custom Lite Trail cook Kit

[Matthew / BPL]

Donna, I’ve used it a bunch with Esbit. It works really well.

Here’s a review of how it works with Esbit.

[Donna C]

Thanks, Matthew!  I prefer ESBIT over alcohol, but I can use either/or.  Nice blog, BTW.

[Matthew / BPL]

I agree, Esbit is great. I like the simplicity over alcohol. And Chad’s blog is great.

[DAN-Y]

@gosha007    I gotta be doing something wrong. Please help!

Do 3 more tests, same day, calm conditions, starting water temp a 70 and see what you come up with. Fill burner with 1 ounce denatured alcohol.

Others can do the same and share their findings.

[Gary Pikovsky]

@zelph2 – Did six new tests at totally calm conditions, roughly 60-70F outside:

Modified Starlyte – 11 min boil with 0.6oz alcohol (18min total burn time)
Original Starlyte – 7 min boil with 0.6oz alcohol (7.5 min total burn time)

One thing I found is that if I push the stove slightly more into the ground so it’s about 1/4″ lower, the boil time is around half a minute faster with original stove.

[DAN-Y]

Gary, those times look good. Thanks for taking the time to do the testing and sharing. :-)

The original is really burning hot and fast. It’s expected in such a confined space of the cone.

Concessions are made when we opt to go small and compact.

Maybe Donna can give us some insight on using the cone and the 400 pot from Trail Designs.

https://www.traildesigns.com/stoves/evernew-400ml-cup-sidewinder-ti-tri-bundle

[Donna C]

Sorry late to post…I have been techno-absent of late. But the 400ml cup sidewinder doesn’t take much alcohol to get the water to boil, about 1/4 oz.  I would have the band up as high as it could go for both ESBIT (4g) and Zelph’s modified burner.  I don’t generally time how long it takes to boil the water as I am busy doing other camp chores or being laughed at over my tiny set up.  But when I took it to False Cape for 2 days, everyone with their jet Boils and Giga powers ran out of full canisters, I sat there with no problems getting my meals together and did not run out of fuel!  The wind was blowing up to 30 mph at times, and very windy both days.  A major storm was moving into the area.

I can’t wait to see how the ridgeline will work with this set up.  I can post pictures when the cup returns from plastic surgery.

[Donna C]

Received both my 550 and 400 with a ridge line.  The 550 is great…boiled water from zelph burner in almost 9 min with 1/2 oz of fuel, and still burning.  I think the cone could be cut out for handles, IMO, like it is for the 400 cup.

The 400 ml cup will go back for more experimentation!

[Jennifer Mitol]

I finally got to play with mine yesterday – what a fantastic little setup!

I was able to get 2 cups of cool water to a rolling boil (80s outside, no wind) with the modified-modified starlyte in about 9 minutes

After reading back through this I’m going to see what the original modified starlyte looks like…..

Thanks Dan, this is a most perfect cook set!  I may even -ahem- try the esbit…

[DAN-Y]

Jennifer, the pot arrived today :-)

Earlier in this thread I mentioned a “mechanical” device that can be used in place of a silicone beer band that TD uses. Here is a photo of someone that used the device on a Toaks 550  He had a kit for sale on Hammockforums.com

[Larry De La Briandais]

BTW, for anyone interested in the mechanical device that looks like a CV boot clamp.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Pcs-Stainless-Steel-Universal-Drive-Shaft-Axle-CV-Joint-Boot-Clamp-Kit/231659438721?_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150313114020%26meid%3D5f407c5db4fe47769292ae6c40a8f9cc%26pid%3D100338%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D14%26mehot%3Dag%26sd%3D271962236006

 

[Eric Blumensaadt]

HOLY CHIT! That’s a big mug for a Sidewinder. Good idea with the ridge.

[DAN-Y]

Eric, the cone in the photo was made for a 400ml pot sold by TD.

[Abraham Schlossberg]

To Dan:

What is that band around the pot in the pic?  it looks at first like a cv boot clamp but different–it’s narrower and has at least 3 “buckles”, different from CV boot clamps I’ve seen.

[DAN-Y]

It’s a stainless steel band that has a cinch clasp and I made 3 aluminum sleeves that can be placed anywhere around the pot. I’m in the process of making brass sleeves for the band so it can be used on pots of larger size and placed over a campfire. A bail wire can be attached to the band. It’s a project I had to put to the side because of being too busy with making stoves and kits.

[KRS]

Dan, sorry for letting the cat outa the bag with the mechanical device for the pots. I didn’t think anyone would notice it on the Hammock Forum. To all that that think you can go out and buy a strap and make it work, think again. It has some challenges and Dan is working them out. Just wait for Dan to release them it will be cheeper and less frustrating than trying to reinvent the wheel. Also anyone trying to use the pots with the ring bead in a 400 ml come from Trail Design it doesnt work, the cone rim being cut for handles gives to much and the pot slips right through. Stick to Dans kit it works perfect.

 

[Donna C]

Yes, Kurt, you are right about the 400 ml cup not working only because the diameter of the cone is a hair wider to allow the band to hold the cup.  Dan is working on mine as I type and he is going to try and tinker with it, perhaps making the ridge line wider so it can sit on the cone without falling thru.  He had originally placed the ridge line about an inch from the bottom, which actually works on the 550 cone except the handles get in the way. I say cut out part of the cone for the handles.

[DAN-Y]

I think it was Marco that said: “have the handles spread apart and they won’t get hot”. I did 2 tests and it works. See the location of the handles in relation to holes and seam of Caldera Cone.

Thank you Marco :-)

[DAN-Y]

Modified Toaks  going on a thru hike

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsulOfVPQyw

[Gregory Stein]

Hi, looks like that opening in Starlyte burner in the latest video is even smaller than the modified version (which is made by Dan for TD cones)?

[DAN-Y]

Hello Gregory. As of yesterday…..no package arrival…..maybe today :-)

Back in April, on the 8th, 2016 Dylan Atkinson wrote and included a photo:

Was finally able to test my kit out tonight.

2 cups of 60* water, 14 grams of Denatured Alcohol, 60* temp and no wind – wasn’t able to get a boil.

I got some wild flames popping out of the side:

This is the first time using a Starlyte so I’m not sure how efficient it usually is. Normal?
And then on Apr 9, 2016 at 6:54 am, Matthew King wrote in regards to Dylans photo: Whoa. That didn’t look very efficient with the flames coming out of the sides. I would think you’d want less flame than that.

Dylan was using the original Modified Starlyte Burner sold by Trail Designs for use in the cones.

So I modified the burner again(smaller diameter hole) to work more efficiently in the more enclosed area of the small cone for Toaks 550.

[DAN-Y]

Looking for feedback from those of you using the BGET esbit set-up with the kit.

[Matthew / BPL]

It works great although the 14gram tablet seems like overkill for such a small pot. I always end up extinguishing it and using it a second time. I’ve switched to using two 4 gram tablets as described here and love it. I’ve used this setup around freezing while snow was falling at ~8000′ and just this weekend at 11,800′ in the wind. I always get at least a soft boil and usually a hard boil with just 8 grams of Esbit.

[DAN-Y]

Thank you Matthew, those are impressive results. The smaller esbits are the best bet for the 550 for sure. Try placing the esbit off center towards the cone closure. I’ve noticed better results in my testing. You may see a difference under calm conditions when doing a comparison. Thanks again for posting feedback. I’ll give a link to your site when folks ask questions about esbit as a fuel.

[Matthew / BPL]

That’s not my site! It’s another BPL member. I’m a big fan of his reviews (in other words he likes all the stuff I like).

[Author]

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