Heineken / Tealight Cookset

Nice setup, especially the pot stand. How long to boil two cups? Any idea how well the stove performs in a breeze?

I ordered a Ring Of Fire stove from Zelph. I'll post the boil time when I get it.

About 10 minutes. No idea about performance in the wind. I am skeptical.

Looking forward to your experience with the Ring Of Fire. I would try building one but I haven't found a local seller of fiberglass wicks yet.

Douglas:

Any followup information to report on that ring of fire stove? How is it working out?

Steve:

What is the capacity of your tealight stove? Mine only holds 1/2 oz. I've tried and tried but I can't get the tealight stove to boil two cups.

Do you think that the airspace between the windshield and the reflection base(?) because of some slight uneveness is enough and you don't need to have airholes in the shield ? This may help with it's performance in windy conditions.

Also based on my experience of very blustery wind conditions, I really believe that the windshield should be as high as possible (worth the slight extra weight) as wind can force it's way DOWN into the shield.

Scott, my tealight holds 1/2 oz as well. You may have an issue with the height of the pot stand or the gap between your keg and the windscreen. I would give you measurements but my stove is in the mountains and I am not.

I have been able to boil 2 cups at 10,200 feet in dead calm conditions with my tealight. But the water was sitting in the sun for an hour before cooking.

Scott, I have a ring of fire stove that I have used in the field with my Heineken pot. I really like the how easy the stove is to set up. I am not so thrilled about the weight. 2.25 oz for just the stove. 2.9 oz for the stove + windscreen + reflector vs 1 oz for my tealight setup. Want to point out that I use the same windscreen + reflector for both the tealight and the Ring of Fire. Although I flip the windscreen upside down (holes up high) for the Ring of Fire.

In colder conditions (early morning cooking with water sitting out all night ~ 40 degrees) I have not been able to get 2 C of water boiling on 1/2 oz of fuel. However, the water has been warm enough to have warm rehydrated food. If I cut the water to 1 1/2 C, which is what I usually use, I have brought water to a rolling boil on 1/2 oz of fuel in the field at 11,400 feet in dead calm conditions.

I have tried the Ring of Fire with a regular cookpot but found the stove lifters (tabs sticking up from the side of the stove) too short. The flame would just go out. I tried this several times in my house with different amounts of fuel and without a windscreen with the same results. So I ended up just removing the tabs and dedicating to use with my Heineken pot.

For a traditional pot I would just go for the Super Cat stove.

The Ring of Fire, also known as the Doodahman Special, when originally designed used 20ml of denatured alcohol to boil 2 cups of water. The use of 20ml is recommended. Use more under windy conditions to get the boil. In reallity, 180 – 200 degree water temps are fine for rehydrating freezer bag meals. We should'nt get hung up on the boil factor. Here is a link to the original thread that gives the history of the stove.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=22425

Somewhere in the thread will also show the aluminum pot(my favorite) used to test the tab pot supports. Boil times will vary with pot size and material it's made of.

The stove is primarilly a section hiker stove. Knowing how gram concious thru hikers are 2 ounces is way to heavy for the thru hikers.

The proper use of a windscreen is manditory for all alcohol stoves. Used to close to the pot will cutoff necessary oxygen. Used to close will cause the burner to heat up the fuel prematurely and flash-of the fuel before complete combustion can take place.

The SuperCat stove is a great stove. I like it alot. I'm not too keen on balancing my pot on it though. I like how the Ring of Fire gives absolute secure pot support. Wider is better.