The Evolution of a Winter Stove – Part 3

[Jerry Adams]

wow! That's a lot of stoves, good job!

[Roger Caffin]

Machine rebuilt and running.
Parts machined for remaining orders, plus a few spare.
Orders all shipped.

In mountains a week or two ago – dinner coming.

Cheers

[Adam Kilpatrick]

We are thinking of doing the GR10 next year around August, carrying our little girl (will be a toddler by then so will walk the odd km).

I really should have gone for one of your stoves when I had the chance Roger! Any chance there are some still available, or in the pipeline? If so, put me down for one.

Cheers!

[Douglas Frick]

Melting snow at Camp Muir (elev. 10,080 ft / 3,070 m) on Mount Rainier (Washington, USA), on a warm afternoon. The Caffin stove worked well, as usual. Mount Adams is clearly visible on the left, and Mount Hood (in Oregon) is in the distance just to the left of the pot. The pot is an Olicamp XTS (7.7 oz / 220 g), which weighs twice as much as my normal Stanco grease pot (3.8 oz / 110 g), but I thought the heat exchanger base would be worth the difference in case of high wind. This pot also fits over the FMS-300T supports perfectly, so it doesn't slide off.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Adam

Contact me direct [email protected]
Not many burners left now. Dunno what after that.

Cheers

[karl hafner]

I received your winter stove with the 300 head. Quality control is excellent. The build construction is beyond what other stove makers do. It works as advertised and is so very light. ( This from a guy who has used an XGK from its inception). Can't say how it works in the real cold – we are in summer here but from how it is built and works in the warm weather it will be great. If I had to state a negative its the light weight – it can move around and should be anchored. Thanks for a state of the art winter stove.

[John Klinepeter]

PIF O-Rings

Skip to the bottom if you want to bypass the boring details. Yes, free 0-rings!

I like to carry a reasonably complete repair kit. Having recently received one of Roger Caffin's winter stoves I set out looking for a set of o-rings. I found nothing metric at the local big box hardware store so I went online and found a couple of sources. The first source had very large minimum orders, the second source required orders that were quasi-reasonable. So, I ordered from #2 and for about $25 I have more than a lifetime supply for one person. Better that they be used than be passed on to my heirs,

I would like to give away the following kits to BPL members and lifetime members.*
Viton Fluoroelastomer composition in these sizes:
Quantity one 7 X 3 mm inside diameter X thickness
Quantity two 5 X 1.5
Quantity one 3 X 1.5
Quantity one 3 X 2.0
Total five pieces.

Trivia: Different vendors seem to specify the sizes differently, i.e., some refer to the outside diameters of the four rings which are 13, 8, 6, 7 mm, respectively. The vendor from whom I purchased specified the "7 X 3" as "3 X 7" on the packaging.

From the Stove Manual: "The O-rings are usually Viton (but see Extreme Cold). The ‘big fat’ O-ring visible in the canister connector is an OR7x3 size. The O-rings inside the canister connector body, on the hose end and on the white valve, are both OR5x1.5 . The small O-ring sealing the hose into the stove body is an OR3x1.5 . The O-ring on the needle valve seems to be an OR3x2."

The o-rings were received in quantities of 25 except for the 7 X 3 which arrived in a 10 pack. I would like to keep 3 sets for myself, so the first 7 requests will get the full complement and the succeeding 2 requests will receive the three smaller o-rings only. The last 13 requests will receive the 3mm I.D. o-rings only. Hope I did the math correctly!

I have not completely torn apart the stove to verify that what I have is in fact what is needed. I did measure some but not all the o-rings in the stove itself but have not put a caliper on the replacements. Faith!

I advise feeling the package contents to locate the o-rings before cutting it open along the edges. Don't want to damage an o-ring! Comes with a small zipper baggie for storage. Use some care if you rip it open or you may experience something akin to a potato chip bag explosion.

*PM your address to me and I will send them to you via USPS. Limit one set per person. USA addresses preferred, please, but I will not exclude anybody unless the shipping cost is outrageous. FWIW shipping in an envelope stateside costs $0.70. Looks like international shipping is $1.36 to Canada and most places (?) out of the country. The stuffed envelope weighs less than 0.5 ounce.

Edit Update: All of the complete sets have been claimed. Partial sets are available.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Karl

> If I had to state a negative its the light weight – it can move around and should be anchored.
I agree entirely, that it is so light it can move around!

These days I use 3 very small Ti wire stakes to anchor the legs in position, either on the ground or on a small 3-ply base plate (eg on snow). This is shown in one of the pictures in the 2nd or 3rd article I think.

Cheers

[Roger Caffin]

That is very kind of you John!

Cheers

[Roger Caffin]

Hi all

I have completed a few other projects, and now I find I have a growing list of enquiries about more stoves. However, I have run out of most of the parts.

Burners: the ones I was using come in lots of 100, at several thousand dollars. That may be a bit much.

Hose: stock PFA, comes in 50 m rolls, but a roll is affordable if the demand is there.

SS Braid: custom made, so it also comes on a 50 m reel. Affordable.

Aluminium and plastic stock: affordable.

Nuts, bolts and screws and O-rings: affordable.

So it's the burner which is the real problem. I do have a solution though. You can buy the FMS-300T via the web (~$35), and you can also buy the BRS-3000T from GearBest (~$11). Both include postage to me. Aha!

I have made lots of the parts to fit the FMS-300T, so making more is not a problem (ie I have the CNC programs). Making parts for the BRS-3000T stove does not require a lot of changes, and I am testing the program changes now with my unit. If you want the FMS-116T that also works because it is compatible with the FMS-300T.

So… if enough people are interested, we could organise that you buy the stove you want (from these three), have it shipped to me, and I make all the rest. For that I would need to buy all the other stuff in advance, so it would help enormously if you could let me know that you are interested.

At this stage other stoves won't work. There are so many differences in dimensions and threads and profiles between brands and even models it would not be realistic to try to cater for more.

Cost: you pay for and provide the stove. The rest: $130 + P&P for non-members, $110 + P&P for BPL members. P&P has been $25-$30 outside Australia.

Email me. If there is enough interest, I will send you my address for shipping privately and we can go from there. Better allow a little time for a sufficient number to contact me.

Cheers
Roger Caffin
[email protected]

[Kosta K]

Hi Roger,

Could I enquire as to where you get the wire for the titanium stakes what its specifications are? It seems that there are several different grades, and I’m not sure what would work best.

Thanks!

[Roger Caffin]

Titanium wire:
Early batches were welding wire from Titanium Joe.
Later batches are still welding wire, from eBay/China. The Chinese stuff seems perfectly OK.

Grades? errr …. dunno! NOT CP anyhow, but some sort of alloy.

Better note that this thread is about the V1 stove. Since then I have made and sold the V2 and the V3 versions. At present I have no ideas as to where to go beyond V3, found here:
https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/yet-another-remote-winter-stove-part-1-roger-caffin/

Cheers

[Kosta K]

Thanks!

I’m guessing that’s the same wire you used to set up your titanium windscreens and keep them from blowing away?

Do you happen to have a link to the wire?

[Roger Caffin]

I bought the last lot from wendongya on ebay, a major Ti vendor in China. I am sure there are many others, because they all keep emailing me …

Anyhow, he lists Ti welding wire in many different gauges. You normally have to buy a bundle costing between $25 – $40. Number of wires in a bundle will depend on gauge. Length for many diameters is 10″. Alloy is usually 6Al4V, which is a very common and very popular alloy – and very hard too.

If you want longer than 10″, ask him what’s available or wander thru eBay. I think he does list 20″ and 40″ long.

Cheers

[Author]

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