Zelph Starlyte alcohol stove

[Dale Wambaugh]

I just got a Zelph Starlyte alcohol stove and gave it a quick test this morning. It is TINY! I assumed it was made from a larger container and I'm really impressed with the small size. I was skeptical of the output– this thing is too simple to rival the jetted pop can stoves I've tried. Wrong! It pours out the heat. I really like the integrated pot stand, so no need for tent stakes or other contraptions and that allows the simplest, lightest wind screen materials. This is perfect for my overnight and day hiking cook kit and a great alternative to an Esbit wing stove. Well done Zelph!

In my hand for scale. That's small!

The Starlyte with an MSR Titan Ti 400ml mug perched on top. Proably too small for best efficiency with flame pattern, but ti works and what a great day hike and overnight combo. Just right for hot drinks or soup.

The Titan mug with stove, windscreen, Bic lighter, and folding Ti spoon. The lid was from a canned salmon tin with a safety can opener and a perfect fit. The measuring cup fits in there too. Pocket kitchen! Just needs the fuel container.

The Starlyte with a 10cm IMUSA mug and Zelph's lid for the same. The ultimate dirtbag cook kit :)

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Yeah it's a really awesome stove. I use one with a caldera sidewinder cone and no pot support, so it's super stable and even more efficient.

[Dave Heiss]

+1

Starlyte stoves rock.

[Brian Johns]

Yep. Me too. Have a stand model for my Ti and beer can mugs and the "burner" model for my caldera cones. Too many great things to say and/or nothing bad.

[Will Webster]

I just got the modified Starlyte burner to use with a Sidewinder and 0.9L Evernew pot. Takes a little longer to reach boil than the 10-12 but I think it uses a bit less fuel to get there.

With the 10-12 I ended up wasting fuel because it was so difficult to put out and even if I succeeded I couldn't pour the excess alcohol back in the bottle, so I just let it burn out after removing the pot. I can blow out the Starlyte and cap it with fuel inside for the next meal.

Dan was kind enough to send me a simmer ring with the burner and it works very well; I put it on the lit burner when the pot reaches simmer and it continues to simmer.

Great stove!

[Ben C]

Love mine too The only downside is that is not too stable unless you use a come like Dan does

[Delmar O’Donnell]

Another starlyte fan here. Are you guys comfortable putting the plastic lid on a half-full stove and storing it in your pot? Or do you carry a partially filled stove outside your cookware?

[Matthew Perry]

Yup, the Starlyte is just plain awesome! I use it with an old Heinie pot that I wrapped in carbon felt (using silicone as a glue, so I could lift it when hot), my Suluk 46 titanium wind screen, an Antigravity Gear 4 oz. Zip Mug, cheap sil-nylon stuff sack, an MSR plastic folding spoon, really thick Reflectix cozies for the mug and pot, 6 oz. fuel bottle and measuring cup, Zelph ashtray/primer pan and a rubber band to hold it all together. Total weight without fuel and bottle is 4.9 ounces (including the Zip Mug), and 10.1 ounces with the fuel bottle and fuel included. Pretty sweet set up for a two day hike. I could lighten it up a bit with a Cuben stuff sack, but let's be honest…at this weight does it really matter?

PS–I am excited to try Zelph's new AC/BC pot. Won't lose any weight, but the cool factor will go through the roof!

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=86910

[Jennifer Mitol]

I feel just fine leaving mine in the cookpot…works like a champ!!! I snuff it out, wait for it to cool while I eat, then pop the lid back on and put it in my cookpot.

And I really find that I use way less fuel that way. I barely used 2.5 oz on my 3 night big bend trip….and that was coffee every am and at least 1-2 cups to boil every night for dinner. Love it!!

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

"Are you guys comfortable putting the plastic lid on a half-full stove and storing it in your pot? "
Yeah for sure. The only time it leaks a wee bit is if it's totally full (or overfull). If it's under 80% or so then I trust it completely.

