will.

Did you say $120!? Forgive me, but why not just use any old metal can or set of two cans inside each other to burn sticks?

Before the Bushbuddy came out I made my own woodgas stove.

I have heard that it does not fit completely inside of the Ti Kettle, but if there is anyone out there with this combo can they post a pic so I can get an idea on fit? Thank you.

I have the bushbuddy in a ti kettle and there is about a 5mm gap when you invert the lid (the indent in the lid fits into the top of the bushbuddy) I then place it in a BMW spinsack along with firelighters etc. There is not much chance the BB can get crushed in this configuration, and the spinsack keeps the black on the kettle from getting over everything. The handle on the kettle does jingle when you walk, but I have stuffed my pot holder through it when I pack up to prevent this. It's a great stove, but you want to keep the fire down in the stove so the preheated air comes out of the top holes and feeds the flames.

The Bushbuddy DOES fit inside the MSR Ti Kettle… sort of. It has the proper diameter but is too tall. So the lid won't close. It's perhaps a quarter of an inch too tall. I'll try and post a pic later today so you can see. I had a large rubber band that I used to hold the lid on top of the kettle and this worked well.

That said, I decided this was not an optimal solution and went with the FireLite 1100… which is also the correct diameter but is perhaps a tad too tall. The pot could have been made lighter, but then this leaves room for fire starting supplies/etc… although I have found there is plenty of room for this in the stove body itself.

Like I said, I'll post a pic after I get off from work unless some do-gooder beats me to it! :)

thanks for the info guys, I appreciate it

Brett,

In response to your post, "Did you say $120!? Forgive me, but why not just use any old metal can or set of two cans inside each other to burn sticks?"

Yes, it's bite to the wallet. And how do you think my wife responded? Here is what I told her. "It's an investment. You can pay $120 bucks for the BB (5oz) or $40 for the MSR Pocket Rocket (3 oz) + 10 cannisters (? oz x 2)@ $4 each. That's $80 first year, $120 year two. Return on Investment = 2 years. Makes good business sense." So she rolled her eyes but she's still talking to me. So both your wallet and mine will be UL, only I got there 2 years sooner :)

As for making one homemade, I tried. I am very impressed with Miguel's talent. Mine ended up a heavier, clunky, rattly, crappy little stove that didn't do much. The BB on the other hand is a real performer.

Think of the BB UL as a work of art, which it really is. Form meeting function.

Peace,

Paul

You just need to buy it and then impress her with the nice wooden box it comes in and the superior craftsmanship. It's a work of art, not just a stove!

If that don't work remind her who wears the pants in your household… and then begin to seek her forgiveness as well as her permission… ;)

sat out front on the porch after picking up some sticks from the yard, put 'em in stacked up as was posted the other day, several drops of alcohol and a fire tool, set 3 cups water with a cup of dried goodies and let er rip.

boiled pretty quickly (calm, warm day at sea level) and let it roll for a bit, stirring occasionally and changing lid on/off to adjust for changes in boil rate, etc.

added a few twigs to get the full simmer time needed, then had a nice, perfectly rehydrated hot meal (all stuff from the harmony house big box super deal of dried veggies/beans/etc + some spices)

i'm impressed with this little stove & i think i'm comfortable

next have to experiment with moister situations – try it with some wetted down sticks and simulated or real wind; may also set up a tarp and turn the sprinklers on and cook under the tarp to see how that goes

I've said it before but I'll say it again, yes the Bushbuddy Ultra is an expensive item but the craftsmanship on it is far superior to what the large majority of laymen could come up with on their own.

The BPL Firelite pot is designed specifically to fit the Bushbuddy within its walls. Another excellent solution is the Snowpeak .9L pot.

I saw a competitor product today, the Junior Littlbug Stove, which has a nice scientific comparison review here: http://www.prolitegear.com/cgi-bin/prolitegear/forums/thread_display?forum_thread_id=21

The Littlbug stove can be used with either wood or alcohol (you need an alcohol stove but the Littlbug stove serves as the windscreen/stand).

Anyway, I'm curious, can one use the BushBuddy above 9600 feet in Sequoia National Park with an alcohol stove and get somewhat as efficient combination as say, the Caldera Alcohol Stove at traildesigns.com ? Has anyone tried using the BushBuddy as a windscreen for an alcohol stove when they're not able to use wood (such as in SEKI above 9600 feet)?

Thanks.

Will the BushBuddy fit inside an Evernew 1.3 Titanium Pot?

I'm not sure where you guys are getting the idea that SEKI has a campfire regulation that does not permit fires above 9600 ft. From the SEKI website, the regulation is as follows:

Wood fires are permitted in Kings Canyon National Park below 10,000 feet elevation except in Granite Basin and Redwood Canyon.

Fires are permitted in the Kaweah River Drainage of Sequoia National Park below 9000 feet elevation except at Hamilton Lakes, Pinto Lake, and Mineral King Valley.

Fires are permitted in the Kern River Drainage of Sequoia National Park below 11,200 feet elevation with some exceptions.

The exceptions for the Kern drainage can be found on the webpage at:

http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/kernfire.htm

Much of the JMT through the Parks is in the Kern or Kings Drainage.

Every National Forest and Park in the Sierra has their own regs regarding campfires. For example most of the east side of the southern Sierra (south of Lee Vining) is entered through the Inyo National Forest. In gereral campfire regs in the Inyo prohibit campfires above 10,000 ft with some exceptions that can be found at:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/sitespecific.shtml

Finally, a note on Yosemite. It is difficult to find campfire regulations online for Yosemite, however, I did find the following information and you will receive similar information when you obtain a wilderness permit for Yosemite.

Limit your use of wood fires. Campfires are not allowed above 9600' due to wood scarcity and potential resource damage. Below 9600', they may be built in existing fire rings. Burn only dead and down wood. Please use stoves when ever possible.

This may be where the 9600 ft that seems to be floating around BPL regarding campfires in the Sierra came from. I hope this helps.

> I saw a competitor product today,
> the Junior Littlbug Stove

Littlbug stoves are in a league of stoves far removed from Bushbuddy products. We demo'ed a Littlbug stove on one of our gear shops outings and the stove was no more than a glorified fire ring/wind screen. No double wall design, no preventative system for reducing fire-scar. The notion that it is also an alcohol stove is silly as well. The mfg. recommends you basically place an alcohol stove inside the Littlbug, thereby using the Littlbug as a windscreen. The craftsmanship on the Littlbug is well done, albeit from very heavy materials and it folds down into a manageable size. To quote Pulp Fiction it "…ain't the same ballpark, ain't the same league, ain't even the same $@%&!^* sport."

I came across a Web site for an individual in Northern Minnesota who was building a stove almost precisely the same as Fritz' Bushbuddy design. The stove was called the Bushmaster but I can't for the life of me find the site (as Google is returning mostly firearms related stuff along with that search term). I do remember that the price for these stoves was also very similar to what BPL is charging for the Ultras.