Has anyone tried the MBD IsoFly

Jay,
Just got my IsoFly in the mail the other day, so I haven't taken it backpacking yet, but I did some tests in the kitchen last night and it works great. I got 16 oz of 60 F degree water to a 212 F boil in just over 12 min using a Brasslight 600 Ti pot. It took 16ml or slightly more than 1/2 oz of Meth/Iso 50:50 mix to accomplish that.

I also have a Caldera cone for my Evernew 1.3L pot. With that pot and the cone I get an average boil time of 6min 12 sec. on 15ml of Meth/Iso 50:50 mix using the 16 oz of 60 F water.

So the IsoFly is not a speed demon, but it gets the job done and can be used with any of the smaller pots. (Tinny does not recommend it for any thing bigger than the MSR Titan pot (.85L))

The IsoFly weighs 1.3 oz and my cone+stove = 2.1oz but that varies depending on the pot you use, still the cone+stove will weigh slightly more for all configurations I think. The IsoFly however can simmer for 30 to 40 min. This would be great for baking or a slow cook meal. Also when you get done with the IsoFly you just blow it out and pour the unused alcohol back in the container.

Simmer and fuel retrieval are not impossible using the cone, but may be challenging. In addition the IsoFly is relatively compact especially when compared to the cone. The cone on the other hand is practically wind proof, very stable, fast and frugal with fuel.

Speedy but slightly bulky vs slow compact with simmer.

They both get the job done on about the same amount of fuel.

-Mark

Mark–

Thanks for you reply. Sounds like I just need to save up and buy both stoves for maximum cooking flexibility. I will be really interested to hear any comments that you have about the MBD IsoFly once you get a chance to take it out in the field.

Few more basic questions about the IsoFly:

1) How easy is it to recover fuel from the stove? Is that process messy?

2) Do you find that when you simmer for a long time, say filling the stove up to its max volume (45ml) that it heats up to the point that it starts burning out the venting ports or does the water jacket keep it sufficiently cool?

3) Is the stove small enough to fit in a firelite 500?

4) Have you tried using the IsoFly with the Caldera Cone?

Thanks in advance–

Jay

Jay,

Fuel recovery: Good question. The large hole is for water and the two smaller holes are fuel vents. I just put a finger over the fuel vent holes and pour out the water, then pour the fuel back in to the container. It seems to work ok.

Heat and Venting: Doing my boil test on "high" with the wick out about 3/4th of an inch the outer water jacket is approaching too hot to hold, but you can still pick it up. I think Tinny recommends that you change out the water after about 20 min. on low. This is not hard to do, because you can blow out the flame easily. I have not run a test to see if it would jet out of the vent ports.

Size: It is just under 2.875 inches in diameter and just under 2.125 inches in height. The pot stand posts are 3.375 inches long.

IsoFly with the cone: I'll give it a try and report.

-Mark

Ok, tried the Isofly with my 1.3 Evernew pot and the Caldera cone and also without the Caldera cone. This pot is larger than Tinny recommends I guess based on stability, but I don't know. The results are interesting and in keeping with previously observed tests with other stoves.

Time to bring 16 oz of 60 degree F water to 212 F using Evernew 1.3L pot:

IsoFly in cone: 10 min. 12 sec and used 15ml of fuel
IsoFly alone: 10 min 15 sec. and use 15ml of fuel

Conditions: Altitude 750 ft, winds calm, air temp 76 F, 50:50 Methanol/Isopropyl mix.

Observations: Cone or no cone time was the same. Times were faster with a wider pot than a narrow one. (over 12 min with Brasslite 600 and 14+ min with beer can pot.) Water reached a very usable 190 F with lots of bubbles in under 9 min. The larger pot was relatively stable on the IsoFly built in pot stand. Fuel use was the same.

So, it all sounds so scientific, but I only did two tests so the results may not be strictly accurate. But there they are.

-Mark

Mark–

Thanks for answering all my questions. I think I will order an isofly for its versatility and then save up and get the caldera cone for my 0.9L pot. I guess you can never have too many stoves.

>I guess you can never have too many stoves.<

How True!

Jay, I like both set ups. You can't go wrong either way. Enjoy.

-Mark