[Matt Weaver]

^Yup. If you can see fuel above the fibers inside the stove then it will leak a bit with the lid on. If the fuel levels down a hair and fully absorbed by the fibers, like Dan said, it won't leak. I liked the concept of the built in stand but I also felt like it took away from one of the most convenient features of the Starlyte stove and that is being able to blow out the stove and put a lid on it to store the remaining fuel. No longer are measuring cups needed. Just top off the stove before cooking and you're good to go.

No leaks yet storing the capped off stove in my pot, don't foresee it happening either. Plus I tend to use Everclear for fuel so if a little got in to my water that I boil, all good :)

[Steven Paris]

Here's my latest Starlyte stove kit:

Starlyte & Zelph potstand for Starlyte, LiteTrail 550 pot, Hot Lips, carbon lid, QiWiz Tall windscreen, ground protector
Not shown: cuben stuff sack & a Zelph silicone slap band pot holder.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

Steven! Nice set. Where did you get the nifty pot stand? Or did you make it? Looks nice and stable around the top. Details please; I need a stand.

[Dan Yeruski]

Thank you everyone for the great feed back on the StarLytes.

It is not recommended that the pot support be removed from the stove for storage. ""I'm required to say that ;-) "" The legs of the support may be difficult to get back into the 4 holes.

The large 3" diameter stainless steel wire pot support was originally made for the special short run of the Titanium windscreen/wood stove. I have sold all remaining pot supports and will not be making any in the near future because of being short on hours in a day. I might be able to get my son to weld some up or maybe even my daughter-in-law…..we'll see.

I sure do appreciate all the positive feedback from everyone and a special thanks to Dale for starting this thread :-)

Also a special thanks to Dan Durston for being a pioneer in the development of the mini kit made with cut the down version of his Caldera Cone and for the use of the lid on the StarLyte burner portion of the stove. It took a lot of searching, but I managed to find the right lid that fits so well on the burner.

[Dan Yeruski]

I came across this video on how Hiram Cook makes the StarLyte Stove go into a simmer mode:

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

I’m searching for the thread where someone made a lid to fit the Starlyte Stove by putting slits into the green lid to fit around the stainless steel pot support. Who did it?

-Dan “Kamado-gami”

[Russell Lawson]

Starlyte is perfect. If I am just heating up water or cozy some noodles, it doesnt even need 15ml alcohol. I have one without the stand but modded and am sketched about alcohol in my cookpot especially when changing elevations but a plastic bag liner resolves any worry. I changed out what I believe is roxol for carbon felt because the roxol got wet and the felt seems to be more porous in terms of retaining alcohol.

 

[Kevin Babione]

I love my Starlyte/Sterno Inferno cup setup and it’s now my go-to stove to grab when I’m heading out.  I too use Everclear so a little spillage in my cup wouldn’t be much of an issue, but I’ve never noticed it leaking out.

I’m a little skeptical about how efficient the stove really is – I always seem to be bringing home more alcohol than I expected.  I think Dan found some way to load a couple of liters of some magic fuel (dehydrated/compressed) into each Starlyte and that we use 12-15 ml of alcohol with each burn and the rest comes from the secret stash.  Some day I’ll be out on the trail and my usual amount of fuel won’t even warm the water – then I’ll know I was right!

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

He likes it :-)

It’s cold weather stove time :-)

[Catherine Harley]

Think I got there before you :-) – and probably not the last to have the same idea

http://www.trek-lite.com/index.php?threads/myog-ikkle-5g-and-15gm-meths-burners.610/#post-9114

 

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

Here is a pressurized tea lite I made once upon a time. Made with 2 tealites and some fiberglass on top to prime it. Has a machine screw fill port in the center.

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

And other mini’s

[Catherine Harley]

Dan I’ll check that lot ^^^ out   “Thumbs up” :-)

The date on the Youtube video tea light burner is 2009…… so nothing new when I got to it !!

 

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

Ohhh! I see….you want dates :-) I’ll go over to Whiteblaze.net and see when I was doing the tealites.

[Catherine Harley]

Dates … not really. There’s probably many times that other folks have had the same idea.

My ‘idea moment’ came from Edh complaining how tea lights were such an inefficient way to cook and he didn’t want to fly with his precious Starlyte in case security confiscated it. I just combined the two elements together.

:-)

 

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